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, 2013
By Paul Hemsley and Julian Bajkowski Victorian councils have slammed the state’s local government minister, Jeanette Powell, over claims that a referendum on financial recognition of local government in the Constitution could result in an erosion of state government power as deliberate scaremongering. In a broadside aimed squarely at his state government, Municipal Association of […]
16 May, 2013
By Paul Hemsley City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has committed to an overhaul of the inner city’s streets and infrastructure by announcing that the council will embark on its largest ever capital spending program work worth $1.9 billion over the next decade. A persistent advocate of urban renewal that favours people over cars, […]
14 May, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Independent power broker Tony Windsor has expressed confidence that a referendum on financial recognition of local government in the Australian Constitution on 14th September can succeed, despite Prime Minister Julia Gillard announcing vote without a form of words for the question. Mr Windsor told Government News that a ‘yes’ vote was “achievable” […]
9 May, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski and Paul Hemsley Prime Minister Julia Gillard has finally confirmed that the federal government intends hold a September 14 referendum that if successful would allow the financial recognition of local government in the Australian Constitution, but there are signs of growing tensions and signs of fracturing support for the poll within the […]
9 May, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski A referendum on the financial recognition of local government in the Australian Constitution now appears to be highly likely after both federal Local Government minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Local Government Association strongly hinted that a positive announcement is imminent. Sources close to the process have hinted that a formal announcement […]
3 May, 2013
By Paul Hemsley and Julian Bajkowski A push by the Independent Local Government Review Panel to the New South Wales government to encourage “voluntary amalgamations” of councils has sparked widely divergent reactions from stakeholders as peak body Local Government NSW (LGNSW) continues to argue that forced mergers are not, and should not, be state government […]
29 April, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski When the chief executive of the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), Rob Whelan, took to the airwaves in late January 2013 to take councils in Queensland to task over flood protection measures, it was the opening shot in a war of words between local government and the risk industry that had been […]
24 April, 2013
By Paul Hemsley The plane ride to and from work has become a way of life for many employees working in the resources sector but there are few cheers for the practice from those living on the ground in the shadow of Australia’s mineral wealth. Gone are the days when a mining boom created new […]
24 April, 2013
By Paul Hemsley Local Government New South Wales (LGNSW) joint president Ray Donald has said that calls for an end to rate pegging have been backed by the state government in the latest report about the financial sustainability of councils from the NSW Treasury Corporation (TCorp). Mr Donald said TCorp’s findings in the Financial Sustainability […]
22 April, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Global financial ratings agency Standard & Poors has vowed to fight fresh legal action against it to recover millions of dollars lost by dozens of Australian councils after the local governments bought into junk, sub-prime instruments graded by the firm as AAA and AA quality investment products. The confirmation by S&P that […]
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