Lee Rhiannon (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate take note of Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government report.

It was a privilege to sit on the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government. With the report being tabled today, I would like to re-emphasise the Green's support for constitutional recognition of local government. It is incredibly important, and we are inching closer to that point.

Now that the parliamentary inquiry has recommended a referendum to recognise local government in the Constitution at the coming September election, I do hope that the Labor government will move quickly to pass the required legislation between March and July to facilitate this referendum. That is the next step, and that step needs to be taken. We need that time to build a strong community campaign and cross-party support. The importance of informing the community and building that support came up constantly at hearings for this committee. Dragging the chain would rob the campaign of time to educate the public about the importance of constitutional reform. As we know, this financial recognition is vital to formalise and secure financial certainty for local communities. This issue came up time and time again when we were having the hearings, particularly in respect of the relationship with the High Court cases. The past two High Court cases have created uncertainty, as we know, around the ability of the Commonwealth to directly fund local councils.

The expert panel expressed doubt about the constitutional validity of direct grant programs that do not fall under a head of Commonwealth legislative power. This poses an imminent challenge to the continuation of directly funded programs in many important areas across the board of all the great work that local councils do, including aged care, child care, climate change and infrastructure. One of the witnesses spoke about some great work around light rail that is being undertaken in Queensland, and they were very concerned about such programs being under threat.

Many local councils face expanding roles and responsibilities and have expressed their concern about the increasing uncertainty surrounding council decisions. Councils are the level of government closest to the community—we say that because it is a reality, and those councils need to be given support so that they can carry out their work effectively—and without direct federal funding, residents face reduced services or higher rates. That was a slogan that so many of the councillors and people who are working for councils took to the hearings of the committee that I had the opportunity to sit on as a member.

Both the expert panel and the joint committee have recommended holding a referendum at the September election to amend section 96 of the Constitution. Again, we are on track here. We now need the Labor government to come on board and get the required legislation into this place. I do urge that the government move quickly. There is just one recommendation, and so it is very clear what needs to be done here. We all know how difficult referendums are to pass in this country so that is an added reason why we need to get going.

On behalf the Greens, I particularly want to congratulate the Australian Local Government Association for their readiness to spearhead the public referendum campaign. The Greens are strongly supporting that campaign and we urge all political parties, state governments, territory governments and local governments across the nation to get behind the referendum. The time has come to get the recognition in place. We just have to get some of the mechanics set out so that can be achieved.

Question agreed to.