LGNSW President Darriea Turley AM and Chief Executive Scott Phillips in Canberra with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Connor MP, and others during the Local Government Federal Funding Summit on 7 September.
13 September 2022
Passing of Queen Elizabeth II
It would be remiss of me to write this column without making mention of the profoundly sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
For 70 years, Her Majesty the Queen reigned as Australia’s Head of State. She was the first reigning monarch to visit Australia, doing so 16 times and arguably seeing more of this country than many Australians.
On behalf of LGNSW, I offer thanks for a lifetime of public duty to the Crown and the Commonwealth and extend my deepest sympathies to all members of the Royal family for their tremendous loss.
Council Protocols
A number of members have inquired about council protocols following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Australian citizenship ceremonies should continue to take place and the Queen's portrait should continue to be displayed in line with the Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code. Formal advice from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet states that the Queen's portrait should continue to be displayed at this stage.
The Citizenship Ceremonies team in the Department of Home Affairs has emailed all councils and will continue to provide updates directly to councils as further information comes to hand.
The Australian National Flag should be flown at half-mast until Tuesday 20 September 2022. When flying the Australian National Flag with other flags, all flags in the set should be flown at half-mast.
There will be an official announcement in Parliament for when His Royal Highness, King Charles III, will be announced as the new monarch. Following this announcement, further advice on future protocols (including the use of portraits of the new King) will be provided.
Although Federal Parliament is suspended, council meetings should not be impacted as Australia is not in an official state of mourning.
Local Government Federal Funding Summit
In more upbeat news, last week I joined local government representatives from across Australia at the Local Government Federal Funding Summit in Canberra.
The summit was held to discuss a range of issues, including the financial sustainability of local government as well as support for councils to manage natural disasters, energy transition and much more.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Connor each addressed the summit and detailed the work being undertaken by the Federal Government to address the skills shortage by creating more apprenticeships and traineeships.
The willingness from all stakeholders at the summit to work together to strengthen local government was extremely encouraging and I look forward to continuing these discussions across all levels of government over the coming months.
Win! No ‘benchmark’ waste peg
As part of a review into Domestic Waste Management Charges, IPART raised the possibility of a benchmark waste peg.
LGNSW strongly opposed this proposal and, in a significant win for the sector, the IPART Chair has written to the Office of Local Government and advised it is not in the best interests of ratepayers and councils to implement a waste peg. Instead, IPART is suggesting that the Office of Local Government update its Rating and Revenue Raising Manual to provide further guidance to councils and may initiate performance audits on a case-by-case basis.
I would like to congratulate the many councils that contributed to LGNSW’s advocacy, and the significant involvement of SSROC and WSROC in achieving this excellent outcome for the sector.
Greater Cities Commission Six City Plan
It was also pleasing to see the NSW Government release its Six-Cities Discussion Paper last week, which aims to stimulate conversation about planning for a "Six Cities Region".
This newly expanded region encompasses 43 local government areas across the Greater Sydney metropolitan area, Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle, the Central Coast and the Illawarra-Shoalhaven.
There is a lot in this paper for our sector to digest and a long journey of consultation and discussion ahead. One important area of interest to the 43 councils in the Six Cities Region will be the development of housing targets for their areas.
It is pleasing to see the paper’s focus on ambitious targets to tackle much-needed affordable and social housing delivery, which is a key LGNSW advocacy priority. However, a new legislated requirement is that the Greater Cities Commission will set five, 10 and 20-year housing targets for each local government area and these will be included in the six new City Plans.
LGNSW will be advocating for councils to have consensus in this process.
We look forward to having further discussions with the Greater Cities Commission on how local government can collaborate to deliver on these and other aspirational goals in the discussion paper, which include net zero emissions reduction and the circular economy, lifting sustainable building standards, and actions to address urban heat and tree canopy.
Councils can register with the Commission to keep informed about updates and events for engagement on the discussion paper in the coming months.
Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety
I recently appeared at a Staysafe Committee public hearing to provide comment on LGNSW’s submission to the Speed Limits and Road Safety in Regional NSW parliamentary inquiry.
LGNSW developed a joint submission with the Roads and Transport Directorate (RTD), which highlighted the important role played by local councils as road managers and the need for increased funding to maintain and improve road infrastructure and road safety.
The submission calls for a review of the NSW Speed Zoning Guidelines and a request that local councils should be consulted when determining speed limits. Furthermore, councils need resources to develop Road Safety Strategic Plans and to educate drivers to “drive to the (road infrastructure) conditions”.
I acknowledged that speed is a major contributor to road accidents, however, a universal or blanket reduction in speed zones in regional NSW is not the solution. LGNSW and RTD maintain that a case-by-case review of speed limits, in consultation with councils, is the appropriate response.
View the joint submission
Release of EPA Draft Climate Change Action Plan
The NSW Government has pleasingly started to take the first steps to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Consultation is under way on the draft Climate Change Policy and draft Action Plan 2022-2025, with a staged approach to collect data, provide guidance and set sector-wide targets for EPA licensees. This will include councils that hold licences for infrastructure such as landfill sites, waste-water treatment plants and quarries.
The action plan aligns with LGNSW’s calls for urgent action to implement policy and programs to achieve emissions reduction targets. If you would like to contribute to LGNSW’s submission, please email Denise Anderson, LGNSW Senior Policy Officer, Environment.
Disaster Ready Fund
The Federal Government has introduced legislation to establish the Disaster Ready Fund.
The intention of the fund is to improve Australia’s disaster readiness by investing up to $200 million per annum to build resilience to, prepare for or reduce the risk of future natural disasters, and build the long-term sustainability of communities that are at risk of being affected by a future natural disaster.
The legislation will repurpose the Emergency Response Fund by turning it into a dedicated ongoing source of funding for natural disaster resilience and risk reduction.
Response and recovery remain incredibly important and, although this fund is not yet law, LGNSW welcomes this renewed focus on resilience, which directly aligns with our longstanding calls for state and federal governments to provide far greater investment to build more resilient communities.
Registrations open for the LGNSW Human Resources Summit
LGNSW will stage its Human Resources Summit between 16 and 18 November at Rydges World Square in Sydney.
This event has been specially designed to provide HR professionals with the practical strategies and insights needed to address key workforce challenges that are facing local government today.
There will be a range of expert speakers who will provide evidence-based insights as well as the chance to connect face-to-face with the local government HR community and enjoy dedicated networking time.
More information and register
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