Plenary address by President, Local Government Association of Australia (ALGA), Cr Geoff Lake
E&OE
Thank you Ellen. Good morning everybody.
Can I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land that we meet on, the Ngunnawal people, and to the Prime Minister, to Minister Albanese, to Parliamentary Secretary Maxine McKew - a special welcome to you, we're very pleased to now have you as our Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government, to other ministers and parliamentarians who are here and of course to the mayors from the 565 Councils from around Australia, a particular welcome to all of you.
Can I say Prime Minister how pleased we are about your commitment and your government's commitment to building a partnership between the Federal Government and the 565 Local Councils around Australia.
This is a partnership that has not existed at any other time in the 100 years that National Government has existed in this country, or the slightly more than 100 years. Local government of course is a creation of the state and territory governments around Australia but we exist in our own right, we have a democratic mandate and in 2009 and beyond it is increasingly important that the links between our sector and your level of government are strengthened and are increased because at the end of the day we all serve the same constituents and local communities around the country, I think, who have a right to expect that government will work better together, more cooperatively and will work together to realise objectives that will make their lives better.
Can I also say, and I think I speak on behalf of everybody here today, how happy we've been with the announcements that have happened over the last six months with regard to community infrastructure funding. As Minister Albanese has said more than 3,000 projects are currently underway across the country as local councils are building new sporting facilities, new meeting spaces, new recreational facilities for local communities across the country and that infrastructure could not be more important than in a time like this when the economic situation globally is uncertain and we are in challenging times.
It's times like this that people look to their local community to provide the bedrock and the stability that perhaps is sometimes questioned when people look to what's happening in London and on Wall Street in New York.
So we thank you Prime Minister for what has been an unprecedented level of investment into the local government sector certainly in the last 10 years, $800 million for community infrastructure, money we were not expecting and money that is very greatly appreciated and we thank you very much.
Prime Minister, over the last three days local government from across the country has been meeting here in Canberra and we've been discussing three themes in particular. We've been discussing climate change and the way that councils can play an effective part in partnering with the National Government and also with state governments in mitigating against the effects and consequences of climate change and also ensuring that we're helping communities adapt to the effects and consequences of climate change.
We've also been discussing infrastructure and in particular the community infrastructure program that you announced six months ago at the Inaugural Meeting of Mayors back in November and of course the subsequent announcement that happened in February as part of the second Stimulus Package.
Prime Minister, from our perspective we would be very enthusiastic to see a continuation of that program, perhaps in a future budget year when perhaps some of the coffers of the Federal Government improve. We are aware that times are tough at the moment but that money has been so important for local councils in beginning to address what is a 14.5 billion dollar infrastructure funding gap that is currently facing local communities across the country.
And lastly, Prime Minister, we have also been discussing the financing of local government into the future. We know there's a global economic crisis at the moment. There is also a local economic crisis in councils where councils are struggling to be able to fund the essential services that communities expect and demand that local government provides.
These are services that have been shifted down to local government over the last few years, particularly by state governments, and they are very difficult for local government to pay for off the back solely of a property tax and what we collect through rates.
So we very much value the money that we receive each year from the Federal Government, we value the extra contribution that we've received in the last six months from the community infrastructure funding that you announced progressively over the last six months, but we do highlight that as an area we will be seeking some progress on over the year ahead.
So perhaps in closing if I could say again just how pleased we are to be here for the second meeting of the Australian Council of Local Government, we appreciate your commitment to this meeting and also to Minister Albanese and the other parliamentary members who are here today and we look forward to very fruitful discussions over the course of today.
Thanks very much.
