19 October 2022
Annual Conference a huge success
A big thank you to everyone who was able to attend this year’s LGNSW Annual Conference.
The event was a huge success with more than 900 delegates in attendance to debate and discuss the critical issues that are having the greatest impact on our sector.
Importantly, more than 150 motions were considered during the conference, of which 146 were endorsed.
These motions covered matters of great importance to councils right across the state, including ensuring the financial sustainability of councils, emergency management, housing, environment, jobs and skills, infrastructure, planning laws and much more.
While debate was robust at times, it was also respectful, and it was extremely heartening to see delegates reach consensus on a number of critical issues.
Crucially, each of these motions will now form LGNSW’s advocacy agenda for the coming 12 months. We will have more to say about that in the coming weeks and months.
Future of local government
Another highlight of this year’s conference was the ability for delegates to share ideas and hear from experts about how to overcome challenges and take advantage of opportunities that are unique to local government.
A key theme at the conference was the future of local government.
As part of this, Minister for Local Government Wendy Tuckerman, Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway, Shadow Minister for Local Government Greg Warren, Shadow Minister for Roads John Graham and leader of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party Robert Borsak took part in a panel discussion.
During this discussion, it was encouraging to hear both sides of politics acknowledge the immense challenges and financial strain councils are under due to a myriad of issues, such as a broken rate peg methodology and nonsensical decisions such as determining that Rural Fire Service assets are the property of councils for accounting purposes.
Delegates got the chance to ask questions of each panel member, providing an invaluable opportunity to engage with each politician and hear firsthand how they intend to help local government overcome the sector’s challenges in the coming years.
We also heard an extremely entertaining and engaging presentation from demographer Simon Kuestenmacher.
Mr Kuestenmacher provided an overview of how demographics are changing in every community and detailed the challenges and opportunities that will present for councils over the coming years.
Given the popularity of Mr Kuestenmacher’s presentation, we plan to make this available on the LGNSW website very soon.
Floods taking their toll
Professor Mary O’Kane AC and Mick Fuller APM, who led the 2022 NSW Flood Inquiry, also presented to delegates about the way forward for the local government areas affected by the devastating floods throughout this year.
Professor O’Kane and Mr Fuller detailed the crucial role councils took in the recovery and rebuild efforts, and were both in fierce agreement that local government requires extra funding to better prepare for, and limit the damage caused by, future natural disasters.
The toll the floods and other major events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and bushfires has had on communities was also spoken about by Lifeline International President John Brogden AM.
In what was at times an emotional presentation, Mr Brogden discussed how each level of government played a role in assisting people with mental health disorders and how it was crucial to ensure funding was provided to ensure appropriate mental health services were made available to all communities.
Both of these presentations were extremely insightful and informative and will help our sector navigate these continued challenges now and into the future.
Roads a (w)hole lot of bother
Roads and the damage they have endured due to the extreme weather this year was a major talking point at this year’s Annual Conference.
It was fitting then that Mr Farraway used the event to unveil a $50-million package to help regional and rural councils fix the increasing number of potholes they are dealing with.
While this funding is extremely welcome, it is a literal drop in the pothole (to steal a quote from Cessnock City Council Mayor Jay Suvaal).
It is also extremely disappointing that metropolitan councils are not eligible to apply for this new round of funding. Metropolitan councils have not been immune to the devastation caused by this year’s extreme weather, so it makes no sense that they are excluded from this latest tranche of funding.
To the Minister’s credit, he was the first to point out to delegates that this latest round of funding would not be a silver bullet for the long-term issues affecting our road network.
While I welcome his acknowledgement of LGNSW’s calls for more resources being made available to all councils that will allow us not to simply build back, but also build back better, until we secure more funding to achieve this, rural/regional and metropolitan councils will continue to be placed under immense financial pressure.
AR Bluett winners announced
I would like to congratulate Mid-Western Regional Council and Northern Beaches Council, which were announced as the winners of the prestigious AR Bluett Memorial Award for outstanding achievement in local government.
Mid-Western Regional Council received the award’s Regional/Rural category, while Northern Beaches Council was crowned the Metropolitan winner.
Both councils were extremely worthy winners, leading their respective communities through a number of challenges while still able to deliver a range of key projects for the benefit of many.
Thank you Cessnock and see you in Parramatta in 2023
Last, but by no means least, I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to Cessnock City Council for being such a wonderful host for this year’s conference.
The Hunter Valley proved to be the perfect location and I hope delegates got the chance to take some time out of their busy schedules to sample what Cessnock has to offer.
Our attention now turns to next year and I congratulate the City of Parramatta, which has been announced as the host city for the 2023 Annual Conference. It will take place at Rosehill Gardens from Sunday 12 to Tuesday 14 November 2023.
For a hosting city, the LGNSW Annual Conference is a magnificent chance to highlight everything the area has to offer, and I am certain that Rosehill Gardens will not disappoint as a venue, especially with an impressive ability to host up to 1,000 delegates.
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