The Hon Warren Truss this week confirmed his intention to retire from Parliament, with a ballot last night seeing the Hon Barnaby Joyce elected as Leader of the Nationals.
The Nationals have been strong supporters of Local Government and Mr Joyce has worked closely with ALGA in the past in his capacity as Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Water from 2010 to 2013.
ALGA looks forward to continuing to work with the Government to improve the resilience of local communities, and we welcome the opportunity to further strengthen our relationship with the Nationals under the leadership of Mr Joyce.
As the President of ALGA, I also extend my personal thanks to the Hon Warren Truss for his great work and his accomplishments for Local Government while in office.
Mr Truss spent the past couple of years of his 25-year tenure in Federal politics as the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development. In that role, Mr Truss was the driving force behind the development of the Bridges Renewal Programme, which will see a total investment of $300 million to upgrade deteriorating bridges to improve productivity, safety and community access. He was the catalyst for the National Stronger Regions Fund and was also responsible for the removal of the sunset clause for the Roads to Recovery Programme, ending the requirement for new legislation for the continuation of the program and providing assurance to councils of the Government's commitment to the program.
As a former councillor having spent 15 years in Local Government, Mr Truss also showed his personal support for our sector through his attendance of our annual National General Assembly of Local Government and National Local Roads and Transport Congress.
As a sector we are grateful to Mr Truss for his years of dedicated service and support, and we wish him all the best in his future.
Mayor Troy Pickard
ALGA President