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Need for Partnership

"Local Government in the Northern Territory desperately needs a partnership agreement in place with the Northern Territory Government if only to stabilise what has, and continues to be, an alarming trend to shift costs onto Local Government reduce grants to them, as well as impose policies", the President of the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory, Cecil Black said today.

"With reduction of grants the latest release of Commonwealth Financial Assistance Grants determined by the Northern Territory Grants Commission and advice about the operational subsidies paid to Councils from the Department of Community Development, Sport, Recreation and Cultural Affairs all point to a disturbing trend. Each year the smaller Councils and municipal Councils are getting less" President Black said. "Also the total pool of funds available as operating subsidies has not altered much, if anything, they are going backwards. There is certainly no growth", he said.

"The small Councils are going to find it hard to survive and the municipal Councils are getting increasingly frustrated over the funding uncertainties".

"The future of library funding for municipal Councils has been uncertain now for some five years and you also have the possible cost shifting threat of Councils having to fund infrastructure like barge landings and aerodromes in the future under the proposed new NT Transport Plan."

"There are also roads that Local Government will inherit from the Territory Government under future boundary extensions that are not up to standard. Local Government will need funds in the future to do this work and the Territory Government is going to have to help out", President Black said.

"Then there is the situation where Councils are paying costs towards the employment of Aboriginal Community Police officers. This is just pure cost-shifting and it just simply adds to the concerns that Councils have", President Black said.

"The Government has released its 'Building Stronger Regions - Stronger Futures' policy yet municipal Councils are uncertain of their roles in its implementation apart from having representation on Regional Development Boards and possible boundary extensions"

"Under the policy the Government is going to establish 'Regional Authorities' which are going to be Local Government yet it is still not clear why it is necessary to change the Local Government Act to create them when there already provisions within the Act for establishing municipal and community government councils", President Black said.

"It is very difficult to plan in these kinds of environments. We need something better then this, we need an agreement whereby we can bring some certainty to the process of change. Right now we haven't got this, all we've got are decrees from the Government every now and then, largely on a take-it-or-leave-it basis and particularly with funding", President Black said.

"This way of doing business is a catalyst for conflict and that means energies go into the conflict rather than working on better ways of doing things for the future of all Territorians. We know in Local Government that resolution of some of these issues is going to be difficult, and we will come to the table prepared for our share of sacrifice but the Territory Government is going to have to give as well and if that means a culture change in the bureaucracy then so be it" President Black said.

"We are working on an agreement now which we will be putting to our members in the near future. We want it to have teeth where either party is not able to just walk away from it as and when they feel like it. We have had that before with the previous Government under the Memorandum of Understanding and we have to move on from that" the President said.

"The Government has proposed partnership agreements in its Strong Regions, Stronger Futures program and I guess we are giving the Government notice of some of the issues we want dealt with. We need a new deal" the President said.

Ends

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