Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is an absolute pleasure to be able to stand to speak on this motion, which recognises the incredibly valuable contribution of local government to the governance of Australia and particularly our local communities, and also on the amendment moved by the member for Grayndler that calls for a referendum to extend constitutional recognition to local government in recognition of the essential role it plays in the governance of Australia.

As the previous speaker, the member for Ballarat, said, it is great to be talking about local government in this place. It is particularly good given the incredible role that local government plays in community development, an area that is very dear to my heart. We have three local councils within my electorate—the local council of Holroyd, Baulkham Hills to the north and, of course, Parramatta in the heart of the electorate: three incredibly different local councils, each of which reflects closely the community that they represent.

When I was first elected to this place, I started building a database of community organisations in my electorate believing that, if you want to know what a community is thinking, you look at where the community puts its efforts. The choices that volunteers and people who are community minded make in their local communities are the best indicator of the needs of a local community. What I found was that right there with every volunteer was the local council showing incredibly strong support for the individual choices of community minded people within communities as they made decisions about what their local communities needed. What I found across those three local councils was three completely different kinds of community organisations—and quite different to the kinds of community organisations in the areas where I had previously lived as well.

In Parramatta, you find very strong business community organisations but you also find a large number of volunteer and community organisations and extraordinary local council support for organisations that service the homeless and the disadvantaged, who tend to congregate around large CBDs such as Parramatta. You also find extensive networks of individuals who work with people with disabilities. Because Parramatta Hospital was in its early years the main hospital site for disabled patients, there are an incredible number of community organisations that serve people with mental illness in particular, and again the local council support for those organisations dramatically reflects the community’s focus on that.

To the north in Baulkham Hills, which is a slightly leafier and wealthier area, you find a lot more arts and environmental organisations than you do in Parramatta. These, again, are incredibly important, reflecting things that affect people in their daily lives—the things that they need from their community and that they themselves cannot provide as individuals. It is really quite remarkable. Down in Holroyd, where you find greater areas of public housing, a lot more Defence housing and larger migrant communities, particularly new refugee communities, again you find a larger number of community organisations and greater local council support for organisations that serve the needs of those communities.

Local government is at the closest level to our communities. It is at the closest level to what people feel they need to make their lives better on a day-to-day basis. I commend this motion to the House. It is a great one. It is great to recognise the contribution that local government makes, but it is particularly good to have an amendment before the chamber to recognise constitutionally the role that local government plays in the governance of this country. I commend this motion and the amendment to the House.

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