Call for water savings proposals for Australian towns and small cities

The Federal Government is seeking proposals by 1 December to develop and implement practical projects to help secure urban water supplies in Australian towns and cities with fewer than 50,000 people.

The Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, has called for proposals under the second stage of the National Water Security Plan for Cities and Towns program.

"Funding under this program will support cities and towns with fewer than 50,000 people to improve the reliability, efficiency and sustainability of their urban water resources while reducing demand on potable supplies," the Minister said. "Projects that could be supported include recycling and reuse, stormwater capture and reuse schemes, desalination and water sensitive urban design initiatives."

Consolidated proposals for multiple community facilities can be submitted through an eligible proponent - for example, local government. "I encourage urban water service providers, State, Territory or local governments and authorities, and the private sector to apply before the closing date of 1 December 2009," Senator Wong said.

Funding is capped at 50 per cent of total project costs, with the minimum Australian Government contribution of $250,000. While there is no maximum project size, the Australian Government contribution is capped at $10 million per project. Projects must be completed by 30 June 2012.

Guidelines are available here or by calling 1800 218 478.

Communities in the Murray-Darling Basin are encouraged to apply for funding under the Strengthening Basin Communities Program: Water Saving Initiative element which has similar criteria. For more information click here.

Support for women in local government

The National President of the Australian Local Government Women's Association (ALGWA) Ms Darriea Turley (pictured) has applauded the Federal Government's announcement that it will provide $490,000 for a range of projects aimed at improving the participation of women in the nation's local government councils and shires. The announcement was made by the Minister for Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albanese, and the Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Plibersek last Friday.

The Government is funding these projects as part of their commitment to the 2010 Year of Women in Local Government. Data shows that less than 30 per cent of councillors are women; 20 per cent of senior management roles are filled by women; and only 7 per cent of council Chief Executive Officers are women. As part of its commitment, the Government is funding $250,000 for a three-year 50:50 Vision: Councils for Gender Equity program to be conducted by the Australian Local Government Women's Association.

Ms Turley said: "This program will audit councils and shires to determine the status and role of women in leadership roles as well as their participation in the workplace. The program will also accredit councils and shires as well as establish an awards program to recognise excellence.

Through this funding, the Government is taking concrete steps to identify and address the barriers that are preventing more women from becoming involved in the local government sector." More information here.

Government open to discussion on broadband

(This opinion piece was submitted by Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, pictured with ALGA President Cr Geoff Lake at the National General Assembly in June.)

Local government has a strong understanding of the economic and social benefits of broadband. It understands that better infrastructure and competitive arrangements mean new opportunities to improve efficiency, drive productivity and generate new business and employment for local communities.

To this end, local government has been overwhelmingly supportive for the National Broadband Network (NBN).

The Government has been working quickly to kick-start this historic nation-building infrastructure project. This has included discussions with key stakeholders, such as the Australian Local Government Association, and we look forward to continued positive and constructive dialogue.

We all recognise the transformative long-term benefits on offer and we should keep that in firm view as we undertake the rollout. It is also worth all of us considering what we can put into this historic project, as well as what we can gain and, as I have said before, I am open to discussions on how that can happen.

The Government is well aware of interest in how the NBN rollout may interact with local planning laws and impact on local environments. We understand the sensitivity and want to work cooperatively and constructively with local government on these issues.

There has been some discussion in recent weeks about how the NBN will be deployed. From the outset, the Government wants the NBN rollout - including the Fibre-to-the-Premises component - to be as unobtrusive as possible. It may be that local government can assist in this regard by providing access to facilities they might control, such as ducts and rights of way.

We have indicated that where possible and cost-effective, fibre optic lines can and will be placed underground. In other instances, aerial cabling may be faster and more cost-effective.

I know that some local governments have had experience with the rollout of overhead HFC cables by Telstra and Optus in the mid 1990's. In this context, it is worth noting expert opinion that the NBN will be significantly less obtrusive.

John Turner, broadband chief at Alcatel-Lucent, has said that the NBN will be "definitely visually lower impact" than HFC and the two shouldn't be confused. Dr Jonathon Spring, the architect of TasColt fibre rollout in Tasmania says fibre optic is "very attractive" compared to HFC because the wires are much smaller and can be deployed much higher up the poles. "There's no visual pollution," Dr Spring has said.

It should also be noted that no decisions have been made about the ratio or location of overhead fibre compared to underground and this will be considered in detailed studies as part of Implementation Planning.

The Government looks forward to further consultation with stakeholders, including the Australian Local Government Association and individual councils, on this issue and others related to the NBN rollout. This infrastructure is about preparing our local communities for the future. It is enabling infrastructure for the 21 century digital economy, a platform for improved local service delivery and economic opportunities. It is worth us all keeping this in mind as we work together to deploy this historic nation-building project.

Briefs

Road user charging 'compelling'

Treasury Secretary Ken Henry, in a speech to CEDA yesterday, identified the case for road pricing reform as compelling.

He said: "There would be few areas in economics where such a clear and rational set of policy directions have so consistently lagged in practice."

While he did not indicate in his speech the nature of the road pricing reforms the Review might recommend, he did acknowledge that there were practical difficulties and lessons to be learnt from overseas.

He identified one of the inherent difficulties in moving away from the "fuel tax and rego model" for roads as the establishment of a feasible compensation framework.

"Many people will have bought houses, cars and even taken jobs based on the existing set of road prices - explicit and implicit... Still, many people think that a change in road prices, or the burden of compliance, will necessarily make them worse off. And, with the history of urban transport services in some parts of Australia, this might not be an unreasonable assessment."

His observation about urban transport services is consistent with the long-term ALGA policy of seeking greater federal funding for improving urban public transport.

The ALGA President has previously indicated that any move to a system road user charging must include the local road system on both sides of the equation. Local roads must be included in any charging system but they also must be included in the distribution of the revenue raised by those charges.

The full speech can be found here.

Coastal risks - sharks and drownings

Australian men are nearly nine times more likely to drown at the beach than women according to the just released Surf Life Saving Australia National Coastal Safety Report. And shark attacks are up by 140% in NSW with 17 in NSW in the past year out of a national total of 20.

Among the other key findings, the report found that:

• There was a total of 94 coastal drowning deaths in 2008/09 - this is an increase of six on the previous year and higher than the five year average of 87
• It is young men who are most at risk with those aged between 30 and 39 recording the highest number of deaths (overall, men accounted for 88% of coastal drowning deaths in Australia)
• 23,075 rescues in total were carried out, 1,322,212 preventions occurred, first aid was administered on 69,013 occasions and there were 87 resuscitations
• 44% of those who drowned lived less than 10km from the coastline and 36% drowned less than 10km from their place of residence
• There was not a single drowning death recorded of people swimming between the red and yellow flags

For a full copy of the 2009 National Coastal Safety report click here.

Health expenditure

A recent report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) confirms that funding for health from the state, territory and local governments grew at an average of 5.4 per cent per year from 1997-98 to 2007-08, and that almost 95 per cent of total health expenditure in Australia was for recurrent purposes (wages, salaries, supplements, purchases of goods and services and consumption of capital).

Of some concern is the fact that annual average growth in health expenditure in Australia over the ten years to 2007-08 exceeded average annual growth in real GDP by 1.7 per cent. Overall, health expenditure in 2007-08 represented 9.1 per cent of Australia's GDP, or $103.6 billion, averaging out at nearly $5000 per Australian.

In relation to specific health expenditures, over two-thirds of recurrent funding by state, territory and local governments was for public hospital services. In addition, state, territory and local governments provided almost two-thirds of the funding for patient transport services in 2007-08, which totalled $2 billion, as well as almost 82 per cent of expenditure on community health and related other items. (The latter item does not include domiciliary care, which includes home and community care funding, as this has been excluded from the health expenditure estimates since 2003-04).

The Australian Government's funding growth in 2007-08 was greater than that of the states and territories (12.3 per cent compared to 9.2 per cent). However, funding by all levels increased between 2006-07 and 2007-08. The state, territory and local government contribution totalled $26.4 billion (or 25.5 per cent), which was slightly higher than its previous year contribution.

Importantly, the technical notes to the report advise that 'difficulties in separating expenditures incurred by local governments on particular health functions from those of state and territory governments mean that these funding sources are generally combined'.

The report is available here.

Councils and sustainability

The Guide to Ethical Supermarket Shopping pocket-publication and Shopping with a Conscience workshops run by the Ethical Consumer Group have both been useful in introducing sustainable purchasing principles and practices in various council-run sustainability programs over the past 18 months. These include the following Victorian councils: Maribyrnong, Port Philip, Whitehorse, Moonee Valley, Knox, and Boroondara.

For more information on or running a program in your council or for your residents, please visit the website or contact Nick regarding workshops on 0417 114 492 (nick@ethical.org.au) or Pradeepa to purchase copies of the Guide on 0403 899 338 (orders@ethical.org.au).

Moving the goal posts

A draft regulation impact statement (RIS) to examine the case for introducing a Trade Practices Act mandatory product safety standard for moveable outdoor soccer goal posts has been released for public consideration and comment. Please click here for details.

New cycling infrastructure

The Federal Government is investing more than $2.2 million in six cycling infrastructure projects in Tasmania from its $40 million National Bike Paths Projects fund. The Government is also partnering with 15 Sydney local councils to deliver $12.8 million for 22 projects and has provided $3 million for 35 cycling infrastructure projects in South Australia.

The Tasmanian projects, located in Hobart, Launceston, Burnie, St Helens, Prospect Vale, Strahan and Tullah, will encourage healthier lifestyles amongst residents and create more sustainable communities. NSW councils receiving funding are: Bankstown; Blacktown; Campbelltown; Botany Bay; Hunters Hill; Liverpool; Manly; Marrickville; Parramatta; Rockdale; Ryde; Sutherland Shire; Sydney; Waverley; and Wollondilly. The SA projects are located across Adelaide, Port Augusta, Port Lincoln, the Barossa and the Lower Lakes.

The Government is funding 170 projects across Australia, supporting more than 1,900 jobs and traineeships. More details here.

Bushfire bunker scams

Consumers must carefully examine representations made about fire bunkers before they buy, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman, Graeme Samuel, has warned.

"The ACCC is concerned that some web-based advertising may have given consumers the impression that there was an Australian Standard for bushfire bunkers which their product met," Mr Samuel said.

"The simple fact is that there is currently no Australian Standard for bushfire bunkers. The ACCC raised concerns with three traders who had made claims about compliance with standards linked to products such as septic tanks or concrete structures.

"After the ACCC's approach, the traders promptly removed the representations and are in discussions with the ACCC with the best way to correct any misleading impression given. Consumers obtain a high level of comfort from claims that products meet Australian. The ACCC is conscious that residents in bushfire prone areas are deciding now about how to protect themselves during the fire season."

Before making decisions in relation to the best means of protecting themselves from the risk of fire or the possible installation of a fire bunker, consumers are advised to talk to experts in the field. The Australian Building Codes Board has recently begun work on a national standard for the design and construction of bushfire bunkers for personal use and the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission is considering making interim recommendations in relation to regulation of bushfire bunkers.

Climate change funding

The Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong and the Attorney-General Robert McClelland have announced a new grants program totalling $2 million to help increase understanding of extreme weather events and climate change as part of the $30 million climate Adaptation Research Grants Program. To help guide the research to be undertaken under the Program the Australian Government also released today the Emergency Management and Climate Change - National Adaptation Research Plan. The Research Plan identifies priorities in three main areas - understanding the nature and location of risks posed by climate change, identifying the most effective means to enhance community and organisational resilience to these risks, and developing adaptive strategies to respond to climate change for use by the community and emergency services. For more information about the grants program please click here. To download a copy of the Emergency Management Research Plan please visit the website.

Cultural Ministers meet in Adelaide

ALGA Vice-President Cr Bruce Miller attended last Friday's Cultural Ministers' Council meeting held in Adelaide.

At the meeting the Ministers:

• Discussed a Cultural Ministers Council Strategy which sets out opportunities for collaboration across jurisdictions over the next five to ten years.
• Approved a National Arts and Disability Strategy to support, encourage and promote access and participation in the arts by people with a disability.
• Endorsed an Indigenous Australian Art Commercial Code of Conduct for the industry and agreed to an Indigenous Australian Art Charter of Principles for Publicly Funded Collecting Institutions. The code and charter fulfil recommendations of the Senate Inquiry into Indigenous Visual Arts.
• Discussed progress in the implementation of the Indigenous Contemporary Music Action Plan and agreed to the extension of the successful Breakthrough initiative to support emerging Indigenous musicians.
• Considered outcomes of reviews conducted in 2009 of the Cultural Ministers Council, the Statistics Working Group and the Collections Australia Network.
• Discussed the findings of the Third Review of the Major Performing Arts Funding Model.
• Considered delivery options for an Indigenous Intellectual Property Toolkit.

The Communique is available here.

Senate inquiry into suicide

The Australian Commonwealth Government has announced a Senate Inquiry into Suicide in Australia. Suicide Prevention Australia (SPA) welcomes this unique opportunity to recognise and promote the diverse experiences and views of Australians to help strengthen the community's responses to suicide and self-harm prevention, intervention and post-intervention. As part of its submission SPA is calling for stories.

Personal stories can be submitted on the website until Wednesday 28th October 2009. To gather these stories, there is a dedicated page on the SPA website where people can upload their individual stories. Please click here to find out more.

If you have any questions about SPA's Senate Inquiry submission, please contact Jo Riley, Senior Project Officer, on (02) 9568 3111 or email senateinquiry@suicidepreventionaust.org

Supporting young Australians

The Minister for Youth, Kate Ellis, has launched a new Federal funding program to support the development and participation of young Australians, aged 12 to 25.

The Australian Government will provide $500 000 a year to eligible non-government, not-for-profit organisations through the Youth Development and Support Program.

Applications for funding close on 4 November 2009. For more information visit the Youth Website or call 1300 363 079.

Pre-Copenhagen discussions

The United Nations climate talks in Bangkok last week have failed to deliver consensus between the world's developing and developed nations.

The gathering of more than 190 nations was hoped to deliver the foundations for a new global climate agreement to be negotiated in Copenhagen in December.

Instead, the world's two biggest polluters are deadlocked, with the United States calling for the existing Kyoto protocol to be abandoned, and a new treaty to be discussed. China disagrees.

And a stalling point remains over finance, with developed countries including Australia yet to commit to funding clean technology to help the poorer countries adapt to climate change.

Environment groups are concerned time is running out, with less than 60 days before world leaders gather for the final round of climate talks in Copenhagen.

Prickly Blackberries

Handsets from high profile manufacturers such as BlackBerry and Motorola might be beaming out higher levels of radiation than those of some of their peers, says a recently published report.

The ranking of more than 1200 mobile phones was published online by The Environmental Working Group to draw attention to the issue of mobile-phone safety. More information here.

Triple zero concerns

Almost half of the 10 million triple zero calls across Australia in the past year have been pranks, misdialled or otherwise non-genuine emergencies, Telstra says.

Telstra said a quarter of NSW residents had telephoned triple zero in the past 21 months.

This has prompted the telecommunications company to remind people the number should only be used in life-threatening or time-critical situations where the police, fire or ambulance services are needed.

National Water Commission report

This National Water Commission report - Australian Water Reform 2009, Second biennial assessment of progress in implementation of the National Water Initiative - covers all states and territories, groundwater and surface water systems, and urban and rural areas.

Releasing the report, Commission Chair Mr Ken Matthews said, 'This independent report shows that, despite some progress, the pace of water reform has slowed on almost every front.

'Today, 40% of the local water plans promised by state governments are still unfinished, and many existing water plans have been suspended due to deepening drought and low flows in southern Australia.

'In its most disturbing finding, the report concludes that governments will not meet the central commitment they made under the National Water Initiative to "fix" overallocation by 2010. Government commitments to tackle overallocation date back to at least 1994.

'What makes these findings even more concerning is that we now know that climate change has raised the bar on water reform', observes Mr Matthews. 'Reduced water availability makes improved water management more urgent than ever for our water-starved rivers and hard-hit irrigators.'

The report notes that some important progress has been made under tough conditions, progress which wouldn't have been made without the National Water Initiative. Water trading has been a success and has given irrigators much needed options under difficult conditions.

Also on a positive note, the Commission welcomes unprecedented national attention to water, together with unprecedented budgets, and commends the Commonwealth's actions in buying back water for the environment.

The National Farmer's Federation President David Crombie that more certainty, more information and more transparency were needed to give irrigators and their communities the confidence to produce food and fibre with ever-scarce water resources.

The report is expected to be presented to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).

The report is available here.

Bronze award goes to Rocky

The Mayor of Rockhampton in central Queensland says he is not disappointed about missing out on a liveable cities award announced in the Czech Republic this week.

Rockhampton was one of 11 finalists in its category for regions between 75,000 and 200,000 people.

It missed a top three placing, but picked up a bronze award.

Mayor Brad Carter was at the award ceremony in the city of Pilsen and says Rockhampton was at a disadvantage because it is a new regional council.

"We're only 17-months-old and the level of technical information we were able to provide was difficult for us because we needed benchmarks and measures in terms of what your progress is, where your improvements are," he said.

"So if we compete again - and I'm very keen to compete again next year - we know that we have to improve on our measures and have a greater degree of technical input."

Climate change anxiety declines

The latest Lowy Institute Poll shows that Australians' anxiety about climate change is falling from the top foreign policy goal in 2007 (with protecting jobs) to the seventh most important. Global warming was viewed as 'a critical threat' by 68% in 2007, 66% last year and 52% this year. Click here for more details.