From the President

The Local Government Constitutional Summit held this week in Melbourne was a great example of councils working together to advance the standing of our sector. About 600 delegates from local councils from every state and territory reached an historic agreement about how to reform and modernise the Australian Constitution.

The Prime Minister had asked local government to develop a blueprint for constitutional reform at the inaugural meeting of the Australian Council of Local Government (ACLG) in November.

Local Government has responded to that request by endorsing a model for constitutional change which does the following:

1. proposes a new power be added to the constitution to expressly empower the Australian Government to fund local councils
2. proposes that the existence of local government be reflected in the Constitution and provides for the right of people to democratically elect their local council, and
3. requests that recognition of local government be included in any new preamble to the Australian Constitution if one is proposed

The Constitutional Summit featured some of Australia's most eminent constitutional scholars. It was also addressed by the Attorney General, Hon Robert McClelland, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Hon Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader, Malcolm Turnbull and Leader of the National Party, Warren Truss.

This is fundamentally about modernising Australian federalism so government functions better and unnecessary bureaucracy is removed so services are delivered more efficiently and effectively to people.

Inserting a financial power for the Australian Government to directly fund local councils reflects the growing links between the two levels of government and will strengthen the opportunity to provide local infrastructure and services which meet the expectations of local communities. This is all about strengthening accountability between local communities and their councils.

Leading constitutional law expert, Professor George Williams from the University of New South Wales welcomed the plan finalised by Australian local government. "This plan provides for sensible and practical reform of the Australian Constitution to better reflect the status of modern government in this country," he said. "This is a great opportunity to modernise the constitution so Australian federalism works better."

The Summit outcomes will be passed to the Australian Government by the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA). ALGA will develop the proposals further in consultation with councils and all of the major political parties.

I congratulate all delegates who attended the Summit for the great spirit and energy in which the debate was conducted. The unanimous support for the eventual Summit Declaration by all delegates in attendance was an overwhelming result given the diversity of perspectives and views which exist in local government.

The Summit Declaration and Motion are available here

 

Cr Geoff Lake
ALGA President

Mobile phone recycling awards

Lismore City Council, Moonee Valley City Council, The City of Stirling and Lockhart Shire Council were praised for their mobile phone recycling efforts at the MobileMuster Local Government Awards, which were presented at the 2008 Constitutional Summit of Local Government, in Melbourne.

The 2008 MobileMuster Local Government Awards, now in its second year, was created by the mobile phone industry's official recycling program, to recognise and reward leading councils across Australia, who have implemented effective recycling campaigns; helped increase awareness of mobile phone recycling and encouraged residents to hand in their old mobile phones, batteries, accessories and chargers.

Guest speaker Scott Bennett presented the 'Top Collector Overall' award to Moonee Valley City Council, while the City of Stirling was awarded the 'Best Promoter', Lockhart Shire Council won 'Top Collector Per Capita' and Lismore City Council was awarded the leading award of the day - The National Excellence Award.

Moonee Valley City Council in Victoria was awarded 'Top Overall Collector' (by weight) for collecting 202kgs of mobile phones, batteries, chargers and accessories in the last 12 months. The majority of these mobiles were collected by Moonee Valley's innovative Re-new program, which collects a range of reusable and recyclable materials through an extension of their existing kerbside collection service.

Lockhart Shire Council in NSW was named the 'Top Collector Per Capita Award', for collecting 8.6kgs of mobile phone handsets, batteries and accessories per 1,000 residents. This is the highest collection rate per 1,000 residents across Australia.

The Top Collector Per Capita Award is a new category introduced this year to recognise the achievements of many of the smaller councils who have heavily encouraged residents to recycle such as Lockhart Shire Council.

The City of Stirling was awarded 'Best Promoter' for encouraging mobile phone recycling through various creative channels, including local print media; householder's guide to recycling; a welcome pack for schools; and incorporating MobileMuster information at community displays and presentations including shopping centres.

Lismore City Council took home the 'National Excellence Award' for its efforts in making mobile phone recycling easier and more convenient for residents by setting up a number of drop off points including the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre; by actively promoting mobile phone recycling through the media and at community events like the Lismore Show; incorporating mobile phone recycling messages in the 'Waste Wise Ways' Resource Kit for schools, as well as collecting 95kg in the past 12 months.

There are 270 local councils registered across Australia, which has seen public collection points nationwide grow to more than 3,500, of which more than 700 are hosted by local councils in their receptions, resource recovery centres, libraries and community centres, making mobile phone recycling convenient and accessible for everyone. Alternatively if people can't get to one of the collection points, they can pick up a free recycling satchel at participating Australia Post outlets, or download a free reply paid label from www.mobilemuster.com.au

For further information about the MobileMuster Local Government Awards, or to join the program, visit www.mobilemuster.com.au or contact 1300 730 070.

NSW Housing Code

The Local Government and Shires Associations are calling for the State Government to trial its proposed new NSW Housing Code to ensure it can operate in NSW's complex planning environment.

The Associations understand that the State Government may gazette the new Code as early as this week.

Local Government Association President Cr Genia McCaffery said that while the Associations support efforts to simplify increasingly complex planning legislation, she was concerned with the proposal to introduce the new codes without any trial or public exhibition

Shire's Association president, Cr Bruce Miller, said that the Associations will continue to campaign for a NSW Housing Code that improves the take up rate of complying development, but not at the expense of good planning outcomes for the community.

"If there are substantial revisions to the Code, as we suspect there has been, a trial is vital," he said.

"We need to make sure that, rather than making the process even more complex and impractical, the new Code is understandable and does not have significant and unintended impacts on residential amenity."

The Associations and council representatives have been active members of the Complying Development Expert Panel (CDEP) since its inception in March 2008.

The CDEP was established to provide technical input and advice to the Department and the Minister on the exempt and complying codes being developed as part of the planning reform agenda.

The Associations and other Local Government members of the Panel have provided constructive comment on the draft codes and were supportive of the public exhibition and trial of the draft NSW Housing Code released in May 2008.

Housing affordability

Federal Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek has delivered a report card on the Government's attempts to improve housing affordability. Ms Plibersek told a housing affordability congress in Melbourne that the Government has taken extensive steps over the past year to make housing more affordable and to address homelessness. She says industry feedback shows there is room for cautious optimism about the success of the boost to the first home owners grant with sales of new homes increasing. There was a rise in the number of home loans written in October, after the boost. About 48,000 new home loans were written for owner occupiers, which is a 1.3 per cent rise from the previous month in seasonally adjusted terms. It is the first rise in owner-occupier loans in nine months but it is still slightly below what most economists had predicted. Ms Plibersek concedes the Government can not claim to have fixed the problem - "We're still a fair way off actually solving the conundrum of housing affordability". She says the Government will keep up its reform agenda despite the downturn in the global economy (AAP).

Tips on spending the Xmas bonus

A new solar hot water system or better insulation would be ideal ways to spend the federal government's Christmas bonus, helping to stimulate the domestic economy while saving money, energy and the environment at the same time.

The Clean Energy Council believes the government's $10.4 billion stimulus package is a great opportunity for households to have a green Christmas this year while being able to enjoy the bonus, which will continue to keep giving through lower power bills. Investment in smart energy solutions like installing insulation, solar water heaters or solar panels can cut electricity bills by at least 15-20%.

Mobile Home Parks

The ACT Government has commissioned research on the issues affecting mobile home parks. The researchers would like to hear from any local governments that have developed policies or management structures for mobile home parks. Please contact Ed Wensing or Liz de Chastel on 02 6262 7603 or Ed.Wensing@sgsep.com.au

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Henry review consultation papers

The Australia's Future Tax System Review Panel has released consultation papers on the broader tax transfer system and retirement incomes.

These papers follow recent public submissions where a wide range of views were received from people and organisations around Australia including ALGA.

The Federal Government encourages members of the community to continue to make submissions to the inquiry into Australia's Future Tax System before 1 May 2009. Please visit www.taxreview.treasury.gov.au or call 1800 614 133 for copies of the papers and moreinformation on the review.

Phillips to move on from RDA

Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Northern Australia, Gary Gray AO MP, acknowledged Regional Development Australia's interim board chair Don Phillips for his contribution to regional development in Australia.

Mr Gray said Mr Phillips had declined a further Ministerial appointment as chair of the Mid North Coast Area Consultative Committee (ACC) and would also be leaving his position as chair of the RDA Interim Board.

"I have had the pleasure of working with Don as he managed the RDA Interim Board through a period of change," Mr Gray said.

"His experience will be a loss to the new RDA organisation; however, his contribution has helped to ensure that RDA is in good shape for those following in his footsteps."

"I respect Don's decision to take a new direction and I wish him well for the future. I trust that he continues to find an avenue to contribute and maintain his keen interest in regional development in Australia," Mr Gray said.

Building access standards tabled

The Federal Government has tabled building standards to provide people with a disability access to most commercial buildings, in a move designed to cost an estimated $620million a year. The Regulatory Impact Statement tabled with the proposed standards estimates they will bring benefits of nearly $1 billion a year including increased workforce participation and reduced living costs.

If adopted, the standards, which are the subject of a Parliamentary Inquiry reporting in 2009 would require all new buildings that are open to the public, and some existing buildings undergoing upgrade, to provide accessible entrances and exits, toilets, lift access to upper stories, passing and turning spaces in corridors for wheelchairs and scooters, and wheel chair seating spaces and hearing augmentation devices in auditoriums. Design provisions will be set out under a revised Australian Standard on accessibility and mirrored in the Building Code of Australia, aligning building law with discrimination law.

BCA information seminars

It's that time again... updates to the Building Code of Australia (BCA) for 2009 are being developed, and as building industry practitioners you need to know what changes are coming into effect.

BAF Consulting on behalf of the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) invites you to register for the BCA 2009 Information Seminars in capital cities around Australia to inform you of these changes.

The half-day seminars will involve an overview of significant changes to feature in BCA 2009. You will hear about important changes to the energy efficiency provisions and your local Building Control Administration will update you about building regulatory issues specific to your state or territory.

If you work in the building and construction industry then you should attend. BCA 2009 takes effect on 1 May 2009. For further details on venues and dates see www.abcb.com.au

Australia's population grows strongly

Australia's population is growing faster than at any time in the past two decades, a new ABS study shows. Whilst the estimated national population now around 21.5 million, growth patterns vary across the nation.

For instance the ACT, is growing faster than NSW, South Australia and Tasmania. The 1.7 per cent national growth rate saw 359,000 more people in the 12 months to June. This was the highest population rise since 1989.

The boom was mainly driven by overseas migration almost 60 per cent of overall growth. The national fertility rate is at its highest since 1981, at 1.93 children per woman, and infant mortality is at a record low.

Stronger cities, cleaner energy

Throughout his campaign, President-elect Barack Obama pledged to address the needs of urban communities. In June 2008, at a speech before a US. Conference of Mayors gathering, Obama expressed his commitment to urban revitalisation and offered to form new partnerships with urban leaders.

"We need to stop seeing our cities as the problem and start seeing them as the solution," said Obama. "Because strong cities are the building blocks of strong regions, and strong regions are essential for a strong America. That is the new metropolitan reality and we need a new strategy that reflects it. As president, I'll work with you to develop this kind of strategy and I'll appoint the first White House Director of Urban Policy to help make it a reality."

Obama articulated an equally impressive vision on climate protection and clean energy.

"To completely revamp how we use energy in a way that deals with climate change, deals with national security, and drives our economy, that's going to be my number-one priority when I get into office," said Obama in a recent 'Time' interview.

A few of the major goals of the energy plan he outlined during the campaign:

• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050.
• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
• Ensure 10% of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25% by 2025.
• Deploy the cheapest, cleanest, fastest energy source: energy efficiency.
• Weatherise one million homes annually.
• Increase fuel economy standards.
• Get 1 million plug-in hybrid cars on the road by 2015.
• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.

German trade delegation

A trade delegation representing Germany's solar and bio energy industry travelled to Australia recently to discuss market opportunities with Australian business partners. The German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce set up meetings between German and Australian companies and organised negotiation rounds with policy-makers as well as electricity producers, retailers and distributors. After Australia signed the Kyoto Protocol last year, it became an emerging market for renewable energies. The trade delegation flew to the town of Orange in New South Wales to inspect its distribution network and talk to local engineers about proposed upgrades. In 2009 German-Australian Chamber will organise an "Energy Efficiency in Buildings" trade delegation program. More information from www.germany.org.au

Call for facilitators

Western Australian Emergency Management Conference 2009:

Learning from the Past to Prepare for the Future

16-17 April 2009 - Perth Convention Exhibition Centre - Perth, Western Australia

Please mark your submission 'Private and Confidential' for the attention of:

Craig Hill
A/Executive Officer
Strategic Policy & Executive Services Portfolio
Fire & Emergency Services Authority of WA
PO Box P1174 PERTH WA 6844
or Email: craig.hill@fesa.wa.gov.au
Fax: +61 8 9323 9470

Please submit by 5.00pm Friday 12 December 2008.

Urban Water and Desalination Plan

On 7 December 2008, the Government released the guidelines that will govern the Federal Government's $1 billion National Urban Water and Desalination Plan announced in this year's Budget.

Under this Plan the Australian Government will fund large-scale infrastructure projects to help cities and towns meet future demand for water. The assistance will be provided as either grants to proponents that are not subject to income tax or refundable tax offsets for proponents that are subject to income tax. Financial assistance is up to 10 per cent of the eligible capital costs, capped at maximum of $100 million per project.

Interested parties are invited to comment on the draft legislation and explanatory memorandum. While submissions may be lodged electronically or by post, electronic lodgement is preferred.

Closing date for submissions: Monday, 19 January 2009. Address written submissions to: Manager
Industry Tax Policy Unit
Business Tax Division
The Treasury
Langton Crescent
PARKES ACT 2600
Email: watertaxoffset@treasury.gov.au

New measures to improve grants process

The Federal Government has announced new measures to improve the administration of commonwealth grants and make the budget process more transparent, according to Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner.

"It is critical that we improve practices in the administration of grants across the Australian government to ensure better outcomes for taxpayers and as part of our ongoing reform of government administration," Mr Tanner said in a statement.

The new Commonwealth Grant Guidelines will provide clear rules and guidance to ministers and government agencies while cutting red tape and eliminating unnecessary processes.

Former Democrat senator Andrew Murray has completed a review of the budget process on behalf of the government - known as Operation Sunlight.

Mr Murray has made a series of recommendations which the government is taking up or incorporating into other initiatives, Mr Tanner said.

Women still earn less and do more

Australian women combining the roles of breadwinner and homemaker are still being paid less than men while shouldering more family responsibilities. This is resulting in an increased overall burden for women, according to a review of work and family balance issues by the Australian Institute of Family Studies.

"The increasing workforce participation by women and delays in childbearing are striking social changes. Overall it's mothers who are combining homemaking and breadwinning who have had their workload greatly increased in this long transition," said Institute Director Professor Alan Hayes.

Some couples defer having children or have fewer children than they may otherwise have wanted in order to reconcile the competing demands from work and family. "Others cope by having one parent - typically the mother - reduce his or her work hours or give up work to look after the children. But ultimately strategies aimed at reducing family size will affect a nation's total fertility rate," said the report's author Lixia Qu.

The Institute's overview article reported:

• Women in 2004 earned 8% less than men, a gap slightly wider than a decade ago.
• Women aged between 25-34 had increased their labour force participation from 36% in 1966 to 74% in 2008.
• Rates for men in the labour force have declined across all age groups, except for men aged 60-64 who are working more than they did in 1990. The proportion of women entitled to maternity leave has increased from 43% in 2002 to 53% in 2007.

Professor Hayes says another emerging issue for families is the need to have policies focused on supporting sole parents so they don't feel the need to enter new relationships prematurely to achieve financial security.