14 March 2023

International Women’s Day lunch a fantastic success

Last week’s sellout International Women’s Day lunch was a fantastic success – many thanks to all those who attended, and especially to our wonderful guest speaker Amna Karra-Hassan. Her work for women of minority communities in Western Sydney is nothing short of inspirational and her warm and witty keynote address helped take the event to new heights. 

I can now reveal we’ve been lucky enough to secure an equally inspirational guest for our next big event – the Destination and Visitor Economy Conference on Sydney’s beautiful Northern Beaches from Monday 29 May. Today I’m invoking “President’s Privilege” to offer a sneak peek via from our Keynote Speaker! You can also check out some footage of our past DVE Conference, and members can also  access our early bird discount rates on our dedicated website.

Environment and a circular economy for NSW

With Global Recycling Day coming up this Saturday, it’s particularly timely to take a closer look at the environment and circular economy calls included in our LGNSW Election Priorities.  

LGNSW continues to call for greater investment in initiatives that will improve environmental outcomes, including the need for urgent action to address the climate crisis, better policies to reduce waste and fit-for-purpose protections for biodiversity of native habitats.

We have seen some good initial commitments from both major parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the NSW Greens commit to reinvesting the waste levy and a broad consensus that the current Biodiversity Offsets Scheme is not fit for purpose. But there is so much more that could be done. Read more in this week’s feature article.

New Webinar Series to kick off in April

If you enjoyed the Climate Change Webinar Series we ran last year in partnership with the NSW Government Sustainable Councils Team, don’t miss out on this year’s program: a five-part Net Zero webinar series that kicks off next month.  

Webinar One – Assessing EV Site Feasibility – will drill down into how to make the shift towards electric vehicles in your area, and will be held on Thursday 27 April from 10.00am–11.30am. The session will look at the role of solar photovoltaics, batteries and load control in overcoming grid constraints.

More information and register

Future webinar topics in this series include Sewage and Water Treatment Plant Energy Efficiency, Net Zero Pools, and Lighting Specifications for councils.

Intergovernmental Agreement election priority focus

We continue our call for all parties and candidates to support an Intergovernmental Agreement between LGNSW and whoever forms government following the coming state election.

Strong and cooperative partnerships between local and state governments will ensure the effective implementation of policies to the benefit of communities across NSW.

An Intergovernmental Agreement between LGNSW and the NSW Government should include a commitment to no forced amalgamations, to respecting the status of local government as a sphere of government, a commitment to reasonably consult with the local government sector prior to any reforms impacting councils and a very clear commitment to ensuring the financial sustainability of councils across NSW.

I am pleased that the NSW Greens, the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, and NSW Labor have all agreed to support the development of an Intergovernmental Agreement with LGNSW, and I continue to call on the Coalition to provide a response to our election priorities.

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