Australia’s National Local Government Newspaper LGFocus.com.au
JULY 2024
Reece in City of Melbourne councillor Nicholas Reece has been sworn in as the 105th Lord Mayor of Melbourne just months out from the council elections in October. Elected as a Councillor in 2016 and Deputy Lord Mayor in late 2020, the new Lord Mayor has helped drive the city’s post-pandemic boom. The City of Melbourne has the fastest growing population rate of any Local Government Area in the nation, the lowest retail vacancy rate of any capital city, and is home to a pipeline of city-shaping infrastructure projects. As deputy lead of the Finance portfolio, Cr Reece helped bring the Council back into surplus for the first time in five years. As lead of the Planning portfolio, he has overseen the approval of 20,000 new homes, new policies to improve the quality of architecture and design across the city, and higher sustainability standards for buildings. “All my life I have sought to be actively engaged in public service to help others – and it is the honour of my life to serve the city that I love,” the new Lord Mayor said. Continued page 5
New Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece. (Supplied)
Sustainability call Local governments could boost Australia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by up to $7 billion per year and create more liveable communities if councils were sustainably funded by the Federal Government, a Parliamentary Committee was told earlier this month. New research, due to be released by ALGA next week, shows a $1 billion annual investment in local government roads would increase Australia’s GDP by $3.5 billion per year, and an extra $350 million for parks and open space could increase GDP by $900 million per year. ALGA President Cr Linda Scott said the group highlighted the research while appearing at a House of Representatives inquiry into local government sustainability, along with a number of key reforms to show how local communities could grow and thrive with more federal fund-
ing and better partnerships in the future. “With extra responsibilities being forced on to Australia’s 537 councils every year, we highlighted a range of solutions to consider and address the financial challenges and funding shortfalls currently faced by local governments,” Cr Scott said. “This inquiry presents a valuable opportunity to outline the value and services we are delivering in our communities and to highlight the much-needed funding reforms local gov-
ernment needs to be sustainable.” As part of its comprehensive, evidencebased submission to the inquiry, ALGA made five key recommendations to the committee, with the number one priority being increasing untied Financial Assistance Grants for local government to at least one per cent of Commonwealth taxation revenue. Cr Scott said the best way to support increased efficiency and productivity in Australia was increasing federal Financial Assistance Grants so councils get our “fair share” of national tax revenue.
“ALGA’s research shows over the past decade local government expenditure per capita has flatlined, while spending by other levels of governments has continued to rise,” Cr Scott said. “We are committed to partnering with the Commonwealth, and state and territory governments, to facilitate more affordable housing, better prepare for natural disasters, and deliver on our national emissions targets, but we can’t do this without greater support.”
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