President's Update - Rate capping | Roads & Works Conference | ESCOSA rate capping consultation | Rubble Royalties to be scrapped | LGA President election | Council elections No Images? Click here Vol 3: Issue 33 - Monday 3 September 2018 Note: Due to an administrative error an incomplete version of this update was sent out earlier this afternoon. Apologies for any confusion this may have caused. It was great to meet with many of you in the Barossa at the Roads and Works Conference last week. During the Thursday morning session we received word that Labor would be opposing rate capping when the Government’s Bill reaches the Upper House. It’s not easy standing against populist policies – even those that have historically failed to deliver positive outcomes – and I’d like to thank Labor, the Greens and SA-BEST for opposing bad public policy, and protecting our communities. This is going to be a big week for local government – we’ve got the State Budget being handed down tomorrow, as well as the opening of nominations for council elections. Councils should also be receiving their ballot forms for the LGA’s President election, and I encourage all councils to participate in voting. LGA President Sue Clearihan Rate cappingLast week’s announcement from Labor means that the Government’s rate capping Bill is set to fail. Labor have announced their own plans for local government reform, outlined in a new Local Government (Ratepayer Protection and Related Measures) Amendment Bill that is expected to be introduced into Parliament by the end of this year. We understand their Bill has in-principle support from the Greens and SA-BEST. We want to be a genuine partner in reform, and some of Labor’s proposals are consistent with what our sector has previously proposed, or is currently working towards. There are some proposals though which appear to go too far, especially when you consider the extent of accountability, transparency and oversight provisions that are currently in place across local government. We’ll be taking a close look at Labor’s Bill, and consulting with our members before forming a final position. Minister Knoll has also committed to working with the sector on local government reform, with consultation to commence early next year. I look forward to hearing more about these opportunities, and working with the Parliament and all political parties to further improve local government in South Australia, and deliver real, tangible benefits to our sector and the communities we represent. ESCOSA rate capping consultationWhile Labor, the Greens and SA-BEST have now all committed to voting against rate capping, it’s not over until the Bill is dealt with decisively in the Upper House. While we will sincerely hope it won’t be needed, ESCOSA is currently consulting on a discussion paper that outlines how their proposed rate capping model would work, and have asked for feedback from councils by 28 September. The LGA has undertaken some preliminary analysis to help councils develop their own submissions, and identified a number of potential issues with ESCOSA’s model, including:
We’ve asked for councils to provide us with their individual submissions to ESCOSA, and we will also provide a submission on behalf of members highlighting gaps, issues, and areas which may require further consideration. 2018 LGA Roads and Works ConferenceIt was my pleasure to join almost 300 delegates and sponsors at this year’s LGA Roads and Works Conference in the Barossa last week. As a sector we invest hundreds of millions of dollars every year upgrading and building new infrastructure, and this conference was a terrific opportunity for attendees to learn from each other, and hear from expert presenters about the latest developments in the roads and works field. On Friday morning our Minister, the Hon Stephan Knoll MP, presented to delegates and affirmed his commitment to working with councils, particularly in maintaining safe regional roads. This could include opportunities for councils and DPTI to work together on road maintenance, as has been pioneered on the Eyre Peninsula. State Budget - Rubble Royalties to be scrappedThe new Government will hand down their first State Budget tomorrow afternoon. In the lead up to this year’s election the Liberal Party committed to stop shifting costs to councils, and the LGA has used its Budget Submission to call on them to honour this commitment. This included asking the Government to freeze the Solid Waste Levy, remove the requirement for councils to collect the NRM, scrap legislated community housing rates rebates, and abolish “Rubble Royalties”. We have already had a positive response to one of these requests, with Minister Knoll announcing at our Roads and Works Conference last Friday that Rubble Royalty payments for councils would be scrapped in this year’s budget as a result of advocacy from the LGA and local government sector. Rubble Royalties are essentially a tax on regional councils maintaining safe roads, and removing this unnecessary and burdensome requirement will save South Australian ratepayers around $1 million per year. The LGA will closely monitor the Budget as it’s handed down tomorrow afternoon, and will have analysis of any impacts on local government available on our website from tomorrow night. LGA President electionAs I mentioned in last week’s update, there are five candidates for the position of next LGA President:
Ballot papers have now been sent to all councils, and are due back to the LGA by COB Thursday 18 October. Counting will take place the following day, and I will announce the new LGA President in my weekly update on Monday 22 October, before handing over the reins at our AGM at the end of that week. 2018 Council elections and ratecap.net.auRemember that nominations for this year’s council elections open tomorrow, and will run through to 12 noon Tuesday 18 September. We’ve had more than 200 people attend candidate information sessions held across the state in conjunction with councils and ECSA, and we are hoping to see a broad range of both new and experienced candidates put their names forward. The LGA recently wrote to the Electoral Commissioner regarding the website www.ratecap.net.au, raising concerns that material published on this site was not compliant with the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999. The Commissioner has now responded to us confirming that the website was not properly authorised as required by the Act, and that he has contacted the registered owner of the website to ensure they comply with this requirement. It would be disappointing if this website is an attempt by a political party to stack the 2018 council elections with candidates who support a policy that would ultimately hurt local communities. We expect all candidates standing for election to comply with legal requirements, and we will be watching closely to ensure there are no further breaches by shadowy internet groups. For further information or to submit |