Weekly column from Council Courier e-newsletter by Acting CEO Greg Hoffman, Friday 5 August 2016.
Every week, the LGAQ Advocacy team goes into bat for Queensland councils on George Street and in Canberra.
Sometimes we have big wins, at other times the fruits of our labour are less obvious or take a long time to achieve, but the LGAQ is always there making the case for Queensland local government in front of state and federal decision-makers.
Immediately following the March local government elections, the LGAQ called for an independent review of the ECQ’s performance and welcomed the Premier’s announcement that there would be a full review. Unfortunately, the ECQ’s collaborative approach in the lead-up to the elections was overshadowed by serious shortcomings on election day.
This week, the State Government finally confirmed arrangements for the review but has yet to release details. It has taken too long to get to this point and with ECQ sending invoices to councils to pay for the election it can’t wait any longer to get underway. In addition, there must be a local government representative on the review panel to ensure council concerns are fully addressed.
This cannot be a whitewash like previous reviews.
On the federal front, the elevation of the local government portfolio into Cabinet is good news, with the appointment of Fiona Nash (pictured) as Minister for Local Government and Territories, in addition to her roles as Minister for Regional Development and Regional Communications. Also welcome is the promotion of Queensland Senator Matt Canavan into Cabinet as Minister for Resources and Northern Australia.
This week, Acting President Cr Jenny Hill signed letters to these two Ministers and six others, congratulating them on their appointments and reminding them of the key items in the LGAQ’s ten point election policy plan. While the Coalition’s written response to the plan included welcome commitments, we were disappointed about the lack of detail in response to some of our proposals.
We will continue to push for positive outcomes on all of these issues and, given the Government’s wafer-thin majority, will make sure the Opposition and the new cross-benchers representing Queensland in the Senate are aware of the needs of Queensland communities. Our members expect nothing less of us.
Finally, we welcome confirmation this week that Angus Taylor, Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation, will represent the Federal Government at the LGAQ’s Future Cities Summit to be held in Brisbane from 18-19 August. We have secured an outstanding line-up of international, national and local speakers, so get in and register now!