2018 state election | Travel reporting | Lawyers and local government | Local government reform | HACC | New Federal Minister and RDA update No Images? Click here Update from the LGA President Vol 3: Issue 1 - Monday 15 January 2018 Dear Mayors and CouncillorsHappy New Year everyone.State election policies are slowly coming out, and I will make sure they find their way into this communique where they are significant for councils. This is a time for local government to stand together and support one another to get our message out, and push for results that help local government and our communities. Thank you for your support and encouragement in 2017. Let's make 2018 our year of reform and success. LGA President Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg 2018 state election There are already a number of council members and staff who have declared their candidacy for the March state election, and the field is growing each week. This is fantastic for our sector, as no one understands better than council members and staff the pressures that councils face to do a lot with a little, and to satisfy the varied and often conflicting priorities of the diverse communities they represent. We also understand the impact that decisions at the state level can have on councils and their ratepayers, and we expect candidates from councils will support sensible local government reform policies that won’t hold back our councils or our State. Below is a list of council members and staff who have been announced as candidates. I encourage you to contact them and let them know what council issues are important to you, and how they can best support our sector and communities if elected to Parliament. This week the LGA is also providing candidate information packs to all known state election candidates to help them answer questions from voters on local government as they campaign in the lead up to the state election. Candidate Party Electorate Lachlan Clyne Liberal Badcoe John Woodward Ind Badcoe Michelle Campbell SA Best Chaffey Kendall Jackson Liberal Frome Andrew Stratford SA Best Kavel Paula Luethen Liberal King Steven Rypp Liberal Lee Andy Legrand SA Best Lee Karen McColl Liberal Light Hazel Wainwright SA Best Mawson Peter Field Liberal Morialta Stephen Patterson Liberal Morphett Sam Johnson SA Best LegCo Travel reporting Last Friday the SA Liberal Party announced that if elected in March they will force councils to publish details of all staff and elected member travel in annual reports (subscriber link). As a sector we comply with all State Government legislation, and if an incoming Parliament were to amend the legislation as it relates to reporting travel expenses, then we would then comply with these new requirements. Curiously the Opposition in the State Parliament is not compelled to release details of overseas travel. Accountability and transparency measures should not just be confined to local government. However, it is concerning that the SA Liberal Party do not seem to believe councils have a role to play in economic development. This is despite our responsibilities being clearly outlined in section 7 of the Local Government Act, which states one of the functions of a council is “to promote its area and to provide an attractive climate and locations for the development of business, commerce, industry and tourism”. Local government funds Regional Development Australia as a partner with state and federal government, and councils have played a key role in China trade missions at the request of the State Government and the Australia China Business Council. If the next State Government and State Parliament believe councils shouldn’t play a role in economic development then they should commit to changing the Act to reflect this. Lawyers and local government Steve Nolis started as the LGA’s Executive Director Commercial last month, and he’s looking at a range of opportunities for councils to save ratepayers money through a more strategic approach to procuring and delivering services. One of his first areas of focus is investigating legal spends within local government, and offering insights as to how we can make the relationship more transparent and efficient with a view to introducing a new service for members. The ambition is to aggregate more local government spend to provide better, more innovative, cheaper, de-risked products and services to councils for the benefit of their communities. Steve was most recently employed as the General Manager of Duncan Basheer Hannon Lawyers so has an excellent understanding of the legal sector, and its relationship with councils. He’ll also be looking at council spends on travel, human resources, energy, public lighting, training and development, and IT, and opportunities for our sector to work together and work smarter for the benefit of our balance sheets, and ultimately the rate payer. I look forward to providing you with updates on Steve’s work throughout the year. Local government reform Feedback on the LGA’s local government reform discussion paper is due by COB this Wednesday. It’s inevitable there will be change for our sector after this year’s state election, and this is our opportunity to identify and drive sensible reforms that will make councils even more efficient. Based on the feedback we receive from councils, a paper will be presented to the January LGA Board Meeting outlining the way forward. Our goal is to present all political parties with a road map for local government reform, and ask for them to support our sector driving its own reform agenda. Victoria is currently in the process of introducing a new Local Government Act that fully embeds rate capping in this legislation, and we want to ensure that efficiencies in South Australian councils are identified and delivered by the sector – not the State. HACC and public health funding commitments The LGA continues to advocate to all parties on the key issues for councils outlined in our 2018 state election platform South Australia. Uncapped potential. One recent win we’ve had has been a $27 million commitment from the current State Government to continue Home and Community Care (HACC) funding in 2018/19. Councils have raised concerns with the LGA that some community care programs currently offered may not continue if HACC funding were removed in the transition to the NDIS, so it is fantastic to see this commitment of continued support for this vital program next year. The LGA has also successfully negotiated a further 12 month extension of the Public Health Program funding to assist councils undertaking their functions under the South Australian Public Health Act (2011). This is a significant year for public health because the Act is scheduled for review by the Social Development Committee of SA Parliament. Similarly, the State Public Health Plan – which sets the context for local councils’ public health planning – is also being reviewed this year. This is also the year when councils will be providing their biennial report to the Minister for Health concerning their public health actions. Securing this funding extension will ensure the voice of local government is stronger and clearly included in these reviews, reports and plans. New Federal Minister and RDA update Dr John McVeigh has been sworn as the new Minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government, replacing Darren Chester. Before his election to Federal parliament in 2016, Dr McVeigh was a member of the Queensland Parliament, and before this was a councillor with Toowoomba Regional Council. I understand that as a result of this Cabinet reshuffle, all current RDA Chairs have been asked to continue in their roles until the end of March, to allow the new Minister to be part of the appointment process. I’m also advised that although applications for the RDA Chair positions have closed, they would be willing to consider further applications if the applicant can provide “a good reason” as to why an application wasn’t originally submitted. Applications should be emailed to both rdaapplications@infrastructure.gov.au and tanya.eaton@infrastructure.gov.au. |