President's Report - August 2024

Welcome to the August edition of LGAT News.

It was great to see many of you recently for LGAT's Annual General Meeting in Devonport and while I was unable to attend the Elected Members Professional Development Day, I have heard it was a fantastic event. It’s important that we continue to learn and develop skills that will enhance our ability to best serve those we represent.

I had the recent pleasure of attending the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) National General Assembly. I was pleased to see so many Tasmanian elected representatives attending. Staying at the national level, LGAT's Vice President, Mayor Paula Wriedt and I have been supporting ALGA to get ready for a potential early Federal Election and also on the critical priority of increasing the funding to local government. To that end, LGAT's CEO, Dion Lester, and I recently presented to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport inquiry into Local Government Sustainability.

We emphasised to the Standing Committee that Tasmania's councils are the custodians of more than $11.8bn of infrastructure, including 80% of the roads in our state. And this is done with total revenue of only $1.2 billion per year. Added to this, and as you all know, the role of councils has changed significantly over the years. We are no longer just roads, rates and rubbish, but also deliver a whole range of services to support people. Things like community engagement, health and wellbeing services, economic development, youth support programs, building community resilience, responding to and recovering from natural disasters.

But while councils have evolved and adapted to meet the changing community needs, they are constrained by a funding framework that is no longer fit for purpose. The current approach of competitive and tied grant funding just doesn't work; it is leading to more sustainability challenges for councils and their communities. We look forward to the Standing Committee’s final report.

In closing, I would like to remind you all that the LGAT Annual Conference is coming up soon, which is an important opportunity to connect with your peers and hear insights from the keynote speakers we’ve invited. It’s not too late to register to attend this two-day event.