Weekly column from Council Courier e-newsletter by CEO Greg Hallam, Friday 10 June 2016.
Meeting councils in their neck of the woods is one of the fundamental member commitments to which the LGAQ hold itself.
This week we had the chance to meet 100-plus mayors, councillors and CEOs at the Indigenous Leaders’ Forum (ILF) in Cairns on Wednesday and Thursday.
For most of our 17 indigenous member councils, Cairns is a lot closer to home than Brisbane. We are acutely aware of the fact one in every 4.5 of our members is indigenous and many are located in remote parts of the state.
President Margaret joined me and six other LGAQ staff, plus a host of dignitaries including Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs Shayne Neumann and Queensland’s Assistant Minister for Local Government Jennifer Howard, to listen to and speak with indigenous council leaders about their issues.
This was a particularly important meeting so soon after the March elections and given the relatively high turnover of mayors and councillors in indigenous councils.
Leaders of the represented councils were united, passionate and candid in their call for more power and control to solve local issues. They unanimously supported 16 motions dealing with matters ranging from job service provider contracts and funding to problem crocs and ways to lure brekky TV shows to their beautiful communities.
It was a very productive few days and a great opportunity to establish new relationships and renew old acquaintances. So important are these meetings, we will hold a similar gathering the day before the LGAQ Annual Conference on the Gold Coast in late October.
Meanwhile, our LGAQ colleagues were out in other parts of the state delivering further Elected Member training sessions – we are up to number 44 this week with 14 still to go.
It's only a week today until the LGAQ Policy Executive election process concludes and 10 days following that till the folks elected by their peers to guide the LGAQ will jet for the first time.
As usual, there is always someone around to tarnish what has been a positive week for local government. The ill-informed comments by Federal Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry and her Flynn counterpart Ken O’Dowd beggared belief. Their attack on Queensland councils over NDRRA claims amounted to accusations of dishonesty and fraud. Really, we’re responsible for a dodgy claim for fire trucks in Victoria? Quite simply, Ms Landry was wrong. She needs to admit that publicly and apologise to every council in Queensland. President Margaret has advised her of that in no uncertain terms.
Really big news next week about a financial outcome secured by the LGAQ that will warm the hearts of every mayor, CEO and CFO, one only the LGAQ and its subsidiaries could pull off.
And of course, we anticipate some good news for local government to come out of Tuesday’s State Budget. Our advisors have put in a solid submission. Time will tell if the government will provide.