Drought relief double dip cops Katter blast

FAG forward funding hypocritical robbery.

28 April, 2015

Agriculture and Biosecurity staff set to strike

Ballot secures 95 per cent yes vote for industrial action.

24 March, 2015

Pickard wins Australian Local Government Association presidency

First WA chief for 30 years expected to take fight up to Canberra.

13 November, 2014

Local Government dropped from federal ministry list

By Julian Bajkowski The federal ministry of Local Government could be the first of many administrative casualties in Canberra after the function conspicuously failed to appear in the publication of Prime Minister elect Tony Abbott’s first Ministry list. In a document that provides a partial window into how the bureaucracy and machinery of government of […]

16 September, 2013

Crocodile tears flow for referendum sacrifice

By Julian Bajkowski Councils across Australia will soon be forced to explain to ratepayers how much of their money was spent pushing the ‘Yes’ case for the proposed referendum on financial recognition for local government in the Constitution after the poll officially bit the dust on Sunday. The announcement of a 7th September election date […]

6 August, 2013

Abbott pushes referendum Vote No case

By Julian Bajkowski Coalition support for the ‘yes’ case in the referendum on Constitutional recognition for local government has edged one step closer to official collapse after Opposition leader Tony Abbott intensified his attack on the poll process amid growing internal pressure to withdraw bipartisan support. Speaking at a press conference in Whittlsea, Victoria, Mr […]

2 July, 2013

Referendum legislation clears Senate despite Coaltion walkout

By Julian Bajkowski Legislation to make a local government referendum on 14th September has finally cleared the Senate amid a widening split in the Coalition that resulted in seven members of the Opposition cross the floor to vote against the bill and at least as many abstaining. The last minute bid to shoot down referendum […]

25 June, 2013

Liberals support for referendum shatters

By Julian Bajkowski Bitter factional infighting has torn apart public Coalition support for a Constitutional change that would guarantee federal funds can flow directly to more than 500 local governments after key hard-right elements publicly railed against the case for a ‘yes’ vote in a torrid Senate debate. After more than a year of publicly […]

19 June, 2013

Canberra told to make Roads to Recovery funding permanent

By Julian Bajkowski The electorally popular, multi-billion dollar Roads to Recovery program should be permanently funded and councils dealt into any new road-user charging schemes a pre-election list of demands issued by Australia’s peak body for local governments says. As the federal poll date draws closer, councils across the nation have put both sides of […]

18 June, 2013

Federal leadership turmoil weighs-on referendum

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

Howard veterans launch referendum ‘No’ vote campaign

By Julian Bajkowski Opponents to a change in the Constitution that could give financial recognition to local government through a referendum at the 14th September federal poll have launched their official campaign with an attack by former Howard government minister Peter Reith on the Nationals leader in the Senate,. Barnaby Joyce. After months of sniping […]

3 June, 2013

Bureaucrats roasted over referendum education progress

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

Referendum text released amid Coalition cleavage

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

Gillard green lights local government referendum as recriminations fly

By Julian Bajkowski and Paul Hemsley Prime Minister Julia Gillard has finally confirmed that the federal government intends hold a September 14 referendum that if successful would allow the financial recognition of local government in the Australian Constitution, but there are signs of growing tensions and signs of fracturing support for the poll within the […]

9 May, 2013