 | |  The release of the tax discussion paper this week calls on Australians to think about how we create a tax system that supports economic growth and higher living standards, improves our international competiveness, adjusts to a changing economy and can accommodate new opportunities. This national discussion on how tax is collected and distributed is running in parallel with discussions about the Federation and the roles and responsibilities of each level of government. The release of the tax discussion paper is the start of the Commonwealth's process of engaging the community on the need for significant reforms of Australia's taxation system. Submissions will guide the development of a tax options Green Paper released in the second half of 2015. There will be the opportunity for further consultation on the Green Paper. The process will culminate in the release of a White Paper scheduled for early 2016. The tax discussion paper looks at our overall reliance on income and corporation taxes, changes to the rate and base of the GST, reforms of State taxes such as stamp duty and land tax (including municipal rates), and the arrangements and exemptions for the not-for-profit sector. In seeking to deliver taxes that are lower, simpler and fairer, the discussion paper asks what the priorities are for state and local tax reform. For local government, consideration needs to be given to the implications of reform to State land tax on rates and how to ensure local government's tax revenue remains sufficient to meet the needs of local communities. It is also important that the effectiveness of tax sharing measures, such as the Financial Assistance Grants, are included in any of the discussion on our tax system. Information on the discussion paper and the larger White Paper process are available here, and submissions are invited by the Government until 1 June 2015. | | | | |  This week saw the release of the Harper Review into Australia's National Competition Policy. Review findings include the need to reform regulations in areas such as the opening hours of shops, the licensing of taxis, the on-sale on imported goods and the introduction of an 'effects test' to determine whether particular practices or regulations are anti-competitive. The Review highlights the need for local government regulations to be considered and treated in a similar manner to state and Federal laws when it comes to influencing competition in the market. The Report includes several recommendations relevant to local government, including the impact of local government's planning decisions and zoning policies. This is based on the view that council decisions have the capacity to reduce competition by limiting the land available for certain industries or commercial activities. The Review highlights the need for current and future economic competiveness to be considered in planning and zoning decisions, but that regardless of the outcome, these decisions should be made as quickly as possible. The Review notes the opportunities presented by improved technology to institute more cost-effective road pricing allowing more funds to be directed to road maintenance. The Review recommends that all levels of government undertake a stock-take of their existing commercial arrangements, including procurement practices, commissioning of works, and public private partnerships, to ensure that government as a whole is not encouraging anti-competitiveness. The Review also proposes that a new Australian Council for Competition Policy should be established to oversee competition reform. Further information and the final report can be found here. | | | | |  Recently Konnongorring farmer Nathan Davey delivered drumMUSTER's 25 millionth drum to the Goomalling collection site. These 25 million containers represents over 30,000 tonnes of materials which have avoided landfill. Once collected, the containers are shredded or granulated and transformed into new products like plastic cable covers, wheelie bins, road signs and bollards. Mr Doug Sewell, President of Goomalling Shire Council and long-time drumMUSTER supporter and inspector, said the milestone container indicated a job well done. "Not only did Nathan deliver the 25 millionth drum, but he was also the first person to deliver his agvet containers to the Goomalling collection site since it first opened in April 2002. "Over 80,000 empty containers have been collected by the council since then, with 80% of chemical users in the Goomalling district participating in the program," said Mr Sewell. drumMUSTER operates 796 collection sites across Australia. For further information on the program can be found here. | | |
| |  The release of the Tax Discussion Paper on Monday this week marks the start of an important national debate about how we collect and distribute Australia's taxation revenue. The Discussion Paper is the first step in the process of developing a White Paper on Taxation which will set out the Government's policy on tax reform and complement the White Paper on the Reform of the Federation, which is looking at how to improve the delivery of government services. From a local government perspective there could hardly be a more important focus for reform. Councils are asked to deliver an increasing range of services and infrastructure, often because the other levels of government have withdrawn from areas, but we do this with a limited revenue base. In fact, local government spends $32 billion annually (about 6% of public sector expenditure) and maintains infrastructure valued at more than $330 billion (more than 22% of the public sector total) while collecting just 3% of Australia's tax revenue. ALGA, and state and territory local government associations, will be participating in the review of Taxation with the objective of ensuring, as far as possible, that our tax system delivers the revenue to local government which we need to meet local community needs. We will be highlighting the need to maintain the integrity of our rating system in the face of rate capping in some jurisdictions, the increasing pressure on councils for rate exemptions and concessional treatment and the imposition of levies by state governments. We will also be exploring how any potential reforms to land tax might impact on councils and what any changes to the GST might mean for local government. A critical issue for ALGA is how to ensure that local government can access revenue streams which grow at the same pace as the economy and the local demand for services and infrastructure. For this reason, the distribution of tax revenue, not just its collection is important. The proportion of Commonwealth tax revenue going to councils through the Financial Assistance Grants has been falling since 1996 when it was 1% of tax revenue. It is currently less than 0.7% and is expected to decline to less than 0.55% over the next 4 years. The Government has stated that all issues are on the table for discussion and has sought public submissions by 1 June 2015. The Government then expects to release a Green Paper on reform options in the second half of 2015 before finalising a White Paper next year. It is important that local government’s voice is heard in this debate and I encourage all councils to make a submission on the Discussion Paper. This is an opportunity to ensure that the reforms which flow from this process strengthen rather than weaken local government’s ability to meet the needs of its communities. Mayor Troy Pickard
ALGA President | | |
| | ALGA President, Mayor Troy Pickard, recently briefed the Australian Labor Party (ALP) Cities Committee at Parliament House providing information on local government planning, e-planning and urban policy. In briefing the Committee, Mayor Pickard stated that local government plays a critical role in the planning of our cities, through strategic planning and the development assessment process. Mayor Pickard stressed the need for a strong policy response at the national level to tackle the many challenges facing Australian cities including the need for more affordable housing and supporting infrastructure. "All governments need to work together to address the myriad of issues facing our cities, towns and regions including environmental, economic, social, cultural, safety, transport and health," Mayor Pickard said. Mayor Pickard will also be engaging with the Coalition's Infrastructure Committee to discuss the Government's approach to cities and infrastructure, and the opportunities to work more closely with local government. | | | | | The Government this week unveiled a new initiative to help people with disability access advocacy services called the National Disability Advocacy Programme (NDAP) Provider Finder. The NDAP Provider Finder is an online resource that will assist people with disability find the right person to help them access the supports they need. The Provider Finder allows users to search by location or by type of advocacy service. It then displays the details on each advocacy service, as well as their service location and directions to find them. You can access the NDAP Provider Finder here. | | | | | The National General Assembly (NGA) is your opportunity to contribute to the development of national local government policy. The ALGA Board is calling for motions for this year's NGA under the theme Closest to the Community: Local Government in the Federation. To assist Councils in preparing motions a Discussion Paper has been prepared and is available here. Motions that are agreed to at the NGA become Resolutions. These Resolutions are then considered by the ALGA Board when setting national local government policy and when the Board is making representations to the Federal Government at Ministerial Councils, during meetings and in ALGA publications. The deadline for submitting motions, 28 April, is fast approaching. You can find information on submitting your council's motions here. | | | | | Fatality Free Friday continues to resonate with the Australian community and this year’s campaign reflects this. As we know road safety is a complex issue and it is impossible to find one single key to reduce road trauma. The campaign aims to have zero deaths on Australian Roads for just one day. However the campaign is more than just a single day. Whilst the target is to have a fatality free Friday ultimately the aim is for longer term community change. Don't forget to make a diary note for the 2015 event being held on Friday 29 May 2015. You can find out more here. | | | | | The Commonwealth Department of the Environment has this week released a new publication The Emissions Reduction Fund - what it means for you. The document outlines how Australian businesses and the community can benefit from the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF). If you are thinking about investing in new technology to improve the productivity or energy efficiency of your business operations you may be interested in the ERF. The ERF aims to create incentives for Australian businesses to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they make. More information and a copy of the publication can be found here. | | | | | Access to Indigenous communities across Western Australia is being upgraded with the Australian Government funding upgrades to 22 access roads. A portion of Western Australia’s Roads to Recovery funding was reserved specifically for Indigenous access roads. "Keeping roads open to our remote Indigenous communities is extremely important for safety and to connect communities with key services such as healthcare, employment and education," the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Hon Warren Truss said. A list of the 22 access roads to be funded can be found here. | | | | | Twenty-five bridges in Western Australia have had $9.56 million approved for major upgrades under the Commonwealth's Roads to Recovery program. "Local governments in Western Australia are responsible for large areas and keeping bridges open is often a difficult task. Whether you live in downtown Perth or the remote Kimberley region, the Australian Government is serious about delivering the infrastructure you need to build your future. Our funding helps to upgrade, repair or replace local bridges that are in poor condition and that have been identified as a high priority," the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Hon Warren Truss said. A list of the projects approved can be found here. | | | | | The National Energy Efficient Buildings Project (NEEBP) is working to improve energy efficiency in new buildings, renovations and additions, on behalf of the Commonwealth, state and territory governments. Phase One of the project identified key systemic or process weaknesses with the energy efficiency requirements in the National Construction Code (NCC). Phase Two is now underway and aims to improve the energy efficiency of residential buildings during construction and renovation. As part of Phase Two projects, the consultancy Sustainability House has been commissioned to propose improvements to compliance and consistency in the application of the NCC energy performance requirements to additions and alterations in residential buildings (Class 1 and 10). A national e-survey is seeking feedback from council certifiers to help guide proposed improvements to energy efficiency requirements for alterations and additions. The survey can be accessed here. Sustainability House also request access to a small subset of compliance reports which demonstrate the different approaches that are used for alterations and additions within your council. Please email example reports to: research@suho.com.au. For more information please contact Sally Thompson by calling 1300 308 525. | | | | | Sydney is on track to become the first city in Australia to reach five million people, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). In 2013-14, Sydney's population increased by 84,200 people to hit 4.8 million with Melbourne increasing by 95,700 people to reach 4.4 million. The fastest-growing capital in Australia is Perth, which grew by 2.5 per cent in 2013-14. Darwin’s population increased by 2.2 per cent, Brisbane's population growth fell to 1.7 per cent just ahead of Canberra's growth of 1.2 per cent. For further information on capital city and regional population change, see Regional Population Growth, Australia (cat. no. 3218.0) available for free download from the ABS website. | | | | | The commercial rollout of Fibre to the Building (FTTB) was announced this week by the National Broadband Network. NBN Co's FTTB product is one of a wide suite of broadband technologies that is already, or soon will be, made available to its customers, 44 phone and internet companies, to sell to families and businesses providing them with more choice. The Multi-Technology Mix enables the company to rollout fast broadband to all Australians sooner and more efficiently. FTTB allows families and businesses in multi-dwelling units (such as apartment complexes and office blocks) to receive fast broadband services by connecting fibre-optic cable to existing building wiring. The FTTB product launch formed a strong foundation for the Fibre to the Node capability which remained on course for a commercial launch in Q3 2015. | | |
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