Plenary address by President, Local Government Association of Australia (ALGA), Paul Bell AM - Transcript

Can I firstly recognise our - the Minister for Local Government, Anthony Albanese, his fellow ministers, many parliamentary secretaries, members of the House of Reps and the Senate who are here with us. It's great to be at your place. It's one of the best town halls I've seen in Australia.

Can I also just recognise the mayors and those representing their councils here today. It's really an honour for me to be up here on your behalf, just saying a few words about - I suppose, our ambition and our vision and where we want to move forward with the Australian Government.

But thank you for accepting the invitation from the Prime Minister and our minister. I think this is historic. It's a very - for me, a very important occasion in the history of Local Government in Australia, and to be here as a local government groupie at the first Australian Council of Local Governments, this forum of - with the great mayors of Australia and the shire presence of Australia is certainly an honour.

I want to firstly commend the Federal Government, and particularly the Prime Minister, the Honourable Kevin Rudd and our minister, Anthony Albanese, for their vision and personal interest in the fortunes of local governments and local communities.

Since the election of the Rudd Government, I must say that, as your president, I have been treated with respect, with a great deal of engagement, and certainly feel that, you know, that Local Government is a strong part of the Rudd Government's agenda. It's been a good place to be.

I want to thank all those ministers who have allowed me to be a part of their thinking and policy direction, and many of you are here today.

Can I also say that when the Prime Minister made the announcement that the Australian Council of Local Governments would be formed and would be formed by this historic occasion, he did emphasise the importance of infrastructure, particularly community infrastructure, and that was a very strong part of the joint press conference that we held a couple of months ago.

Delegates, this meeting highlights, I think, the close relationship that we are building and need to continue to build with the Commonwealth and our sphere of government minister, our sphere. There's no tears, there's spheres. The three of us working together for a better federation.

But can I say that nothing more to me reflects just how we've moved in the short time, than the presence of the treasurer, Wayne Swan here today. For four years, I've been knocking on treasurer's doors never to be allowed let in, because they always knew they would be asking for what you wanted.

But today and last night, the treasurer has certainly been a part of this great historical event. And Wayne, it's good to know that the treasurer is wanting to know what our needs and our ambitions are, and what the needs of our communities are. That, I think, is just in itself so symbolic about how far we've moved forward with this relationship.

We've got to continue to grow and nurture what's happened here today. We've got 80 per cent of the  mayors and shire presidents of our country here, I believe. And to me when I was mayor, I felt that, you know, that there was a special role responsibility that was given to me. There was a special understanding that I did have about how our community worked. And to me, there was a real, I suppose, opportunity to be able to relay in that a policy sense to both state and national governments.

So today, as I said, is, I think, a first in the world. It's very historic. And it is very significant in the way in which we move our sphere of government closer to the national agenda delivered locally.

And I think that's - it's best recognised that how seriously the Australian Government is taking this partnership, by the way in which they've represented themselves here through ministers, parliamentary secretaries and backbenchers.

Look, in the context of nation building and national priorities, local government is ready.  And it's an able partner to implement flexible solutions.  We need flexibility.  When we see that our largest council has over a million people.  Our smallest council has between 100 and 200 people in their communities.  We have this great complexity of the way in which we've come together for local governance.  So we need to be able to implement flexible solutions, embodying local choice and principles, those that Minister Albanese talked about before, than these that give the local, appropriate effect, and particularly to national agenda.

The participation of so many of you here today is proof that our sphere of government is as committed, minister, as you and the Rudd Labor Government are, to ensuring that our communities are able to move forward in that national agenda in the best way.

This day, councillors will, I believe, give us the opportunity to highlight our successors and the best practice that we are carrying out at our place.  As well as - and I think this is important to plot the way ahead - there are many challenges for us in Local Government and we've got to meet those head on over the next year or so.  Climate change is just one, ensuring that intergovernmental agreement on cost shifting works and to its true potential.  This agreement we signed some years back, where people had some, I suppose, conceptions that this was there just for one reason to only stop cost shifting.  But it is an agreement that allows the three spheres of government to sit down and talk about roles and responsibilities, who pays, who does what, where the accountabilities lie, and for us then to start to reform and be a part of reform of our great federation.

This is local government working towards the unified position, particularly in the way we work within our present framework, but also a unified position in regards to constitutional recognition.  Because, unless were at the table, at the national agenda in our own right, and our own right means that we're in the Constitution of Australia, we will always he there as invited guests.  We'll always be there at the invitation and the opportunity of others.  And when we see modern constitutions being created around the world, including those of South Africa, which we played a great part in, where you see local governments standing with the other spheres of government in that country, because they are written into the constitution, they are a part of the federation, we need to move that issue forward.  Unfinished business, I call it, for local government.

Look, on that issue, of constitution and recognition, I want to remind all of you here at ALGA that the ALGA is - sorry, is convening a constitutional summit in Melbourne.  This is the steak knives and the little ad.  It's on 9 to 11 December.  That summit is the process where well start to put the nuts and bolts on what local government's comprehensive thinking is in regards to what would be a question, where we see local government best being put into the constitution, and how we will then take that forward in our discussions with major parties, with the Government, and others including our state governments, and how we are able then to promote and take forward that issue.

I encourage you all to be there between 9 and 11, because this bring together the end of a year's long process for the ALGA where we started by sending out to every council a pack about, you know, constitutional recognition, where we might go.  We've had a forum of experts from local government, academics, from legal fraternity, federal, state and local government, to think about where we might take our discussion on 9 to 11.  It's a good place to be and that's the end of the ad, so back to today.

Look, the topics for breakout sessions provide us and our sphere of government the opportunity to focus on the big ticket issues that are facing local government and local communities.

We need to think about the big policy response to those issues.  Each and every one of us has got a determined and understanding of what the issues are for us at home.  But what today, are the big policy responses that the National Government and Local Government can work through together, that need to be progressed by the Australian Council of Local Government with the Prime Minister, our minister and other ministers?  Today's incredibly important for us to get up to that big, top policy picture, remembering always though those issues that are driving us to be here today, the reasons why we are here today and the - certainly the needs of the communities that we represent.

I know may of you will have plenty of local examples.  But, as I said, lets continue to ensure that we keep our responses at the highest level.

Local Government in Australia is diverse.  It is a disparate collection of bodies that, I think really identify all of the many of the specific local concerns and shared ideas of communities that want to take our federation, our country forward.  And until all of the communities in Australia are at 100 per cent, and are working at their full potential, our country never will be able to work at its full potential.

There is a great deal of responsibility on us in the Local Government sphere to ensure that we can get this message through today to our national representatives.  Our strength is in our unity, and by focusing on the common concerns, we can move forward.  We've achieved much already, but there's still a lot to do.  I encourage you all to put your minds to the task ahead, work with clarity, vigour and create and shape the future for local government in Australia.  It's in your hands.

After all, there's no important task than to truly serve those communities that you elected to represent and to be - provide the best ability for us all to take our country forward.

Delegates, I would hope that our minister's able to give us an opportunity to think about and how we can continue this process annually, how we can bring the mayors of Australia together in a way that is not done in any other country that I know of, in a way that allows us unfettered access to the policy thinking of our national government, delivering national responses with local solutions, working together, our [indistinct] spheres of government, building a better Australia. 

Thank you and all the best for today.