Speaking to councillors yesterday afternoon at the National General Assembly (NGA) of Local Government in Canberra, Leader of the National Party David Littleproud said excluding local government from Cabinet was a mistake by the previous Government.
ALGA President Linda Scott it was encouraging to see growing support for including local government in national decision-making.
“We welcomed the announcement by the Albanese Government last week that local government would be appointed to National Cabinet, as well as the Council on Federal Financial Relations,” Cr Scott said.
“This will initially be at one meeting per year, but we will be putting our ongoing membership of these forums on the agenda at the first meetings we attend and working towards securing full voting membership at all future meetings.”
“Councils are the quiet achievers in our federation and shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to decision making that impacts on all Australian communities.”
On day one of the NGA, other presenters included Governor-General David Hurley, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King, and Minister for Emergency Management Senator Murray Watt.