MAYOR Liam Wood, Deputy Mayor Mark Eckel and I recently attended the largest annual gathering of local government representatives in the country – the National General Assembly in Canberra.
Now in its 30th year, this massive annual event brings together mayors, councillors and CEOs from more than 500 councils across Australia.
While it’s a valuable opportunity to hear and learn about the latest developments in the local government sector, the real value is the powerful opportunity it provides us to advocate on behalf of our community.
This year’s NGA included attendance by Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories Kristy McBain, and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King, among a host of other Federal Government representatives.
Not surprisingly, many of the issues the mayor, deputy mayor and I raised were echoed by a lot of other local government representatives, particularly around the ongoing high cost of living, a topic I know many in our community can relate to, whether it’s local business owners, residents or farmers.
It’s this united voice on common issues which makes this event so important, ensuring our voice is heard at the highest levels of government.
Central to these ongoing cost pressures, and a key theme across the week, was the level of Australian Government tax revenue that filters down to local government through the Federal Assistance Grant.
Currently this is only 0.5 per cent.
Along with many of our fellow local government representatives we argued strongly for an increase in the share of this funding for local councils, which we say should be a minimum of one per cent of tax revenue.
This comes at a time when local governments are shouldering more and more of the cost burden.
We also argued for a rethink of the way local councils need to compete with each other for Australian Government grant funding, instead pushing for a model similar to the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program where funding is allocated based on a local government area’s need and capacity to pay.
This would see a fairer share of Australian Government funding injected into our local infrastructure and roads, which I know has been a hot topic in the media recently.
It also makes sense given local governments across Australia, including ourselves, are responsible for maintaining the majority of assets our local communities use every day.
And as we heard during another session last week, there is a direct connection between the standard of local infrastructure and community wellbeing.
Other topics across the week were the need for more funding generally for infrastructure, the ongoing housing crisis, the impacts of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan on communities and how they will be compensated, and getting greater access to the Australian Government’s Growing Regions Program, which provides funding between $500,000 and $15 million for capital works projects across regional and rural Australia.
Another notable part of the week was the first public address by the new Governor-General, Sam Mostyn, who provided us with her insights into the local government sector – which we were fortunate to attend.
Finally, there is a great link between the overarching theme of this year’s National General Assembly – which was about building community trust – and some work we’re about to do revisiting our Community Vision 2021-2040.
This is about ensuring the vision for our community – which was informed by thousands of local residents when it was developed four years ago, still aligns with our community’s goals and aspirations for our region.
Martin Hawson
Chief executive
Mildura Rural City Council
