Snowball’s chance of Carbon Tax refunds from most councils

The Budget ate my bill reduction

4 August, 2014

Councils dial-up heat over mobile blackspots funding

Warning not to sideline remote communities

29 July, 2014

Electoral Commission denies citizenship ceremony staff cuts

On the spot enrolment to continue for new voters

29 July, 2014

High Court school chaplains decision set to choke council money from Canberra

It may not have come as a surprise, but the Williams case MkII decision is exactly the legal nightmare local governments have unsuccessfully been fighting to avoid for years.

19 June, 2014

Councils unite in attack on Fed’s $925mil grants grab

Local governments across Australia have issued an overwhelming public rejection of federal Budget funding freezes likely to prompt rates hikes hit pensioners.

16 June, 2014

Revolt over $925 mil Budget raid on councils

Rates rises and big cuts to local community services set to roll as Financial Assistance Grants frozen.

16 May, 2014

Catastrophic impact warning from councils over axing of federal funds for local government

The National Commission of Audit’s recommendations to dump dozens of government programs could cut off cash flowing from Canberra to councils if direct funding programs are eliminated.

5 May, 2014

Councils demand federal and state liquidity injection to float flood mitigation measure

Flood damage to public infrastructure can easily wash away local government financial resources. Now the peak body for councils is demanding a real increase in mitigation money from jurisdictions above them in an effort to stop them drowning in waterborne debt.

15 April, 2014

Councils call for $40 mil to mitigate natural disasters

Destruction caused by natural disasters has led to a concerted push by local governments for more money from Canberra and the states to alleviate potential future damage.

25 March, 2014

Councils back Inland Railway to stop truck damage to local roads

The potential for the federal government’s planned Melbourne-to-Brisbane Inland Railway to reduce costly damage to local roads has led to praise from councils across Australia.

21 March, 2014

Councils aim cost shift broadside at National Commission of Audit

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

Local government head named South Australian Citizen of the Year

By Julian Bajkowski The president of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) and the Mayor City of Marion, Dr Felicity-ann Lewis, has been named as South Australia’s Australian of the Year for 2014. While Dr Lewis is best known outside the state for her tireless campaigning and lobbying on behalf of local government and community […]

19 November, 2013

Miners claim to shovel $37bn into communities

By Julian Bajkowski The minerals and mining industry is digging deep to produce evidence that its activities contribute far more to communities than the ill-fated Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) could ever collect. As the Abbott government prepares the MRRT for burial by repealing its legislation, powerful peak body the Minerals Council of Australia has […]

19 November, 2013

Truss out to mend bridges for councils

By Julian Bajkowski The Abbott government is wasting no time in pushing its roads-led infrastructure renewal policy to the nation’s councils, after Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Warren Truss, pledged $300 million to replace decaying small bridges. In a speech pitched squarely at regional councils and the road freight industry, […]

15 November, 2013