CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
INSTITUTE OF MUNICIPAL MANAGEMENT NATIONAL SEMINAR
CANBERRA 30 MAY 1988
For well over 100 years local government has been an
integral element of the way Australians govern themselves.
over that time there have been enormous changes in the role
and functions of local government, and in its relationship
with the other two tiers of the national structure of
government. Today there are over 800 local government bodies, over 8,000
elected representatives and some 170,000 people employed by
local government bodies throughout Australia. Local
government accounts for over 5 per cent of all public sector
outlays and 4 per cent of total taxation revenues.
So it is timely for a seminar such as this to address the
fundamental questions about the direction and the future of
local government.
And I am delighted that I was able to accept your invitation
to address the seminar, because I welcome this as an
opportunity to express once more the commitment of my
Government to local government.
I think it is true to say that no other Federal Government
has enjoyed-~ so close and constructive a working relationship
with local government as we have since we were first elected
in 1983. r.
That is because we were determined from our first days in
office to build a relationship with local government based
on a recognition of your legitimate and, indeed, crucial
role in the system of government in Australia, and based on
proper support of your ability to carry out and develop that
role. I am happy to say that the positive attitude extended by the
Federal Government has been fully reciprocated.
I do not pretend that we have agreed on every issue. 0J068361
2.
That would be an unrealistic expectation and probably an
undesirable outcome.
But I do say that we have been able to work together
constructively on a number of issues of direct relevance to
both of us. Where we have disagreements we have been able
to express them frankly.
I know some of you have been concerned about cuts to funding
for Local Government in the May Statement.
But I want to make it clear that, within the overall fiscal
restraint which was necessary, I ensured that Local
Government was treated relatively favourably.
If the same cut had been applied to Local Government's
recurrent funding as has been applied to the States', the
forward estimates would have been cut back by some $ 28
million in 1988/ 89. We have in fact held the cut. to
million. Similarly while there has been a general cut in road funding
reflecting high levels of expenditure at the peak of the
National Highways program, funds for local roads have been
maintained in real terms.
Today, however, our mutual commitment to local government
faces a great test.
The Federal Government has decided to ask the Australian
people to change the Constitution to extend formal
recognition to local government.
We believe this move is right in principle. We believe it
is right in timing.
And we believe it has broad support right across the
Australian community. We know it has the overwhelming
support of local government organisations throughout
Australia. The Opposition parties however have decided to oppose the
referendum It might hdae been possible today, had there been bipartisan
support for this referendum, to use the opportunity provided
by this seminar to look forward to the future to discuss
the new and exciting era awaiting a local government system
which had at last achieved due recognition in the
Constitution. But because of the refusal of the Opposition to support the
referendum, we have to focus today on a less edifying, but
now vital, threshold question: how can we make sure we win
the referendum. 006837
The answer is: we can win because we can persuade the
people of Australia that constitutional recognition of local
government is a thoroughly deserved expression and an
important expansion of the democratic-structure by which we
rule ourselves.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In 1901, when the Australian people became an independent
nation under the Constitution, Australia was a smaller,
simpler society, based on a smaller economy and requiring a
less sophisticated political structure for the management of
its day to day affairs.
The province of Local Government then was largely confined
to servicing property, through the provision of roads and
and drainage and garbage collection.
The following 80 years have seen a growth in the functions
and public expectations of all levels of Government which
matches the growth in population and complexity of
Australian society as a whole.
In that time successive Federal Governments have had
increasingly to take a national perspective in developing
and implementing their policies.
The States too, despite being responsible for administering
the system of Local Government, have encountered their
difficulties in reconciling the need to apply consistent
policies with the specific requirements of individual
communities. These developments have left a gap between these Governments
and-the people at the community level.
In the last twenty years, it has been the Local Councils
which have moved to fill this gap, taking responsibility for
community services and forming an invaluable link between
the community and the higher levels of Government.
The services provided today by modern Local Government
reflect the need~ s and complexities of modern Australia.
They continue o'f course to do the basic property tasks-such
as providing roads. But they now also provide and sponsor a
much wider range of services to meet the needs of their
communities. These-include * social and welfare services, town planning and
environmental control, recreation and sporting facilities
and cultural activities.
That massive transformation alone would suggest that the
time is ripe for a reconsideration of a Constitution which
was drawn up iry the last century and which ignored local
government.
The campaign to recognise local government is a campaign to
ensure the Constitution is relevant to the fundamental
realities of our contemporary Federal system.
As the American founding father Thomas Jefferson said on the
issue of constitutional refolrm: " some men look at
constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them
like the Ark of the Covenant, too sacred to be touched.
They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more
than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment
we might as well require a man to wear the coat that
fitted him as a boy, as civilised society to remain ever
under the regime of their ancestors."
The growth in the sophistication and size of local
government shows that it certainly needs a new
constitutional coat.
The Commonwealth Government is doing its best to-see you get
it. Indeed, Federal Labor Governments have a great record in
recognising and supporting the immense contribution which
Local Government makes to the Australian community.
Through the development of the Australian Assistance Plan in
the. early 1970' s came the acceptance that the Commonwealth
could make direct payments to Local Government
In 1986, my Government introduced the Local Government
( Financial Assistance) Act as the principal conduit of
Commonwealth funding for local government.
This was the first piece of Commonwealth legislation to
require local government to be consulted over the allocation
of resources a-precursor of the referendum proposal which
would extend the first constitutional recognition.
Under the Act, Local Government in 1988/ 89 will receive some
$ 650 million dollars in direct general assistancefrom the
Commonwealth. we also beoame the first Federal Government to appoint a
minister specifically responsible for local government.
Tom Uren, as you all know, was a passionate advocate of the
cause of local government and earned respect across the
political spectrum for his tireless dedication to the
promotion of local government's service to the community.
Since Tom's retirement from the Ministry, Senator Margaret
Reynolds has taken up the responsibility with an enthusiasm
and commitment that reflects her own long experience in
local government before entering Parliament.
And under the new administrative arrangements I established
after the last election, local government matters are
brought to the direct attention of Cabinet by Clyde Holding,
who is also an informed and persuasive advocate of your
cause. yA,
It has been the determination of all these ministers that
local government be involved in a genuine partnership with
the Commonwealth and the States.
As I said at your eighth national , conference in 1984, we
seek and we need the cooperation of local government in the
great tasks of community development and economic
reconstruction which are before us.
To this end we invited local government representatives to
participate in the National Economic Summit, which we saw as
an invaluable and essential means of involving the entire
community in understanding and resolving the issues that
face us.
The care and diligence that went into local government's
work at the Summit, and subsequently in the Economic
Planning Advisory Council all attest to your real capacity
to play a role in national policy making.
Another element of the Government's support has been the
establishment of the Office of Local Government.
The Office's existence is a recognition of the need for
Commonwealth support for Local Government to be more than
just financial that there needs to be direction and
theoretical underpinning for those involved in it.
That office has become a respected source of information,
advice and support, a focus for local government in
approaching the Commonwealth, and a valuable element in
improving the coordination of Commonwealth programs
affecting local Government.
As part of the process-leading to the referendum on
recognition of Local Government, the Office of Local
Government put two submissions to the Constitutional
Commission strongly arguing the case for recognition.
All these elements of growth in Local Government's role
attest to the general recognition that it has become an
indispensable part of the Government of Australia. It is
this growth which has resulted in the call for formal
Constitutional recognition of local government.
Since 1979, four States have moved to grant the formal
recognition which Local Government deserves by recognising
them in their Constitutions. Only Queensland and Tasmania
now do not afford this recognition.
Recognition of Local Government in the Commonwealth
Constitution is a natural progression and a logical
complement to these moves at the State level. 0 0 6 8 4()
Proposals for constitutional recognition have been argued as
far back as 1975, and before that the Whitlam Government had
asked, in a referendum, for the power to deal directly with
local government in financial matters which would have, in
effect, afforded constitutional recognition.
The call1 for recognition has attracted support across the
political spectrum such as the-motion carried in favour of
recognition at the 1985 Constitutional Convention in
Brisbane with bipartisan support.
The Federal opposition included constitutional recognition
of local government as part of its election platform for the
1987 elections.
As recently as February of this year, the Opposition Leader,
John Howard, expressed his support for a constitutional
recognition of local government..
In a letter to the Attorney-General, Lionel Bowen, Mr Howard
expressed his full support for the suggestion by a municipal
council in his electorate " for a chapter to be inserted in
the Constitution dealing with local government".
And the Liberal shadow ministry urged its backbench to
support the local government referendum as well as the
freedom of religion referendum.
But this support had vanished by the time the Opposition
came to respond in Parliament to the Government's referendum
bills. The opposition decided to oppose the referendum not because
of any matter of principle.
They have not found the proposition wanting on its merits.
They oppose it simply for the sake of opposing it a case
study in political opportunism.
They oppose it because, having decided to oppose two of the
referendums, they decided to oppose the other two, including
the local government one in the patronising belief that the
Australian y oters could not discriminate among the four
proposals. They opt to campaign with consistency " no" to all
referendums even at the cost of campaigning against
measures they actually support.
Their intemperate language reveals that the Opposition
parties know little about the fundamental importance of the
referendum proposal.
If it succeeds, the referendum will insert a new section,
Section 119A in the Constitution. This section will provide 006841
for each State to provide for the establishment and
continuance of a system of local government
for local government bodies to be elected in accordance
with the laws of the State
for local government bodies to be empowered to
administer, and to make by-laws for, their respective
areas in accordance with the laws of the State.
The Opposition's assertion that the new section is mere
tokenism ignores the real significance of the
consititutional change we propose.
It is important first to local government, which has long
awaited acknowledgement of its very existence.
It is important for the Constitution, that it should more
accurately reflect the reality of the Federal system.
It is important for the Australian system of public
administration that we make the fullest and best use of the
existing machinery of government.
Above all it is important for Australian democracy that we
accept the fact that local government bodies have authority
derived from the communities that elect them, to whom they
are accountable and which they represent.
The real test of what is and is not " tokenist" for Local
Government should not be what comes out of the tortured
internal processes of the Liberal Party but what Local
Government thinks of the proposal itself.
And you and like-minded organisations have made it clear you
support it fully.
So the Opposition parties are endeavouring not only to
patronise the Australian voters they are also patronising
Local Government.
Constitutional recognition of local government will
unambiguously confirm the position of local government as an
element of the Australian system of representative democracy
and as an integral part of the Nation's structure of public
administration. The Constitutional Commission put it this
way in its May 1988 report:
" Recognition in the Australian Constitution in the form
proposed will give local government the necessary status
as a third sphere of government, and the necessary
standing to enable it to play its full and legitimate
role in the structure of government in Australia, and as
an equal partner in consultations about the allocation
of responsibilities and resources within that
structure:" 006842
8.
It must be appreciated that th e referendum does not diminish
the States and does not add to Commonwealth powers.
The proposition does not give the Commonwealth Parliament
power to establish local gov ernment bodies in the States.
It expressly recognises that the form and structure of local
government is a matter for the States.
Ultimately, the referendum seeks to enshrine the position of
local government as one of three tiers of Government in a
smoothly running Federal system each tier with its own
powers and responsibilities and each tier dedicated to
improving the quality of services it delivers to its
constituents.
A " yes" vote by the Australian people will establish once
and for all the status of local government and its right to
advise and be consulted by State and Commonwealth
authorities on relevant matters.
Indeed, because Local Government is the closest to the
community of any level of government, the other tiers stand
to gain considerably from listening to local government
advice. Local government is ideally placed to recognise ' duplication
of services and inefficiencies by state and commonwealth
departments. It can recognise more easily poorly designed programs and
poor coordination..
And in many cases it can assist in the design and delivery
of programs at. all levels of government to maximise
efficiency. If the referendum is not carried, then the knowledge, advice
and assistance which local government has to offer may be
overlooked and set aside. All Australians would be the
poorer. Ladies and gentlemen,
Local Government in this country has traditionally been less
about party politics and more about getting things done for
the community. Its bipartisanship has been one of the great.
aspects of our national life.
In its approach to this referendum, the Liberal Party has
got things the wrong way around: they're putting party
politics ahead of the interests of the community.
It disappoints me that-it has not been possible to sustain
the bipartisan support for Local Government right through
the referendum campaign. 006843
9.
Australians have an unfortunate tradition of voting against
referendum questions which lack the support of both the
major Parliamentary parties.
But I have a great confidence that in our Bicentenary year
the Australian people will d. ispense with that tradition, by
voting for all four referendums. They are simple, sensible
and essential reforms.
But to achieve this, it will be necessary for everyone in
local government to go out and argue what we all know to be
true: that the time has come for Local Government to
recieve its proper recognition in the Constitution of
Australia. 006844