President’s column – 17 September 2021

ALGA thanks Federal Assistant Minister for Local Government Kevin Hogan for taking the time to make an appearance at this month’s Board Meeting.

His commitment
to working with local government to get the best outcomes for Australian communities
is welcome and we look forward to working closely with him and his department
going forward.

Last year, the Australian Local Government Association
(ALGA) co-signed a compact that marks a new chapter in national efforts to
reduce and eliminate Indigenous disadvantage.

ALGA has now finalised its Implementation Plan for the July
2020 National Agreement on Closing the Gap – allowing local governments to begin
working more effectively to improve the lives and prospects of First Nations
people.

All the state and territory local government associations
contributed to the development of the Implementation Plan – none more
energetically than the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory
(LGANT).

Our strong commitment to achieving better outcomes for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through shared policy development
and decision-making at the local government is evident throughout the document.

I am confident it will lead to real progress in reducing
Indigenous disadvantage in all its forms.

The
fast-approaching UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) will again
likely highlight the contributions of city and municipal governments in
undertaking ambitious climate actions.

According
to ICLEI, or the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, if the targets set by Australian
local governments were met, we would be 96 percent of the way to meeting
Australia’s s current target of a 28 percent reduction by 2030.

At a
meeting of the Global Covenant of Mayors Oceania this week, I repeated ALGA’s calls
for:

• Commonwealth
  investment in a Local Government Climate Change Partnership Fund of $200
  million per annum over four years; and
• a
  targeted disaster mitigation program at the level of $200 million per annum for
  four years to strengthen community resilience response and recovery costs.

Councils
have identified a range of strategies to address climate challenges but we need
additional resources to implement them so our communities can transition to a
low-carbon future – a process that will deliver new job opportunities in all
local communities.

At last
week’s National Women’s Safety Summit, I again called for dedicated domestic
and family violence prevention officers in every state and territory local
government association.

This was
one of the recommendations for a federal parliamentary inquiry into family,
domestic and sexual violence in 2020 that recognised local government also has
a major role to play in driving changes that reduce the incidence of violence
against women and children.

We await the Commonwealth’s response.

Linda Scott,
ALGA President