Taking our place on the national stage
President of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) Councillor Geoff Lake welcomed some 700 delegates to the National General Assembly of Local Governmentstaged in Canberra from 21 to 24 June.
He said that in spite of the tough economic times councils obviously see the value in sending delegates to forums such as this, with the General Assembly a key event for debating and shaping the national agenda for the sector.
“This is an opportunity for us collectively – as a bunch of 565 disparate and diverse councils – to debate the role we want to play in building sustainable and resilient communities in Australia into the future,” Councillor Lake said.
“There is an unprecedented opportunity for councils to play an effective and prominent role in some key areas that currently face the nation. How well we navigate these waters over the next few years will determine whether we are a strengthened sector in the future, or one hamstrung by responsibilities beyond our capacity and with finances well short of our needs.”
In 2006 ALGA commissioned the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report into Local Government sustainability, which identified a $14.5 billion shortfall in Local Government spending to maintain vital community infrastructure.
“The $800 million Community Infrastructure Program rolled out over the last six months would not have been received had it not been for our sector’s organisation and efforts at the national level, and the empirical case developed by ALGA and State and Territory Local Government Associations, to justify the need to fund community infrastructure,” Geoff Lake said.
“The PwC report’s conservative estimate is that between ten and 30 per cent of councils have financial sustainability issues.”
He said that ALGA continues to chip away at this problem, raising it at COAG and making submissions to various inquiries including the current Henry Review into Australia’s taxation arrangements.
“At the same time, Local Government must show leadership and initiate our own reforms to improve our own efficiency and financial effectiveness,” he said.
“We must demonstrate accountability, transparency and capability as a sector. We need to strengthen our performance, and avoid negative publicity that too often undermines public confidence in Local Government.”
Councillor Lake said that with the bulk of taxes collected by the Commonwealth Government, it is here that Local Government is best able to improve its financial position.
Yet he said that as a sector only $2.5 million is spent lobbying at the national level by ALGA, while $65 million is spent lobbying the State and Territory Governments. Some 68 per cent or $2.5 billion funding comes to Local Government from the Commonwealth Government, but only 32 per cent or $1.2 billion from the State and Territory Governments.
“We have much at stake at the national level and need to expand our lobbying capacity at this level,” he said.
