Local government’s national body is requesting federal funding to help address the country’s housing shortfall.
Speaking to Government News, the Australian Local Government Association’s new president Matt Burnett said councils could help fix the housing crisis if greater investment was made in infrastructure.
“Water mains, reservoirs, sewage pump stations, road networks and things like that. If councils have funding for that trunk infrastructure we can help support Commonwealth objectives.”
The housing issue, added Burnett, is an example of how councils can partner with the Commonwealth to achieve its goals while achieving community goals at the same time.
To achieve community goals, Burnett told GN ALGA continues to call for 1% of financial assistance grants. “We’re not walking away from that,” he said. “We’re not looking for pocket money. When you’re talking about helping to address a national housing crisis you’re talking about billions of dollars – you’re not talking about a hundred-million-dollar fund, you’re not talking about a $20-million fund – you’re talking about a multi-billion-dollar fund that can provide trunk infrastructure that can help address a national issue.”
Local government is best placed to help the Commonwealth achieve its aim of producing more than a million additional homes within the next five years, Burnett said.
“You’re not going to do that without the support of local councils. We are willing and able to support them to achieve their goals. We just don’t have money in the bank to be able to build the trunk infrastructure that’s required.”
Discussing the difficulty of representing 537 councils and their individual concerns, Burnett told GN ALGA tries to work on a commonality of interests. “And where there are interests that are different, that’s up to the state and territory associations to advocate for those councils on those particular issues. But we’re open to working with every council where we can, and work on a national level.”
On what qualities he brings to the role of ALGA president, Burnett said: “I live and breathe local government. I know how we as an organisation, an entity, as a level of government can work best with other levels of government to achieve – not just what the affairs of the state want – but what we want for our local communities as well.”
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