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 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 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 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 Julian Bajkowski A leaked letter from Queensland Premier Campbell Newman to Prime Minister Julia Gillard reveals that the state government is behind the proposed wording of a Constitutional amendment pivotal to a referendum and does not believe the change will erode state powers over local government. A copy of the letter obtained by Government […]
11 March, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has thrown down the gauntlet to other Australian state and territory leaders to back the ‘yes’ case in a proposed referendum on financial recognition of local governments or risk losing billions of dollars of direct Commonwealth funding for council projects and services. In a dramatic escalation of pressure […]
21 February, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce has accused the Gillard government of attempting to let a proposed referendum on Constitutional recognition of local government deliberately die of neglect – despite the plebiscite having ongoing federal Coalition support. In a broadside aimed directly at Local Government minister Simon Crean, Senator Joyce claimed that the […]
29 January, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski The parliamentary committee tasked with evaluating the merits of holding a referendum on amending the Constitution to give financial recognition to local government has recommended that a poll be held at the forthcoming federal election this year. Published today, the ‘yes’ recommendation from the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Local […]
24 January, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski A stand-alone referendum on Constitutional Recognition for local government outside a federal election would cost taxpayers a minimum of $121 million in costs incurred by the Australian Electoral Commission alone, the agency responsible for running the polls has estimated. The big number price tag is contained in the AEC’s submission to the […]
22 January, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Federal parliamentarians have rounded on their local government colleagues over an attempt to try and postpone a referendum to secure legal certainty over direct funding for council-based projects from Canberra. At a visibly tense public hearing of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government in Sydney on Wednesday, federal […]
18 January, 2013
Local road funding will be delivered to South Australian councils over five years from 2014 to 2019. The funding from the federal budget will deliver more than $350 million per annum as a five year extension to the Roads to Recovery program. Minister for State and Local Government Relations, Russell Wortley said the South Australian […]
15 May, 2012
By Staff Writer Local government has called on the Commonwealth to include local roads in any future road and transport tax reform. The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) said it wants to be “closely involved” in any future user charges for travel on its roads. ALGA president Geoff Lake voiced the sector’s concerns following the release […]
18 August, 2009
The recently released annual profile of Queensland local government has shown total annual revenues of $7.7 billion for the state’s councils. The profile, complied by the Local Government Association of Queensland, includes the state’s 73 councils with 32,000 employees, serving a population of 4.1 million. Councils were reported to have assets of $62 billion, and […]
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