By Dr Karin Alexander* In the 1930s, American scientists and public health researchers made a simple, but profoundly important discovery. People living in towns with around one part per million of fluoride found naturally in their drinking water had much less tooth decay that people whose drinking water contained lower levels of fluoride. All water […]
13 January, 2014
By Professor Edward Blakely* The United States has dealt with more disasters in the last four years than any period in nearly a century. This path of destruction has been underlined by the numerous floods, tornadoes, cyclones and other man-made disasters like the horrible fertiliser plant explosion in Texas. While these disasters make the headlines, […]
8 January, 2014
By Rob Forsyth* The change of government at the Commonwealth level will have no impact on the general move by the public sector toward greater acceptance of Cloud platforms to deliver citizen services. In fact, the new Coalition government will almost certainly accelerate this process. After several years of high-level policy development, the rubber is […]
8 January, 2014
[Editor’s note: this piece was written prior to Australia’s Ashes victory] By Simon Sharwood* Australia’s men’s cricket team is a joke [they’re not really a joke as they won the Ashes]. The Wallabies aren’t much better and our Olympians flopped. But this can all be fixed if Australia’s three tiers of government change the way […]
6 January, 2014
By Ken Morrison* Australia is undergoing a period of transition and our economy must move with the times. While the mining investment boom is waning, the people boom from Asia is just beginning and Australia is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this opportunity, offering a range of services including tourism. Tourism directly employs more […]
19 December, 2013
By Paul Hemsley Councils in Tasmania are backing the idea of a state-based Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) after a new independent report found the move could generate long term savings for local governments in kerbside waste collection and disposal. The fresh look at the potential value of a CDS on the Apple Isle comes after […]
19 December, 2013
By Paul Hemsley Canberra’s long awaited light rail project is gaining momentum as the Capital Metro Agency has commenced a search for technical advisers to guide the project towards its procurement phase in 2015. These technical advisers will be expected to have expertise in transport planning, engineering design, light rail operations, environmental assessment, urban design, […]
17 December, 2013
By Paul Hemsley and Julian Bajkowski The New South Wales government has moved swiftly to use its new authority to bring badly struggling local governments in the state to book through issuing a notice of suspension under Early Intervention powers. The state’s Local Government Minister Don Page on Tuesday hit Central Darling Shire Council with […]
11 December, 2013
By Paul Hemsley City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore is looking to boost the number of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras monitoring central streets as part of the council’s ongoing campaign to make the city safer after nightfall. After prominently backing the NSW Police crackdown on booze fuelled violence and disorder in some of Sydney’s […]
10 December, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Victoria’s network of council run public libraries could soon be set for a centralised overhaul after a key government report recommended the adoption of a single state-wide library card, radio-frequency tracking of books and new platform to allow digital resources like e-books to be borrowed. The biggest review of public libraries ever […]
5 December, 2013
By Paul Hemsley and Julian Bajkowski There’s no shortage of awards and prizes for sustainability initiatives, but Sydney’s Randwick City Council has taken out top honours over its state local government peers for its unwavering commitment to a long-term, well-rounded suite of community measures designed to deliver water, waste and energy savings. The Eastern Suburbs […]
4 December, 2013
By Paul Hemsley The Queensland government has given councils the all-clear to take aim at “problem” flying foxes in an effort to mitigate the potential health hazards they present. The approval follows a long campaign by councils which demanded that the state government cut “red tape” that previously hindered them from shifting flying fox infestations. […]
3 December, 2013
By Paul Hemsley and Julian Bajkowski The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) has made a reinvigorated push stop the states and Canberra from dumping more service delivery functions on the doorsteps of councils without sufficient and ongoing funding. The peak body’s submission to the Abbott government’s National Commission of Audit, which is tasked with reviewing […]
3 December, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Local governments and ratepayers financially stung by the collapse of merchant bank Lehman Brothers are poised to recover close to 50 cents in the dollar from their losses after lawyers representing dozens of councils said liquidators of the failed institution had finally agreed to a settlement, conditional on Court approvals. Litigation funder […]
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