By Paul Hemsley and Julian Bajkowski The City of Sydney has pulled the plug on its landmark $500 million project with energy services provider Cogent Energy to develop a home-grown trigeneration energy program, blaming the federal government’s decision to lower the future carbon price, regulatory changes, inflexible electricity networks and the removal of ‘precinct’ based […]
12 June, 2013
By Paul Hemsley Federal Minister for Industry and Innovation Greg Combet has attacked state and local governments for not buying enough Australian-made cars for their vehicle fleets, suggesting that 70 per cent of local government purchases come from foreign manufacturers. Mr Combet’s sharp criticism over the low purchasing rate of locally-made cars comes as Ford […]
11 June, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski A referendum that could give financial uncertainty to federally funded local government projects like Roads to Recovery is again in doubt after another outbreak of internal attacks within the Labor that threaten to topple Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Less than week after crucial legislation to hold a referendum finally cleared the House […]
11 June, 2013
By Paul Hemsley The ubiquitous sight of wheelie bins cluttering-up the footpath on rubbish night could soon be a thing of the past for sardine-style residents of inner-city Sydney if an experiment that banishes household refuse to underground hoppers goes to plan. City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has announced a novel trial of […]
7 June, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Opponents to a change in the Constitution that could give financial recognition to local government through a referendum at the 14th September federal poll have launched their official campaign with an attack by former Howard government minister Peter Reith on the Nationals leader in the Senate,. Barnaby Joyce. After months of sniping […]
3 June, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski The Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sports has come under fire from the Opposition during Senate Estimates over the rate of progress in its efforts to mount a civics campaign to inform Australians about the looming referendum on whether or not to give financial recognition to local government in […]
30 May, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski The New South Wales Department of Premier and Cabinet has moved to clear up confusion over whether or not strict new prohibitions on the use of council resources for partisan election campaigning would also capture local governments pushing for a ‘yes’ vote in the forthcoming referendum. According to a statement from the […]
28 May, 2013
By Paul Hemsley and Julian Bajkowski A fresh row over how councils can use video surveillance and CCTV in New South Wales has erupted after moves by Local Government Minister Don Page to relax privacy regulations governing cameras encountered resistance from the Greens in the state’s upper house. The Greens have moved a motion that […]
28 May, 2013
By Paul Hemsley The mayor of Greater Bendigo Council has put the hard word on Victorian Premier Denis Napthine and Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews to come clean on their positions on Constitutional recognition of local government amid sniping from the state government over the looming referendum on the issue on 14th September, 2013. The demand […]
24 May, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski and Paul Hemsley Two waste management companies in Victoria have been raided by police and the state’s environmental regulator following a six month investigation across three local governments over “suspected illegal activity with regard to a number of landfills and transfer stations in Gippsland.” The Environment Protection Authority of Victoria said today […]
22 May, 2013
By Paul Hemsley The City of Sydney’s long-delayed redevelopment of the inner-city precinct of Green Square is finally taking shape following the appointment of international consulting group AECOM to design the landscape architecture for the massive new build. The proposed Town Centre has been on the cards for development since the 1990s, when the City […]
21 May, 2013
By Paul Hemsley and Julian Bajkowski Councils in New South Wales have repudiated claims by the state’s Minister for Local Government, Don Page, that an amendment to the Constitution to allow financial recognition of local governments will lead to pork barrelling as baseless scaremongering. As the September 14th referendum debate heats up, joint presidents of […]
21 May, 2013
By Keryn Curtis Alzheimer’s Australia is calling for every local government across Australia to make their towns and cities dementia friendly as part of a new campaign launched at the Alzheimer’s Australia 15th National Conference in Hobart yesterday. Officially launched by 2013 Australian of the Year and Alzheimer’s Australia President, Ita Buttrose, the […]
20 May, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski The Gillard government has finally released the text of the proposed Constitutional amendment to give financial recognition to local government, with Opposition spokesman on local government Barnaby Joyce emphatically backing the case for change in the face of a fresh Coalition rupture on the issue. After weeks of intense horse-trading, Local Government […]
17 May, 2013End of content
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