Address to the Local Government Association of NSW Annual Conference

SPEAKER: Our Federal Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, Kristy McBain, hails from the Eden-Monaro region. Of course, many of you here will know her well as a Bega Shire Councillor from 2012 and as Mayor from 2016 to 2020. Please join me in welcoming Kristy McBain, the Federal Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories.

KRISTY MCBAIN: Hello, everyone. Nice to be with you. This really does bring a whole new meaning to being backside trackside, doesn’t it? Not sure why that wasn’t the conference theme this year.

Can I start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the lands on where we meet and pay my respect to Elders past and present. I also thank Uncle Graham for his warm Welcome to Country, and something that he said really resonated with me. The word yes is really an affirmation, right? It is something that local government takes seriously. It’s something that we do in our everyday lives. It’s something that we attempt to do with our community for a whole range of services. We attempt to say yes to everything. Our community expects us to say yes to everything. Therein lies the problem sometimes, because we don’t have enough money to deliver everything, but we absolutely attempt to do that.

Can I add my congratulations to both Inner West and Singleton Councils on their awards. A fantastic achievement, well done to those two councils. I was out with Mayor Sue and her fantastic Federal Representative earlier this year. I want to say a big thank you to Singleton Council for taking the time to have a chat with me at that point.

Can I acknowledge LGNSW President Councillor Darriea Turley AM. Always fabulous to be with you, Darriea. Thank you to the Lord Mayor for his welcome to Parramatta City, and a couple of things you said really resonated with me. It resonated with me because it shows the enormity of the challenge in this sector. Some of the projects you have on are super large projects. Some of the projects that some of our rural councils have on are super large projects, but of entirely different financial magnitudes. It is so hard sometimes for the sector to come together and advocate for a single way of doing things, because our councils are so diverse – from landscapes to demographics, to challenges. It really does show the enormity that the sector has to deal with. In that respect, can I acknowledge Linda Scott, President of the Australian Local Government Association, who does her best advocating for the over 500 councils across Australia who have a myriad of challenges. Thanks, Linda.

As David Reynolds has just said, I’ve spent a decade now in community representation, from the local council to the Federal Government. This was actually the first conference I ever attended in 2015 at Rosehill Gardens. At the time it was a Baird State Government and Paul Toole was the Minister of the day. Put your hands up if you were at this conference. Okay, great. I’m sure this will be a memory for a lot of people. This room was packed during Paul Toole’s address. I don’t take any offence, because Paul Toole was trying to sell the wares of amalgamation to us. There were protestors lined up down the street to the back of the rooms. He was being jeered and cheered at different times. I thought to myself, “I never want that job.” I don’t have it, I have the federal job. But I thought to myself, “What an introduction to seeing what Ministers do at these conferences.” I thought to myself, “I hope he went and had a nice stiff drink when he got home.”

It’s great to be back with you all at Rosehill. There are many familiar faces to me across the room. I have, at different points, spoken with a number of your councils and a number of councils across the country. One of the things that people often say to me is, “Oh, you used to get up and speak at a lot at our conferences.” I always think to myself, “Oh, my God, I was that person.” Apologies.

But it’s great to be with you as you start your conference for the next couple of days. These conferences are so incredibly important for the sector. There are a lot of Councillors and perhaps community members that don’t see the value in you attending these conferences. As I have said to every conference I have stood in front of, these are so important because the secret sauce of it is exactly what is going to happen over the next couple of days. In between these sessions you will be downstairs grabbing your free drink bottles and connecting with people that you’ve never met before, people who have got the same or similar challenges to you in their local council area that have already started approaching it or already have a policy or initiative kicked off that you’re looking to implement. They are people that you will be able to connect with later on and ask how that particular initiative or policy went.

You will meet people who speak on the floor of these conferences and you’ll be able to grab them later and ask them to flesh out that point a little bit more or understand where their question was going or aimed at. It is so important that we continue to come to these conferences. In no other profession do you go in and think, “I know everything I need to know right now and I never have to go to a professional development course again.” No other profession. It’s incredibly important that as the local government sector, we continue to show up to these conferences, we continue to learn from each other and we continue to support each other through some pretty heavy challenges.

I am obviously a really passionate advocate for the sector, a sector that employs close to 200,000 people across the country. Since my appointment as Minister, I have met with over 250 councils, with peak organisations, with joint organisations of councils, with lobby groups, with unions - all about how we can improve our sector. Service delivery, infrastructure-building, financial sustainability - we all have the same goals in mind. That is to make sure that our communities get the absolute best out of their elected representatives.

I am not going to be that Minister that says you are the sector ‘closest to the people,’ because I hate that, super cliché. What I will say is, you all know what it’s like when you’re at Coles or Woolies or Aldi, or wherever you shop, IGA. You’ll have people that will come up to you and they’ll say, “I don’t normally do this, but,” and then they’ll ask you about when their road is going to be upgraded or, “When are you doing the potholes,” or “How come the price of the pool entry has gone up,” or “How come we’re not doing this thing that I saw happening in another council in, you know, Melbourne or whatever?” They do that because they are so comfortable with you. They know you. They see you at your kids’ sporting matches. They know where you shop. Lots of people actually know where you live. I literally had someone walk up and put a letter in my mailbox one day, because he wanted to talk to me about the DA that was happening next door to his house. They know you and they feel like they can talk to you. That is a great thing.

So please don’t lose that. It’s so important that all levels of government really understand that the basis of our entire election, whether you’re local, state or federal, is to go out and talk to communities, go out and represent them, to go out and deliver services and deliver infrastructure and deliver a better quality of life for the people that you represent.

We do take local government really seriously in the Albanese Labor Government. For example, the Australian Council of Local Government, which we will be doing again in 2024. We’ve taken away some lessons we learnt directly from you. More time for questions is absolutely on the agenda.

I’ve met with over 250 councils across Australia since I’ve become the Minister, with 59 of those in New South Wales. I’m incredibly pleased to be able to attend numerous events so that I can have the direct discussions with you.

We talk so often about the challenges that we have in local government, and absolutely there are some challenges. We also need to acknowledge the successes we have as well and celebrate those successes. I want to start by acknowledging a couple of those winners and honourable mentions in the National Local Government Awards. It is so important that we do celebrate our successes and we do tell others what’s working for us so they can implement it into their own council areas.

So well done Bayside City Council for its circular waste strategy and action plan, which covered everything from diverting a range of materials from landfill to the use of smart technologies, to eliminate illegal dumping. Through to mandating the use of recycled glass and asphalt in road surfacing. Or Blacktown City Council for the Schofield Station car park, which was a new car park maximising car parking spaces, while creating a safe environment targeting high road-user risk factors, such as disability access and urban heat.

To the Hills Shire Council for the redevelopment of the Waves Fitness and Aquatic Centre. It retains the charm of the visit to the old local pool, while offering new features, inclusivity and accessibility. Making sure that this facility will meet the needs of a growing community.

Penrith City Council for the community and road education schemes – I’m really sorry, Pierre, to mention Penrith. I should have told him shouldn’t I? I hope 2024 is your year. If it’s not the Raiders – well that’s another conversation. Penrith City Council for the community and road education scheme of purpose-built bicycle safety education facility located in St Marys - that gives over 3,000 school students each year an interactive and fun way to learn about road safety.

To one of my own councils – Eurobodalla Shire Council, for their beach accessibility improvements. Installation of mobility mats at seven of Eurobodalla’s most popular beaches, which means that people with disabilities, the elderly, users of mobility scooters, wheelchairs, strollers and trollies can now enjoy access to the beach. Cumberland Council for the mentoring and development program, which enhances skills and experience for emerging leaders across the organisation.

Each and every time you put yourself forward for one of these awards it is not to spruik how great you are compared to someone else. It is about learning. It worked for your organisation and it can work for others. Please continue to nominate for these fantastic awards each year.

We have re-imagined how grants programs work in the sector. We’re investing over a billion dollars in our regional programs. Over $600 million in Growing Regions to deliver regional infrastructure and community projects that meet local needs. We’re doing it differently. We’ve got a multi-party panel from across Parliament using an expression of interest form first, to go through the first hurdle before we ask you to do a full application. I know your staff members are busy enough. They don’t need to go applying for every grant fund, which takes time and money. EOIs are being finalised for the first round, and I’d love to get your feedback on how that goes.

Over $400 million in the Regional Precincts and Partnerships program, which will really look at transforming local economies, diversifying economic opportunities and unifying some of the places we have across our communities.

For the first time ever we’ve got a grant program for every council in Australia with a Thriving Suburbs Program – $200 million for metropolitan councils to deal with some of their growing needs as suburbs boom across the country.

We want to make sure that we are working with the sector transparently, working across parliamentary political party lines with that multi-party panel. We want to continue to help you build exciting projects across your community. We’re also delivering an extended Phase 4 of the Local Road and Community Infrastructure program. It’s delivering an extra $209 million to New South Wales councils, including over $70 million to target roads outside of major urban areas.

We all understand the need for the sector to be strong and financially viable, and I absolutely acknowledge that every council area is going to be incredibly different. The objectives of our Financial Assistance Grant program remain sound and we should continue to strive to improve the capacity, the efficiency and the effectiveness of local governance through Financial Assistance Grants. We need to make sure it’s done in an equitable and sustainable way across our communities, providing services to every part of the country, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The objectives are sound, but the act was made in 1974, and we know in that time the goal posts have significantly shifted for local councils. From roads, rates and rubbish – even though I hate that saying – to disaster response and recovery, to your work in the NDIS, aged care or child care. The work of councils has changed dramatically since 1974. We know local governments are struggling with the same cost increases that are affecting everyone in our community and are increasingly seeing responsibilities expanded without commensurate funding. I’m working with my Department and the state and territory Ministers on how we can best meet the needs of the local government sector going forward.

I’m keen to hear from you as well, and I’ll continue to discuss any opportunities about reform with state, territory and local governments, especially through the Local Government Ministers’ Forum, which I’ll be chairing next week in Sydney.

You’ve all heard me talk about my time as Bega Shire Council Mayor, and I know that there are a number of Councillors from Bega in the room tonight and a couple of staff members. Hello, nice to see you all. I saw the firsthand devastation of what the Black Summer bushfires did to our community and the impact it had and is still having. There are communities across New South Wales at the moment really suffering as well. When I arrived in Sydney I actually walked past someone I went to school with who had just come back from a deployment in Armidale, helping out with the bushfires around there.

Bushfires, floods, storms and COVID have all had a real impact on our communities. That can’t be underestimated. When natural disasters and emergencies strike, it’s usually local government workers who become frontline workers. I don’t think that’s well understood by a lot of people out there. We need to make sure that we are working with our sector, because for so many of our communities, your organisation has direct impacts. You’ve got staff members attempting to help other people while they’re impacted themselves. We really need to acknowledge the toll that that takes on our organisations.

We want to make sure that councils can move more quickly to recover and to rebuild following natural disaster. We’re injecting more money into recovery and preparedness and we’ve advanced more than $880 million to New South Wales councils through the state government to fast track local repair works following disasters.

Over the next couple of days, you’re going to have a tonne of fun here, I have no doubt. I really hope it is beneficial to you all. We are really fortunate to be in a situation now where partnerships across government, collaboration across government is key and will be embedded into the future and hopefully embraced right across the sector.

I look forward to working with you to build a stronger, safer, smarter Australia, by using local councils as a trusted delivery partner. All the best over the next couple of days, and I look forward to the outcome of the board vote, which I think is happening tomorrow. I look forward to working with the new LGNSW board once it’s implemented. Thank you for having me.