Mayor Troy Pickard, President of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), has set out local government’s plan to add an estimated $7.46 billion to national GDP and create an estimated 19,300 local jobs over three years on the second day of the 22nd National General Assembly of Local Government in Canberra.
The plan, Local Government's Plan for an Innovative and Prosperous Australia, outlines proposals targeting freight productivity, community infrastructure, the Roads to Recovery program, Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs) and support for community climate change action to strengthen the economic base of local government and tilt the distribution of funds towards councils that are particularly resource-constrained.
"The potential $7 billion economic contribution of local government must not be ignored in this election, which has so far tended to have a focus on marginal seats, hundreds of project announcements and election spin," Mayor Pickard said.
"I implore the parties to seriously look at ALGA's plan which emphasises the importance of infrastructure investment as well as addressing the question of return on investment expressed both in terms of improvements in economic efficiency, measured by increased national income, and the fairer distribution of income and opportunity.
"The 2016-17 State of the Regions report indicated that local government expenditures not only improve the quantity and quality of local community services, but also provide significant numbers of people in disadvantaged communities with access to employment opportunities that would not have otherwise existed.
"What this means is that councils are perfectly positioned to work with the Government to drive a bottom-up, place-based approach to achieve prosperity for all Australians.
"ALGA is calling on all major parties and candidates to support its plan for prosperous communities through ALGA’s strategies to invest in infrastructure, invest in job creation, and provide continued support for essential community services."
Media enquiries:
Sharon Akinyi, Director Public Affairs, Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) 0418 415 649, sharon.akinyi@alga.asn.au
Available for interview:
Mayor Troy Pickard, President Australian Local Government Association
Regarding State of the Regions report:
Dr Peter Brain, National Economics
Dr Ian Manning, National Economics
Peter Hylands, National Economics