Constitutional recognition supported by almost 70 per cent of councils

In a series of presentations to state and territory local government association conferences around Australia, ALGA President Genia McCaffery addressed the annual conference of the Local Government Association of Tasmania this week.

Mayor McCaffery talked about the need for the Constitution to be a living document and to reflect how the system of government has changed since Federation.

"We believe that the Constitution should reflect the history of the past 110 years and the current partnership between the Commonwealth and local government in funding and delivering services to communities," she said.

"We have taken a huge step forward with the announcement by Minister Crean at the ALGA 2011 National General Assembly in June, of the establishment of an Expert Panel on constitutional recognition of local government. This is extremely important because we now have a process to move forward towards a referendum on local government by 2013 and to make the ALGA proposal for financial recognition the basis of the question."

It is now critical that we reinforce the vital role that councils play in the community and strengthen community support for local government's inclusion in the Australian Constitution.

"We need all councils to put their support behind the campaign," Mayor McCaffery told the conference.

"To date, 378 councils, or 67 per cent of councils, have passed resolutions supporting constitutional recognition but we need all councils behind the campaign."

"ALGA does not underestimate the task ahead, but we need 100 per cent support so that we can send a strong message to politicians and the wider community. Both major political parties have said that they need to be convinced that there is wide support for the proposal, before they commit to a referendum."

"We need to send the message that this proposal is good for the community, good for local government, good for the states and good for Australia."

Adapting to climate change

While the Australian Government seeks to introduce a price on carbon, ALGA continues to work on the equally important need to address climate change impacts that are already recognised by the Government. Under state and territory law, local government is charged with a broad range of responsibilities in relation to natural and man-made hazards and pollution. However, in recent years, with new research and more information about climate change, as well as recent court decisions, there is growing uncertainty about the extent of liability and responsibilities of local government to address climate change.

ALGA has commissioned Baker & McKenzie, a highly regarded international law firm, to develop a report which examines the legal basis of local government's responsibilities and risk of litigation in the complex field, and to provide recommendations on how to improve the legal framework within which local government works. The report will be considered by the ALGA Board at its next meeting, when appropriate action will be determined to implement the recommendations. ALGA's consultants presented preliminary findings of the report to the Coast and Climate Change Council this week, which highlighted the need for greater national consistency and support for councils in their task of addressing climate change.

The Coasts and Climate change Council was established in last 2009 to engage with communities and stakeholders and to advise the Federal Government on key issues. ALGA is grateful to the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency for its support for this important report.

COAG Reform Council Consultation on Cities Planning

The COAG Reform Council held its second workshop on cities planning in Brisbane on 21 and 22 July.

The workshop is part of the COAG work on metropolitan planning which includes an assessment of capital city strategic plans by the COAG Reform Council. The Reform Council was also tasked with supporting continuous improvement of capital city strategic planning and sharing best practice planning approaches.

The workshop focused on supporting the private sector to deliver change and brought together more than 60 participants from the Commonwealth, state government, local government, peak bodies and the private sector to discuss issues such as jobs, housing and infrastructure.

Following the Prime Minister's announcement last week outlining the Australian Government's decision to introduce carbon pricing, I have written to the Minister for Climate Change, the Hon Greg Combet, seeking a meeting with him to discuss the role of local government in helping to address climate change and some issues of specific concern to local government regarding the potential impact of the carbon price mechanism on councils.

Consultations with our state and territory local government associations about the proposed scheme have raised particular concerns about the treatment of waste and emissions from landfills. We are concerned about the potential number of councils, including relatively small regional councils, which are expected to be subject to the carbon price scheme and the challenges they are likely to face in meeting the administrative requirements of the scheme. We are keen to discuss the likely rise in council rates to cover the costs of pricing carbon and whether this rise has been factored into the Government's compensation package for households.

At the forefront of my mind is the need to ensure that relatively small councils, which are likely to fall within the Government's list of 500 top polluters because of emissions from their landfills, have the support necessary to enable them to meet the administrative burdens of the scheme. Of these small councils, some have workforces of less than 200, conservative budgets, are not major multinational corporations and do not have access to the sort of resources and expertise available to major electricity producers or mining companies.

As I have highlighted previously, determining how to measure carbon pollution from waste, such as emissions from landfills, is not clear.

I am looking forward to the opportunity to meet with the Minister Combet to discuss technical issues surrounding waste-related pollution so that councils can understand their obligations under such a scheme and how best to manage carbon pricing and energy efficiency.

ALGA will provide further advice to state and territory organisations once we have received clarification of the Government's position on these issues.

Mayor Genia McCaffery
ALGA President

Briefs

NSW planning system to be reviewed

The NSW Government has announced the joint chairs of the first comprehensive review of the NSW planning system in more than 30 years.

The review will be chaired by Senior Commissioner of the Land and Environment Court Tim Moore, and former NSW Minister, Ron Dyer.

The review will begin with a listening and scoping stage to identify the key outcomes and principles for a new planning system, followed by preparation of an options paper and a white paper, which will set out the Government's new planning framework and draft legislation.

For more information, click here

National trial for school students with disabilities

A trial program is underway in 150 schools to help develop a nation-wide, consistent model to identify students with disabilities and lead to a better understanding of the funding and support needs of schools.

Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, said there is currently no agreed national definition of disability in the education sectors, making it difficult to compare the information collected by states and territories on how many students have disabilities and what level of support is being provided.

The trial is being conducted across a representative sample of schools by PriceWaterhouse Coopers, with the results to be presented to all Australian Education Ministers in October. Once a national definition is agreed by Ministers, it will be used for data collection and reporting, for example on the My School website.

More information about the trial can be found at the following website.

More councils pass resolutions

The total number of councils passing resolutions in support of constitutional recognition of local government has this week reached 378.

Councils below have this week advised ALGA that they have passed resolutions.

• Shire of York (WA)
• Walcha Council (NSW)
• Clarence City Council (Tas)
• Ashfield Council (NSW)
• Byron Shire Council (NSW)
• Campbelltown City Council (NSW)
• Central Darling Shire Council (NSW)
• Inverell Shire Council (NSW)
• Maitland City Council (NSW)
• Murrumbidgee Shire Council (NSW)
• Tamworth Regional Council (NSW)
• Temora Shire Council (NSW)
• Weddin Shire Council (NSW)
• Wollongong City Council (NSW)

For further information contact Monica Telesny on (02) 61229433 or monica.telesny@alga.asn.au.

LIFE Award 2011 nominations open

Suicide Prevention Australia (SPA) is pleased to announce the opening of the nomination period for the 2011 LIFE Awards.

The LIFE Awards occur each year with the aim of recognising the outstanding and exciting work being done within the suicide prevention sector by individuals, communities and business.

This year the number of categories has grown to reflect the changing nature of suicide prevention and the means in which it is undertaken.

The judging panel consists of government representatives, community leaders, various SPA Board members and specialist in most categories.

The nomination form can be found here.

Keep Australia Beautiful Week to focus on our waterways

Removing litter from waterways is the goal of this year's Keep Australia Beautiful Week, which kicks off on 22 August.

Keep Australia Beautiful Week is designed to remind people about the simple things they can do in their daily lives to reduce their impact on the environment.

Local councils and businesses are being asked to download campaign posters to highlight the impact litter has on communities. They are also being invited to enter the Australian Sustainable Communities Awards consisting of the Tidy Towns, Sustainable Cities and Clean Beaches Awards.

To find out more about the awards and how communities can make a difference to the environment, click here.

Aussies urged to recycle old mobiles

Seven time world champion surfer, Layne Beachley, has joined MobileMuster and Landcare Australia to give Australia's coastline a helping hand.

Through the 'Old phones, more trees' campaign, MobileMuster, the mobile phone industry's official recycling program, aims to collect 250,000 handsets and plant up to 25,000 trees around Australia's coastline.

"Every old mobile phone recycled with MobileMuster will enable Landcare and Coastcare groups to make real a difference to our coastline. The campaign will also keep old mobiles out of landfill and recover over 90 per cent of the materials in the phones to make new products," Layne Beachley said.

MobileMuster will donate 25 grants of $2,000 each to Landcare Australia and Coastcare groups. Grant application forms and criteria are available here.

For details on how to recycle a mobile phone click here.

Kununurra's drumMUSTER mission

Staff at the Wyndham-East Kimberley Shire Council have played their part in the local drumMUSTER collection drive, by undertaking inspector training.

This is fantastic news for the region, with increased access to the service providing a boost to those who need to safely dispose of their empty, pre-cleaned chemical containers.

Established in late 1998, drumMUSTER works with shire councils all over the country to set up collection sites and in its relatively short history has helped collect and recycle over 17.3 million containers.

To find out more about the program, call 1800 008 707 or click here.