By Staff Writer
A communiqué calling for the inclusion of local government in the Australian Constitution and more robust targets for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was presented to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd by local government leaders today.
Mayors and Shire Presidents from Australia’s 565 councils met with the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and other Members of Parliament as part of the second meeting of the Australian Council of Local Government (ACLG).
The meeting, held in Parliament House, Canberra, builds on November’s inaugural meeting to further strengthen the growing ties between Australia’s national and local governments.
The ACLG meeting follows the National General Assembly of Local Government (NGA) which has been held in Canberra over the previous three days.
Communiqués summarising the positions reached at the NGA was unanimously adopted by the more than 650 delegates.
The president of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), Cr Geoff Lake, presented the Communiqués to the Prime Minister today.
The Communiqués calls for:
- inclusion of local government in the Australian Constitution;
- more ambitious targets for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme;
- all levels of government to work together to develop and improve climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies;
- national action to provide water supply certainty throughout Australia utilising ecologically sustainable measures;
- entrenching the successful Community Infrastructure Program payments under the stimulus packages as an ongoing annual program;
- an increase to the base funding for Financial Assistance Grants paid by the Australian Government to local government each year for recurrent expenditure; and
- a permanent framework to address cost-shifting between the levels of government.
For more information or to view the Communiqués visit the ALGA website.
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