Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government, I present the committee's Preliminary report on the majority finding of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government: the proposal, timing and likely success of a referendum to amend section 96 of the Australian Constitution to effect financial recognition of local government, incorporating a dissenting report.

The Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government was established on 1 November 2012 to inquire into and report on the majority finding of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government. The expert panel recommended financial recognition of local government, as opposed to other forms of recognition, such as symbolic, through an amendment to section 96 of the Australian Constitution. The committee has received 131 public submissions to date. The overwhelming majority of these submissions support an amendment to the Constitution to create certainty around the direct funding of local government by the federal government. At the committee's first public hearing in Sydney on 16 January, the evidence given largely reinforced support for the proposed amendment.

Our Constitution is not keeping pace with how government needs to operate to deal with the many daily challenges of contemporary Australian society. The report recommends that a referendum be held on the issue of financial recognition of local government and that the wording of the amendment proposed by the expert panel is the wording that should be used—that is, amending section 96 so that it reads:

… the Parliament may grant financial assistance to any State or to any local government body formed by State or Territory legislation on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks fit.

As remarked by the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government, it is in the interests of the nation for the Commonwealth to directly fund local government. Local government is the conduit of communities, and today more so than ever local government is called upon to deliver and facilitate services to meet the needs of their communities.

A consistent concern relating to the proposal has been the question of timing for the best chance of success. The Australian Local Government Association's apparent reluctance in its submission and evidence to the committee seemed to be indicating that this referendum should be delayed, even though they have been actively campaigning in favour of it for many years. The member for New England summed up the frustration of the majority of committee members, suggesting the lack of confidence that ALGA displayed in itself and in the Australian people is something that maybe it needs to look at.

The need for this change is clear. The challenge is how best to seize the opportunity to deliver this transformation. The success of a referendum will require bipartisan support not just at a national level but also across the states and territories. It will also require a widespread effective public education program. It is not lost on any of the committee members that the last successful referendum in Australia was in 1977 and that specific referenda on local government failed in 1974 and 1988. The committee inquired into the capacity of Commonwealth agencies to do the necessary work in preparation for a 2013 referendum, and the answer was unequivocal. The time frame would be the time frame required by government, so if the government required that certain things be finished by a certain date they would be.

My colleagues the coalition members of the committee opened their dissenting report by noting that the coalition has committed to support the appropriate financial recognition of local government in the Australian Constitution. It is important that this bipartisan support be gained at a state and territory level.

We have the cross-party agreement that this issue needs to be addressed in a timely way and we have the relevant agencies ready to move to prepare for a referendum. The final recommendation outlines the necessary preparatory activities required to make this happen in 2013. This matter demands our prompt attention. We need to keep the wheels rolling so that the necessary preconditions can be met and the required steps can be taken in time to get this vital question put to the people in 2013. The committee will be holding another public hearing in Sydney next week and will hear from local government bodies and receive updates from the Australian Local Government Association and from Commonwealth agencies. The final report will be tabled in March. My thanks to all those who provided evidence to the inquiry and to my committee colleagues. I commend the report to the House.

Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak to the dissenting report from the coalition members of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government. Basically, the coalition is in favour of recognising local government but the timing of the recommendations in this report, which is a preliminary report, we feel is a little premature. This committee has until mid-March to run, and I would have thought that the appropriate time to make the recommendation to either proceed or not proceed would have been at that time and not at the start of the process. The chair of the committee highlighted the frustration of the committee with some of the witnesses, noticeably the ones from the Australian Local Government Association, who had been pushing this referendum but then seem to have got cold feet at the last minute.

The expert panel that looked at this issue concluded some time ago. The ministers had about 10 months to bring all the state and local government organisations on board. It seemed that very little had been done in that particular time. Having said that, I still think in the next few weeks there is an opportunity for the minister to remedy that, and others are very keen for this to happen. I mentioned constitutional recognition in my maiden speech to this place and it is something very important to me. One of the frustrations I have found is that a lot of people had come to a position on this before the wording was actually decided. This is a very minimal change. This is basically closing the loophole to enable the funding processes that are already in place to continue. There is, in some ways, a part of me as a former local government mayor wishing that this referendum was asking for more but, in fact, it is not. It is only asking to close the loopholes so that some of the regional programs such as Roads to Recovery can continue.

As a regional member, the words of Professor Twomey, who actually spoke against this referendum saying that it was going to favour regional local government areas, were enough reason for me to want to support it. The executive of the Australian Local Government Association said that the politics of 2013 are of such a toxic nature that this referendum should not proceed. In my entire life, I cannot remember a federal election that was not hard fought. I cannot remember a federal election where the government and the opposition were in the same place, where there was going to be perfect harmony and where there was going to be no conflict. There is the idea that this is somehow a more tense and conflicted era and that, therefore, the likelihood of this referendum succeeding is diminished.

The committee has a hearing in Sydney next week to gather more information. If the minister decides to go ahead with this there is going to be a big effort required not only from the minister but also from other members in this place who are keen for this to happen, and also from the associations. I think our state and national bodies could be doing more. They have access to their communities right across Australia. If they want this to happen, it will happen.

To those people who are less enamoured with the idea of this referendum, all I can say is what is being proposed is a minimal change. If you are ambivalent about it, keep that to yourself and there might be some chance. The coalition members are very clear in the dissenting report. That the announcement in this report should go ahead regardless, I think, is premature. If in the next few weeks we find that there is a lack of support and indeed opposition from the states and an ambivalence from ALGA then I think that the minister should consider his position. (Time expired)

Ms Anna Burke (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Does the member for Greenway wish to move a motion in connection with the report to enable it to be debated on a later occasion?

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House take note of the report.

Ms Anna Burke (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 39(d), the debate is adjourned. The resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.