LG Reform Forum | Rate capping | Building a better SA | State election policies and commitments | State election candidate update No Images? Click here Special weekly update from the LGA President Vol 3: Issue 6 - Monday 19 February 2018 Dear Mayors and CouncillorsLast week I was in Canberra with Matt as well as Immediate Past President Dave Burgess for the ALGA strategic planning session, to set our board's agenda for the next year. This was a great opportunity to ensure that SA’s priorities reach the national table. A quick meeting was also arranged with the new Federal Minister John McVeigh, where we discussed a range of grant funding areas that have stalled. Meanwhile, back home the corflutes have covered our communities, meaning the election campaign is well and truly here! LGA President Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg LG Reform Forum – change of date We have now confirmed a new date for our Local Government Reform Forum. This event will be held at the Stamford Plaza on Thursday 29 March, from 12.30-4.30pm, with an opportunity to catch up with local government colleauges over networking before heading into the Easter long weekend. The Forum will be an opportunity for you to hear about our work on future directions for reform, benchmarking, and the code of conduct, and also provide input into the LGA’s advocacy agenda. I hope you will be able to make the time to attend this important event. Rate cappingIn the last week we’ve seen claims from the SA Liberal Party that rate capping is working well in both NSW and Victoria. It’s not. Research published last year shows that after four decades of rate capping NSW councils have higher levels of debt, higher infrastructure backlogs, and higher fees and charges than South Australian councils. LGNSW President Cr Linda Scott recently spoke to Sky News about the impact rate capping has had on her state’s councils and communities, and again to me about this issue in Canberra last week (click links below to view). In Victoria, rate capping is creating more red tape, with the system costing around $3 million a year to administer and getting more expensive. It’s already impacting on the sustainability of some regional councils, and after three years of rate capping, Victorian councils are being forced to defer or cancel planned infrastructure upgrades, reduce services and increase fees and charges. Apparently the Liberal Party thinks this is a good outcome for local communities. There’s suggestions that – even with the cap – rate increases could reach 5% this year as a result of China’s new ban on accepting foreign waste. We don’t fully know what the impact of China’s waste ban will be here in SA yet, but like power prices and cost shifting, it’s another external pressure on council budgets. Responding to SA Best’s Local Government Policy last week, Steven Marshall made it clear he doesn’t want councils to take on any additional responsibilities. I assume this means that in yet to be released policies by the Liberal Party, councils will not be involved in infrastructure partnerships, environment initiatives or planning should they win government. The SA Liberal Party have said their policy will address state government cost shifting, but have offered no support to roll back cost shifting on the Solid Waste Levy, community housing rebates, NRM collection, or ‘Rubble Royalties’. South Australian councils actually raise the lowest annual revenue per capita in Australia - $1,329 compared to $1,605 in NSW and $1,599 in Victoria. Rate capping has failed NSW, is already failing in Victoria, and their experience is a good indication of what we could expect if it were implemented here – and it’s not good. Building a better SAOur 2018 state election platform – South Australia. Uncapped potential – outlines a range of opportunities for the State Government to partner with councils to deliver infrastructure priorities. Relative to annual income, SA’s local government sector is three times more asset intensive than the state government, and nine times more asset intensive than the federal government. This makes asset management a critical responsibility for councils, and one which requires fair and equitable access to funding. With this in mind, we are asking all parties to commit funding to a range of infrastructure priotities, including
More information about local government’s role and constraints as an infrastructure provider, and these specific opportunities is outlined in this document. State election policies and commitmentsI can’t recall a state election in which councils have featured so prominently in media coverage and election debates. With the issuing of the writs on Saturday, the 2018 state election campaign is now well and truly underway, and we can expect to see more announcements, policies and commitments in the coming weeks. Australian Conservatives Last week the Australian Conservatives announced that they would like to see the role of the Minister for Local Government strengthened, with additional oversight powers. As an Association, we have advocated for the Minister to take a stronger stance on some issues for the sector, such as the code of conduct. However, extending the Minister’s powers of intervention too far would risk politicising decisions made about our sector. The redrafting of the Local Government Act in 1999 removed a number of powers for the Minister for Local Govenment, and we believe it is appropriate that the majority of interventionist powers are vested in independent bodies appointed by the Parliament, such as the Ombudsman or Independent Commissioner Against Corruption. SA Best Following the recent release of their Local Government Policy, SA Best released their Regions Policy last week. It addresses four key areas highlighted in the LGA’s state election platform - a ‘Royalties for Regions’ program with at least 25% of mining royalties and in addition to existing departmental spending, establishing population targets, improved funding for rural road maintenance, and boosting funding to address mobile blackspots. SA Best also announced their plan to create an independent body to deal with all new local and state heritage listings. Councils currently play an important role in identifying and nominating the iconic buildings and designs that tell stories of the people, places and events that shaped their local area. Local government’s role in preserving local heritage should not be diminished in any way. SA Labor SA Labor released their state election platform yesterday. Their policies are collated in quite a sizeable document, and we will review it this week and report back on implications for local government next Monday. However, it was good to see that the policy platform reinforces SA Labor’s opposition to rate capping, and forcing amalgamations on communities. SA Liberal Party The SA Liberal Party have confirmed they will introduce rate capping legislation in their first 100 days of government. State election candidate update The below is a list of known candidates from local government contesting the 2018 state election. Lachlan Clyne • Liberal • Badcoe • lachlan.clyne@sa.liberal.org.au John Woodward • Independent • Badcoe • badcoe2018@gmail.com Trevor Scott • Australian Conservatives • Chaffey • Email TBA Jassmine Wood • SA Best • Colton • jassmine.wood@sabest.org.au Karen Hockley • SA Best • Davenport • karen.hockley@sabest.org.au Carol Martin • SA Best • Enfield • carol.martin@sabest.org.au Kendall Jackson • Liberal • Frome • kendall.jackson@sa.liberal.org.au Kris Hanna • SA Best • Gibson • kris.hanna@sabest.org.au Tom Antonio • SA Best • Giles • tom.antonio@sabest.org.au Marijka Ryan • Independent • Hartley mryan@ecotecpm.com.au Lynton Vonow • Greens • Heysen • heysen@sa.greens.org.au Andrew Stratford • SA Best • Kavel • andrew.stratford@sabest.org.au Paula Luethen • Liberal • King • paula.luethen@sa.liberal.org.au Steven Rypp • Liberal • Lee • steven.rypp@sa.liberal.org.au Andy Legrand • SA Best • Lee • andy.legrand@sabest.org.au Karen McColl • Liberal • Light • karen.mccoll@sa.liberal.org.au Heidi Greaves • Australian Conservatives • Mawson • heidi.greaves@bigpond.com Hazel Wainwright • SA Best • Mawson • hazel.wainwright@sabest.org.au Peter Field • Labor • Morialta • peter.field@alp.org.au Stephen Patterson • Liberal • Morphett • stephen.patterson@sa.liberal.org.au Gary Johanson • SA Best • Port Adelaide • gary.johanson@sabest.org.au Sam Johnson • SA Best • LegCo • sam.johnson@sabest.org.au Gail Kilby • Independent • LegCo • votegailkilby@gmail.com For further information or to submit |