Final announcements from major parties

The three major parties made announcements this week of interest to local government. Labor announced an $80 million Low Carbon Communities initiative to help local councils and communities to cut pollution and reduce their energy costs through energy efficient upgrades to street lighting, community facilities and council buildings. The fund would be application-based with matching funding from councils.

At a speech to the National Press Club on Tuesday Opposition Leader Tony Abbott announced that if elected, a Coalition Government would strengthen Infrastructure Australia, creating a more accountable and effective adviser on infrastructure projects and procurement practices, with the development of a revolving 15 year infrastructure plan for Australia with 5-yearly revisions. The Coalition would consider introducing an Infrastructure Partnership bonds Scheme to finance new infrastructure. Mr Abbott said a Coalition Government would release all the modelling and work connected with the Henry Tax Review 'and we will commence the real debate on tax reform that Australia needs.'

At her National Press Club address yesterday, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said tomorrow's Federal Election would be 'a cliff hanger - an absolute cliff hanger,' and used that context to outline what she believes a re-elected Federal ALP Government will deliver in comparison to a Federal government led by Tony Abbott.

Throughout the speech and the questions taken at the end of it from the media, the Prime Minister emphasised her team's commitment to delivering on education, health reform and climate change, and said that the only commitment that the Rudd/Gillard Government had not delivered on since its election in 2007 were the early childhood centres. She explained that the collapse of ABC Learning Centres was an unforeseen development which hampered the implementation of that policy.

In his Press Club address on Wednesday, Greens Leader Bob Brown promised a triple referendum to recognise Indigenous Australians and local government in the Constitution and to make Australia a Republic. He also promised a study into the feasibility of a high speed rail line and would ensure that the National Broadband Network could not be privatised.

Policy implications for housing trends

The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI)'s most recent research seminar presentation was delivered in Canberra last week on 'Older People and Housing: the latest evidence' to an audience of some 50 people representing government agencies, NGOs, housing providers, researchers and interested individuals.

The three presentations were: Dwelling, land and neighbourhood use by older home owners by Associate Professor Bruce Judd; reverse mortgages and older people by Associate Professor Catherine Bridge; and Trends in service - integrated retirement housing in Australia by Professor Andrew Jones.

Professor Judd's research into how older Australian are actually using their housing was particularly interesting and relevant to planners, housing policy officers and developers. Judd's research finding shed new light on an issue that gets much attention based on pre-conceived assumptions that older Australians should and want to downsize their housing needs but that the housing stock and corresponding government taxation policies are not allowing this to happen.

The common perception is that when the children move out of home most people find themselves in houses with several empty bedrooms. But Judd's research shows that many older Australians actually enjoy the extra space and have little interest in moving to more compact homes.

The study of people aged 55 and over finds the "vast majority" live as singles or couples in owner-occupied houses and want to stay there as long as they can with professional care services coming into their homes to deal with medical and other issues.

According to the Canadian Occupancy Standard - the Australian government-preferred measure of the appropriateness of housing related to household size and composition - 88 per cent of these three or more bedroom houses are "grossly under-occupied and hence under-utilised".

But when asked to nominate which options they would like to deal with their future needs, more than 90 per cent of older home owners said they wanted to stay in their homes and wanted to be able to modify them with grab rails or other devices to suit their needs. As independent living became more difficult, more than 60 per cent agreed they would consider moving to a self-care retirement village, and more than half would consider living in a residential aged care facility or an over-55 seniors living development. Moving into their children's homes was distinctly unappealing - fewer than one in five said they would even consider it.

If they lived according to the Canadian standard, single adults would be content with a one-bedroom home while a childless couple would have a two-bedroom home. But Australians believe their three- and four-bedroom houses are the right size as they can have rooms for hobbies, for exercise and for study and space for grandchildren and other visitors to stay a week or two.

They like their garages too, and enjoy gardens and outdoor spaces they can use for entertaining and where grandchildren can play. Only a few worried about maintenance. Some told the researchers who surveyed 1604 older home owners that retirement was a time for a bigger house, not a smaller one.

The findings have many implications for policy makers who are trying to encourage construction of more one- and two-bedroom homes but may not find older people rushing to move in. For copies of all the presentations, click here.

Sustainable House Day

Sustainable House Day on Sunday September 12 has seen a dramatic growth in the past 2 years, largely due to the increase demand by people for more information on what they can do to save energy and water in their homes. Councils around the country are getting behind the event by coordinating homes in their area, or staging other localised activities to capitalise on the additional exposure the event brings. For more information go to the websites www.sustainablehouseday.com and www.shmeco.com.

A great example is the "Our Living Cost" program in the LGA's Coffs Harbour, Bellingen and Nambucca, which is coordinating the opening of 7 homes.

If your council has an event with an environmental focus or would like to consider opening homes in your area, please contact Judy Celmins on 0403 290371 or judy@shmeco.com

Tomorrow we will be going to the polls. The inevitable sausage sizzles will bring some sauce that has been lacking in the campaign itself.

The major parties have not substantively addressed the important issues facing local communities across Australia as outlined in ALGA's '10-Point Plan' election document which is disappointing.

The ALGA election document was released in June but so far only the Australian Greens has responded directly to the issues raised in it. I was particularly pleased that Leader Bob Brown mentioned the need for a referendum for the inclusion of local government in the Constitution during his National Press Club speech this week. The other parties haven't mentioned it at all during the campaign, although we will certainly hold them to their pre-election support for a referendum.

We are reminded of the importance of this issue by an article in today's 'Financial Review' on the candidacy of Bryan Pape for the NSW Senate. Pape is the university law academic who challenged the stimulus package payments to taxpayers last year - the case that has cast serious doubt over whether the Commonwealth has the constitutional power to fund councils directly. One of the issues he highlights in the article is the constitutionality of Julia Gillard's election promise to fund regional councils directly to tackle affordable housing.

This is ongoing uncertainty that must be addressed. One thing that should be obvious to both sides of politics is that programs which fund councils are programs that can be delivered on time, on budget and in a transparent and accountable way throughout the country.

I am pleased with how councils have performed under the community infrastructure program roll-out. It demonstrates the untapped potential of councils to play a bigger role in major national priority areas.

Despite the absence of local government policies from the major parties, both sides have at least put something on the table for councils. Labor has pledged $200 million for regional infrastructure to support housing affordability and $80 million for its Low Carbon Communities Initiative. The Coalition has promised $300 million to support ageing timber bridges. However, given the increasing relevance of local communities to the federal government, we had expected more.

Regardless of whether Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott forms the next government, the priorities for councils, as we at ALGA see them, are:

• A referendum proposing the inclusion of local government in the Australian Constitution;
• Increased funding for local government and a parliamentary inquiry into the adequacy of local government funding;
• Increased funding for local roads;
• Entrenchment of an annual and ongoing Community Infrastructure Program;
• Strengthening the 2006 Local Government Cost Shifting Intergovernmental Agreement (which is due for review in 2011);
• Ensuring the interests of local communities are addressed in any population inquiry;
• Protecting the role of councils and communities in town planning; and
• Securing more direct local action on climate change.

Like many in local government - I'll be there tomorrow handing out how-to-vote cards for the team I support. I hope your preferred candidate gets up (providing it is the same as mine!). However, I look forward to working with whichever government is elected to further these important policy objectives for the benefit of Australian communities everywhere.

Cr Geoff Lake
ALGA President

Briefs

LGA SA welcomes $16m roads commitment

The Local Government Association of South Australia has welcomed a commitment by the Coalition that they will address a long standing local roads funding shortfall for South Australia - if they are elected to Government on Saturday.

LGA President, Mayor Felicity-ann Lewis said the announcement by Shadow Minister for Trade, Transport and Local Government, Warren Truss was 'music' for South Australian councils.

"It has long been recognised that the historical funding anomaly, which penalises South Australian local roads, needed to be addressed," Mayor Lewis said. "Since 2003, successive Governments have applied bandaid funding to this unfair funding formula for the allocation of the Local Roads component of the Financial Assistance Grants.

"We are delighted that the Coalition has announced that it will provide additional funding for South Australia until at least 2014.

New association for NSW

The Local Government Association of NSW and the Shires Association of NSW have met and voted overwhelmingly in support of forming a new association to represent local government in NSW.

Over 260 representatives from 123 councils gathered at the One Association Convention in Sydney one Monday, chaired by the Hon Richard Torbay MP.

President of the Local Government Association, Cr Genia McCaffery, said that, "There was a real consensus that the current NSW Associations should join together to form a single, strong and united industry body."

"I was very impressed with the open and respectful way in which so many different speakers from all our councils addressed the Convention. People displayed great courage, tackling all the hard hitting issues surrounding the pros and cons for one association," said Cr McCaffery.

President of the Shires Association, Cr Bruce Miller, said "It's long been acknowledged that we need a united voice in Local Government in NSW, and today we saw an overwhelming majority support to build a new, prominent association that represents the whole state."

The conference required a two-thirds majority in order to progress the concept of one association. Both existing Associations will now take this overwhelming majority vote in favour of forming one association to their upcoming LGA and Shires conferences.

The Garage Sale Trail wins Green Globe award

The first ever Garage Sale Trail that was held in Bondi during May-2010 has won a prestigious Green Globe Award at NSW Parliament House, Sydney. The Media Award for Excellence in Sustainability Communication acknowledged the Garage Sale Trail which was a collaboration between businesses and Waverley Council alongside fellow award recipients including high profile actress Cate Blanchett. Click here for more info and to get involved.

Engaging the people the key to a successful referendum

'ALGA News' has been sent an advance copy of an excellent and very timely new publication, 'People Power - the history and future of the referendum in Australia' by Professor George Williams and David Hume which will be launched in September. The authors analyse Australia's referendum record and explain why success has been so rare with 44 referendum proposals in just over 100 years - a success rate of about 18%. They argue that the key to a successful referendum is truly engaging the people in the political process and propose that Australia establish a small, ongoing Constitutional Review Commission, generate ideas and consult with the public on draft proposals for recommendation to Parliament. A Constitutional Convention should be convened each decade and a Referendum Panel established to oversee public education initiatives in the lead-up to a referendum. The book contains detailed discussion of the five pillars for successful reform: bipartisanship; popular ownership; popular education; sound and sensible proposals; and a modern referendum process. Professor Williams is a constitutional law expert who is familiar to many through his speaking roles at ALGA's recent General Assembly and the 2008 Local Government Constitutional Summit in Melbourne. Professor Williams has provided specialist advice to ALGA as we work towards achieving constitutional recognition for local government. David Hume is a solicitor at Freehills and a Visiting Fellow at the University of NSW. The book is published by UNSW Press with a RRP of $34.95.

Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice

The Australian Institute of Criminology has released the following papers which are available for free download at www.aic.gov.au:

• Financing of Terrorism: Risks for Australia
• Cash in transit armed robbery in Australia
• (Mis)perceptions of crime in Australia
• Indigenous women's offending patterns: A literature review
• National armed robbery monitoring program annual report

diversity@work awards

Nominations for the diversity@work 2010 Employment and Inclusion Awards need to be lodged before Monday 23 August 2010.

The 2010 Diversity@Work Employment & Inclusion Awards will herald the great achievements of Australian organisations at a special Awards evening to be held at the glamorous Peninsula, Docklands on Thursday 14 October 2010.

So join the ranks of Australia's leading academic institutions, government departments, multi-national corporations and not for profit organisations applauded for their leading diversity and inclusion initiatives and programs.

Visit the Diversity@Work Employment & Inclusion Awards website for more information.

Green Building Week

Have your own event during World Green Building Week, and it will be promoted on the Green Building Council of Australia's website.

From 20-24 September 2010, green building councils around the world will showcase sustainability initiatives in the built environment. Councils are invited to:

• Conduct a site tour of a Green Star-rated building
• Host a discussion with a panel of your green building experts
• Present a debate of sustainable design alternatives
• Launch a new product, report or campaign
• Host an interactive, online tour of a green building
• Think outside the square and do something creative!

To participate, simply complete an online form with the details of your event. This year, the GBCA will be hosting two key events during World Green Building Week.

More information at website.

Dog-napper nabbed for contempt

A man who busted his dog off death row before going on the run to protect his pet has pleaded guilty to contempt of court.

Ronnie Gilbertson's Staffordshire terrier-cross Max was to be destroyed last year by Grant District Council, in South Australia's southeast, after mauling a neighbour's dog. After losing an appeal to save Max, Gilbertson, 41, was given time to say goodbye to his dog.

But instead the Mount Gambier man kidnapped his dog from custody and fled to Western Australia - where he eventually had Max put down by a vet. He was arrested in July after the District Court of South Australia issued a warrant.

Gilbertson pleaded guilty to one count of contempt of court. Council lawyer Anthony Floreani told the court the vet in Perth had confirmed Max was the dog that had been destroyed. "We do accept the dog has been destroyed," Mr Floreani told the court.

Gilbertson will face sentencing submissions on Tuesday. The council has launched court proceedings seeking to have Mr Gilbertson pay the costs associated with defending the failed appeal to save Max's life. He could face a bill of more than $20,000. (Source: AAP)

Worker shortages

Australia's agriculture sector has a labour shortage of at least 96,000 full-time workers and 10,000 part-time workers, a new study shows.

The Australian Farm Institute on Tuesday released the study, which concludes that if the sector continues on a business-as-usual course the shortage will worsen, driving up labour costs and limiting future growth in the sector.

Executive director Mick Keogh said agriculture was competing with mining for regional workers, and he believed there was a generally poor perception of the farming sector among school leavers.

There was a lack of defined career paths for younger people and an "indifferent" attitude from employers towards helping workers with additional education or training, he said.

The research backs a National Farmers Federation study released in April that put the workforce shortage at around 90,000.

The study was funded by the institute with Horticulture Australia and Agrifood Skills Australia.

Australian Citizenship Day 17 September

Australian Citizenship Day is celebrated each year on 17 September. Councils are urged to get involved in events and promote citizenship through ceremonies, education and public events. A list of resources and products is available here.

Sister City Forum

The City of Greater Bendigo Community Sister City Committee invites local government representatives to attend a Local Forum on Sister City to be conducted at Bendigo at a date to be decided. This forum is designed to (1) update ideas and skills, to (2) share ideas and invention then introduce municipalities to the Sister City movement all at a local level. Sister City is an energetic movement with many municipalities working towards common goals within Australia and the world. For more information please RSVP your interest by 30 September 2010 to receive updates. In expressing an interest please include your thoughts to help with program content. Conveners are Doug Turner, Tim Gerber and Jeff White. Email address: bendigosistercitiescommittee@bendigo.vic.gov.au

Councils urged to help with suicide prevention strategies

Suicide impacts on many communities. Councils on the Central Coast of NSW in particular have been instrumental in organising family and youth programs partly aimed at tacking high suicide rates, particularly amongst young men.

Each year, Suicide Prevention Australia run a community forum in conjunction with World Suicide Prevention Day. These community forums allow the public to engage and interact with mental health and suicidology experts to discuss a range of topics relevant to the theme. This year's themes for the community forum are: Many Faces, Many Places: Suicide Prevention Across the World and Encouraging Help Seeking and Stigma Reduction: Breaking Down the Barriers.

This year's free forum will take place on Friday, 10th September with doors opening at 3:00pm for a 3:30pm start and is being held at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Sydney. The forum will be hosted by Quentin McDermott (of ABC's Four Corners) and opened by the Honorable Carmel Tebbutt (Deputy Premier of NSW and NSW Minister for Health). To register: go to www.wspd.org.au/forum

Austroads Survey

Austroads is currently conducting a website survey.

Austroads is very keen to gather as much feedback from local government users as possible. Councils are important stakeholders and Austroads would like to know what they think of the website and how it can be improved to better suit local government needs.

Austroads would like to get to know its website visitors better and to understand how they use its website. This means finding out their opinions on how the website works, how easy it is to navigate and how effective it is in providing the information the visitor is looking for. This information will help to improve the website. The survey can be found on the welcome page of the Austroads website. There is also a direct link: Click here to take survey.

Councils to deliver better, faster planning decisions

The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) has launched a new STEP planning process improvement program to help councils identify efficiency improvements, manage compliance and risk, target scarce resources and deliver better outcomes for users of Victoria's planning system.

Cr Bill McArthur, MAV President said the program was an important step forward for local government, where a collective approach would strengthen planning outcomes and address criticisms of the development sector.

"The new STEP program uses an intensive audit and review approach, and participating councils will be able to pinpoint their trouble spots, prioritise areas for improvement and ultimately deliver better and faster planning decisions. This initiative is a tangible demonstration of the improvements that local government is making to give communities and developers more confidence in the State's planning system," he said.

Speaking at the launch, the Hon. Justin Madden, Minister for Planning has also supported the STEP planning program for its potential to revolutionise how State, local government and the development sector work together in the future. This initiative showed the significant value in pursuing process improvements, with the project forecast to create savings of up to $11.7 million annually for the development industry.