 | |  ALGA has lodged its comment on the first Issues Paper released as part of the Reform of the Federation White Paper process. The issues paper has been developed in consultation with the States and Territories and the Australian Local Government Association and sets out key matters the White Paper on the Reform of the Federation will consider. This includes the allocation of roles and responsibilities within the Federation, federal financial relations, governance arrangements and performance reporting. ALGA's initial comments provide a broad perspective on the questions raised in the Issues Paper including the need for the roles and responsibilities of all levels of government to be able to vary according to the need for government involvement, the capacity of each level of government and the changing perceptions of national interest and existing responsibilities. ALGA also argues that the Commonwealth should fund activities that are of a national interest, such as the Roads to Recovery program, which delivers improved road safety outcomes and adds to national productivity; and augments local government's own investment in this area. A partnership approach to funding however, does not remove local government from needing to be accountable, which it is, through reporting mechanisms, and ultimately, through elections. To read ALGA's comments click here. The Reform of the Federation Issues Paper is available via the Federation White Paper website. | | | | |  Round one of the Australian Government's National Stronger Regions Fund is open for applications. The Fund will invest $1 billion over five years and support investment in the priority economic and infrastructure areas-from freight and transport projects to convention centres and major multi-purpose sports and community facilities. The Fund will provide between $20,000 and $10 million for up to 50 per cent of the cost of projects. The Fund will invest in important infrastructure projects nominated by local communities. Projects seeking funding will be considered in consultation with the Australian Government's National Infrastructure Committee. The Guidelines for the National Stronger Regions Fund detail the type of project proposals sought, how to lodge an application, how assessments will be conducted, and critical program dates. Applications for round one close on 28 November, 2014. To access the guidelines, and to lodge a round one application, visit here. | | | | |  Councils across Australia this week received advice of their allocation under the Australian Government's Roads to Recovery program. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss wrote to all councils to advise each local government authority of its share of the Australian Government's $2.1 billion injection into Roads to Recovery over the 2014-15 to 2018-19 period. $350 million has been allocated to councils under Roads to Recovery this year, next year the amount is doubled to $700 million. Mr Truss said councils will be able to lodge their Roads to Recovery annual report for 2013-14 and their new projects for 2014-15 during October. "Lodgement in October will allow associated payments under the new Roads to Recovery program to be made this November," he said. This aligns with the usual quarterly reporting and payment regime and means that only one-quarter has been delayed as a result of the legislation being held up in the Senate. "The Australian Government will make up the lost allocation to councils this financial year to ensure no council is out-of-pocket. "I can also confirm that for the life of the 2014-15 to 2018-19 Roads to Recovery period, the minimum amount of their own funds that councils must direct to road construction and maintenance each year to access their Roads to Recovery allocation will be anchored at 2013-14 levels. "The Australian Government regards Roads to Recovery as a vital partnership with local councils, supporting them with the ongoing maintenance of Australia's local road infrastructure, facilitating greater access, improved safety, and economic and social outcomes," Mr Truss said. | | |
| |  It has been a busy couple of weeks with a number of speaking engagements, meetings with new Senators at Parliament House and the ALGA Board meeting. There's certainly no "taking it easy" as my term as ALGA president draws to a close! And I expect it will continue to be busy right up until the November ALGA Board meeting, and National Roads and Transport Congress in Tamworth. Last week I attended the Climate Adaptation 2014 - Future Challenges conference, hosted by the National Climate Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) and CSIRO to take part in a panel session looking at how local government is involved in moving from planning to delivery in terms of adaptation. While some may see planning as the first step and that once the planning occurs, we move on to the delivery phase, I believe that planning work undertaken by councils is much more dynamic. Councils are constantly responding to new information and evidence, and as such planning responsibilities remain ongoing. But, I do acknowledge, that planning without action will achieve nothing. Councils must have access to a high-quality evidence base to assist in making decisions and in developing local and regional adaptation and implementation plans, to ensure we can work towards protecting people, property and infrastructure from climate change. But to do this, local government also needs consistent and coherent state and national frameworks to work within. Local decision making, based on local needs, needs to align with broader policy directions. It was interesting to review the Productivity Commission's draft report on natural disaster funding, released last week, and it also highlights the important role played by local government in the planning area. Among the specific issues for local councils are the identification of priority hazards at the local level and communicating those hazards to property owners, ensuring that local and regional land use planning takes account of identified hazards through robust risk management processes, identifying opportunities to mitigate risks and partnering with other levels of government to fund mitigation measures. ALGA welcomed the Commission's proposal to substantially increase the combined effort of all players to do more in the mitigation space but we recognised that finding more funding for mitigation will pose a challenge for many local governments. There are also major implications for many councils arising from the Commission's proposal that the Commonwealth Government should significantly reduce its funding for recovery. ALGA is reviewing the draft report and will lodge a submission by the 21 October deadline. I urge all councils to look at the draft report and its recommendations and consider making their own submission. Mayor Felicity-ann Lewis ALGA President | | |
| | The early bird registration rate for the 2014 National Local Roads and Transport Congress ends on 7 October, so book today. The 2014 National Local Roads and Transport Congress will explore the themes of Collaboration and Corridors and there will be a strong focus on how we best manage our transport infrastructure and systems and how they contribute to Australia's continued economic growth. An updated program and registration details are available on the ALGA website Make sure you don't miss this important event which plays a critical role in influencing the Federal Government and Opposition on road and infrastructure policies. A key aim of the upcoming Roads Congress during 12 - 14 November 2014, in the transport hub of Tamworth, is to highlight the importance of issues such as Federal funding in overcoming road and infrastructure challenges and reinforce the need for increased and permanent funding under the Roads to Recovery program beyond June 2019. | | | | | Councils have just one week left to take part in the2014 State of the Assets update. The report, commission by ALGA, is being undertaken by Jeff Roorda and Associates (JRA), will update the successful 2013 edition which reported on the state of local government road assets and the degree of asset management and long term financial planning implementation across the country. 344 councils took part in the 2013 survey and ALGA is urging all councils to take part in this year's update to ensure a comprehensive report is developed. The NSOA Report which will be released by ALGA at the National Local Roads and Transport Congress in Tamworth 12 - 14 November 2014. Data for the report must be submitted by Friday 10 October. To take part, register and log on here. | | | | | INDUSTRY leaders are now actively assessing their capacity to deliver the Australian Government's Inland Rail freight project - connecting Brisbane to Melbourne via regional south east Queensland, inland New South Wales and rural Victoria. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss said more than 400 representatives from Australian and international construction and rail companies, consultants and suppliers recently attended briefings in Sydney and Brisbane. Mr Truss said the Australian Government has committed $300 million to enable Inland Rail deliver preconstruction activities such as detailed corridor planning, environmental assessments, community consultation, and commencing land acquisition. The Australian Rail Track Corporation Chief Executive Officer John Fullerton said freight volumes between Brisbane and Melbourne are forecast to triple by 2050, based on 2010 figures. Consultation with industry will continue until the end of the year, with services briefs for planning approvals, reference design, geotechnical and survey designs, as well as environmental impact assessments, expected in the first half of 2015. Businesses wishing to find out more about the Inland Rail Programme Industry Briefings can email: inlandrailenquiries@artc.com.au. | | | | | Anti-Poverty Week will be held from 12 to 18 October, 2014, with the UN's International Anti-Poverty Day on Friday 17 October. The Week focuses on poverty around the world, including Australia, and aims to make the community more aware of the causes and consequences of poverty and hardship; and to encourage research, discussion and action to address these problems. Last year more than 600 organisations around Australia took part in more than 400 activities during the week, with more than 10,000 people getting involved. Visit here for more information or to register your Anti-Poverty Week event. | | | | | SAFETY and awareness in airports across Australasia has been the focus as Australians and New Zealand's participate in the inaugural Airport Safety Week between 29 September and 3 October 2014. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss said Airport Safety Week offered airport employees and contractors a series of events and activities to reinforce the importance of safety at airports. "Air Safety Week will focus on developing and maintaining a safe work environment for all workers." Mr Truss said Airport Safety Week was the first of its kind for the aviation industry. "This initiative is a collaboration between the Australian Airports Association, New Zealand Airports Association and the Australian Airport Safety Forum," he said. "Awards will be presented during Airport Safety Week to recognise employees and contractors who have made significant contributions in supporting health and safety practices in airport environments." Award recipients will then have the opportunity to be nominated by their airport for the National Airport Safety Award which will be presented at the AAA National Airport Industry Awards and Gala Dinner on the Gold Coast on 25 November 2014. More than 70 airport operators signed up to take part in Airport Safety Week. More information on Airport Safety Week is available at www.airports.asn.au/safetyweek | | | | | The Federal and South Australian governments have signed a new bilateral agreement to streamline environmental assessments as part of the Commonwealth's ‘One-Stop-Shop' reform. The new agreement creates a single environmental assessment process that meets the strict standards and protections of both South Australian and Commonwealth law. This agreement accredits South Australian environmental assessment processes under the Development Act 1993 (SA) and Mining Act 1971 (SA) as those processes meet the strict environmental protection requirements under national environment law. Under this agreement, the Federal Government will retain the power to approve or refuse actions, and to attach conditions to approved actions. Public consultation will commence shortly on the next step in the implementation of the 'One-Stop Shop' reform, which is to accredit the South Australian environmental approval system under national environmental law. Further information can be found here | | | | | The Productivity Commission will take on the role of monitoring and auditing Australia's progress in achieving water reform. Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Senator Simon Birmingham said the changes follow the decision to wind up the National Water Commission which will deliver its final Triennial Assessment of national water reform later this year, and key monitoring and reporting roles will be transferred to existing Commonwealth agencies. Under legislation introduced last week the triennial assessments of National Water initiative implementation by state and territory government, as well as five yearly audits on the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan will be undertaken by the Productivity Commission. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences will be responsible for annual reporting on water markets. The Department of Environment will be responsible for assessing milestone payments to Murray-Darling Basin states against the performance milestones specified in the National Partnership Agreement on Implementing Murray-Darling Basin reform. The role of advising the Clean Energy Regulator on effectiveness of water resource plans under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Regulations 2011, will also be undertaken by the Department of Environment. | | | | | Thirty-five natural disaster resilience projects have been supported with funding of more than $4.6 million in Tasmania. The successful projects were announced at the presentation of Tasmania's 2014 Resilient Australia Awards on Friday 26 September. The natural disaster resilience program recipients included a number of councils for projects within their communities. The full list can be accessed here. Tasmanian Police Minister Rene Hidding said five state awards were presented to organisations from the not-for-profit sector, local and state government and private sector in the Tasmanian Resilient Australia Awards. The winners will be judged at the national level in October. Kingsborough Council took out the local government award for its community resilience project. In South Australia, $7 million has been allocated to 37 projects to lessen the impact of natural disasters, including more than $500,000 to work with communities to identify bushfire risks and develop bushfire management area plans and local treatment plans. A complete list of projects is available from the SAFECOM website. | | | | | Disaster assistance has been provided to six Victorian local government areas following storms and flooding in early September. Commonwealth Minister for Justice Michael Keenan said the funding would be made available through the jointly-funded Commonwealth-State Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA). Baw Baw, Benalla, Boroondara, Hume, Knox and Yarra Ranges councils have been included in the disaster assistance. The assistance will assist the councils in their clean-up and recovery after the storms and flooding. | | | | | With just weeks to go, Garage Sale Trail is beginning to kick into top gear. Last month saw NSW Parliament House open its doors for its second blockbuster Parliament House Garage Sale. Offers on the day included a Florence Broadhurst painting, donated by a former employee of the Sydney designer, which sold for $100, an 80-year-old brass horse statue sold for $22, a West Tigers signed jersey for $75, a Cowboys jersey for $80 and an 36-long ornamental pistol, which is reported to have sat on the desk of former ALP MP Jack Fredrick Richardson in the 1950s, sold for $100. The most expensive item purchased being a 1972 letter from former prime minister Bob Menzies and the most talked about was former premier Kristina Keneally's kettle, sold for $10. A similar event will be held in Canberra on 3 October and Tasmania on 16 October. "In addition to our pollies involvement, we are seeing our council partners rally behind the event and put some uniquely innovative ideas into action, like City of Canning council who has rolled campaign signage out across garbage trucks in their region, Tanya Lewis Eco Organiser and declutter expert who recently hosted declutter seminars for local residents and City of Melville who are offering grants to help people participate," Co-Founder Darryl Nichols said. Already over 2000 sales are registered nationally to be held on Saturday 25 October. Find out more about the event at http://www.garagesaletrail.com.au/ | | |
| | |  Using social and online media for effective community engagement 27 November 2014, Rydges South Park Adelaide, South Australia Visit web site here. Hear case study and practical presentations from: - SA Country Fire Service
- Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure
- Becky Hirst Consulting
- SA Water
- Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator
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| | | | | |  The National Local Roads and Transport Congress has always been, and continues to be, critical in influencing the Federal Government and Opposition on road and infrastructure policies. A key aim of the upcoming Roads Congress during 12 - 14 November 2014, in the transport hub of Tamworth, is to highlight the importance of the partnership between councils and the Federal Government and the vital need for ongoing programs like Roads to Recovery and initiatives such as the Bridges Renewal Program. Ensure your voice is heard, register now at ALGA website. Sponsored by:  |
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