June 17, 2013
Member for Maranoa Bruce Scott has thrown his support behind the “yes” vote at the September referendum which would provide Constitutional recognition of local government.
“Under the Howard Government, we developed a policy to directly fund local government through the Roads to Recovery Grant because we wanted all of the money to be spent on roads and local priorities and not lost in another level of administration,” Mr Scott said.
“I think it’s important to end the duplication between Commonwealth, State and local governments because too often the Commonwealth provides funding administered through the state government to local government. This creates further bureaucracy and results in less taxpayers’ money being spent on the ground or directly to the community.”
The issue was rejected in 1974 and 1988.
Mr Scott said history had shown that if a major political party or State opposed the referendum, it was unlikely to be passed.
“Constitutional recognition of Local Government has been widely debated for decades however it would require a majority of Australian voters and a majority of States for any change to proceed,” Mr Scott said.
Mr Scott said while he agreed with the concept of constitutional recognition of the third tier of government, he felt the Federal Government had handled the matter poorly.
“Australians are always cautious about altering our Constitution and more time should have been given for public debate,” he said.
“The public needs to know the pros and cons of an issue as important as this before they are asked to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”
Mr Scott’s LNP party colleagues at State level have also backed the referendum but have requested changes to the wording.
- Related article: Qld Seeks To Change Referendum Question
Local Government Minister David Crisafulli said legal advice had confirmed Federal Government would gain control of local councils.
“If this was about simplifying the rules so councils could directly receive federal funding then you would find no greater advocate for change,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“However, the referendum question in its current form is little more than a Trojan Horse for a Canberra power grab that could have far reaching consequences.
“At a time when people in places like Noosa, Livingstone, Mareeba and Douglas have shown overwhelmingly just how important local councils are, the last thing we want to do is allow federal tentacles to tamper with the controls of local government.
“Legal advice has confirmed the question’s current wording would allow the Federal Government to make funding dependent on whatever conditions it liked.”
Mr Crisafulli said the State Government’s repeated requests to Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albanese, to change the wording of the question ahead of the September 14 referendum had fallen on deaf ears.
