6 September 2022
Win! Rate peg review
The announcement that the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) will undertake its long-awaited review of the rate peg is a huge win for the local government sector.
LGNSW has been calling for such a review for some time. These calls became more urgent when IPART capped rate rises at 0.7% for 2022/23, which was the lowest baseline rate cap in more than two decades and was announced just before inflation started to spiral out of control.
While IPART subsequently allowed 86 NSW councils to increase their rates by up to 1.6% and 2.%, it had become abundantly clear to all and sundry that the methodology being employed to determine the rate cap was completely broken.
This welcome review will hopefully bring about overdue changes to the methodology and ensure a new system is introduced that can better reflect economic conditions and the cost involved in providing local government services.
Everyone who works in local government understands that councils strive to keep rates as low as possible. But we are also required to deliver services and infrastructure that our communities expect and deserve and we simply cannot do this with a system that appears to be incapable of pre-empting or reacting to a rapidly changing economic landscape.
I would like to thank the Minister for Local Government, the Hon Wendy Tuckerman MP, for listening to our concerns about the current rate peg system and agreeing to our calls for a review.
Red fleet fight continues
Last week, Country Mayors’ Association Chair Cr Ken Keith, LGNSW Chief Executive Scott Phillips and I attended a meeting to continue our call for the NSW Government to end its nonsensical notion that RFS assets should be recorded on councils’ financial statements and to finally recognise the "red fleet" as State-controlled assets.
Also present at the meeting was a large delegation led by NSW Treasurer Matt Kean, Minister for Emergency Services Steph Cooke, Minister for Local Government Wendy Tuckerman, NSW Auditor-General Margaret Crawford and a vast array of ministerial and departmental staff.
During the meeting, we set out the long history of the burden of the red fleet on councils’ finances, explained that in practice councils don’t "actually" control RFS assets, and demonstrated that the current legislation is inconsistent with the Australian Accounting Standards.
Disappointingly, we did not receive any answers to the pertinent questions we raised. Instead, the government made it clear it had no interest in working with councils on this issue and would not be changing its position.
So, what is next?
I want to assure you this fight is not over and LGNSW will not rest until we extinguish this burden placed on councils by this government.
We don’t know how much longer this government has and a State election around the corner brings a number of opportunities. We have already started speaking to the Opposition, minor parties, and independents, seeking their support for legislative changes to the Rural Fires Act in this term.
We have also included the "red fleet" in our election advocacy. And we will continue to bring community and media attention to the plight of councils at every opportunity.
I would like to once again thank the councils that have supported this campaign. All the support we receive will place more pressure on the NSW Government to reconsider its position.
Welcome Cr Clare Raffan
I would like to welcome Cr Clare Raffan as our newest LGNSW Director (Metropolitan/Urban).
Clare has been a councillor at Canterbury-Bankstown Council since 2017 and in that time has been a strong advocate for keeping the “local” in local government, with a focus on supporting local businesses and the provision of healthcare and community services in her community.
On behalf of the entire LGNSW Board, I look forward to working with Clare as we continue to represent and support our member councils.
Save the Date! LGNSW Rural and Regional Summit
LGNSW will host its Rural and Regional Summit on 20 February 2023 at the Sofitel Wentworth Hotel in Sydney.
This one-day event is specifically dedicated to our rural and regional LGNSW members, with the key issue of housing supply and affordability pressures on the top of the agenda.
Other topics that will be discussed include building back better after natural disasters, mental health, telecommunications and technology in rural areas, renewable energy, and much more.
More information (including registration details) will be released soon, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for updates in the coming months.
Government response to rural and regional health inquiry
The NSW Government’s announcement last week that it will accept almost all of the recommendations made by the parliamentary inquiry into health outcomes and access to health and hospital services in rural, regional and remote NSW is most welcome.
However, as we noted when the inquiry reported back in May, the time for inquiries and reports is long past and what we need now is real action and investment from the NSW and Federal governments to improve rural and regional health services.
This matter remains a key advocacy priority for LGNSW and we continue our call for the NSW Government to fully fund and implement these critical recommendations.
In a positive first step, I applaud the NSW Government’s establishment of a Regional Health Ministerial Advisory Panel, which will advise on opportunities and solutions to improve healthcare services in rural and regional NSW
This panel will include key representatives from the local government sector and I congratulate Parkes Shire Council Mayor and Country Mayors’ Association Chair Cr Ken Keith, and Temora Shire Council Mayor Cr Rick Firman OAM, for their appointment to the panel.
Building regulation inquiry
The NSW Government has also released its response to the Public Accountability Committee’s further inquiry into the regulation of building standards, which finalised its report earlier this year.
LGNSW made a submission to this inquiry in 2021 and appeared at the inquiry hearing in October last year. The Inquiry Report’s recommendations reflected LGNSW’s ongoing advocacy for stronger building regulation.
In its response to the Parliamentary Inquiry, the NSW Government did not support the recommendations calling for the establishment of a new building commission that is separate from the Department of Customer Service (which currently has the building regulation responsibility) and foreshadowed further building regulation changes to be exhibited in coming weeks.
Disappointingly, the government did not support a recommendation to review the adequacy of regulations to assist councils in funding their regulatory and compliance activities.
LGNSW has advocated consistently for this issue to be addressed and will continue to push for fair and proper mechanisms to enable councils to recover the costs of an ever-expanding list of compliance activities.
Represent our sector: EOI – Cemeteries & Crematoria NSW Board
A reminder that LGNSW is seeking expressions of interest from mayors and councillors to nominate for a position on the Cemeteries & Crematoria NSW (CCNSW) Board to represent the local government sector.
Local government has a key role in cemetery management and operation, with council-run cemeteries undertaking almost 50 per cent of interments across NSW and almost all in regional and rural NSW, so the local government voice on the CCNSW Board is essential for our sector.
More information is online ( members only), or please email [email protected] for an information pack. Expressions of interest close on 14 September.
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