Media Release

State Government addiction to regulation is costing councils and ratepayers dearly

Monday 17th August 2009

Federal Shadow Minister for Housing and Local Government, Scott Morrison said hikes to local government fees and charges were a symptom of the barrage of cost shifting on councils by State Governments, which are burdening councils under a rampant proliferation of bureaucracy caused by their addiction to regulation.

“Poor performing State Governments are intent on creating costly bureaucratic nightmares for local government, ordering them to set up new departments and employ more bureaucrats - whether its ordering councils to become agents for new laws to register cats to counting weeds in parks - all the while washing their hands of any responsibility to fund them properly to do the job,” Mr Morrison said.

“As a result, councils are increasingly struggling to meet the demands of their communities for basic services such as fixing roads, providing community facilities or catering for the increasing local needs of our ageing and disabled population,” he said.

“This endless cost shifting is the result of State government’s addiction to regulation and failure to manage their finances, despite a river of funds flowing from the GST for almost a decade.

“The Rudd Government should be holding State Governments, particularly the long term Labor states, to account for the regulatory and bureaucratic burden they are forcing on councils, costing ratepayers in lost services and forcing councils to the wall.

“The latest Local Government National Report found that 169 of the nation’s councils may be financially unviable and the risk is that with continued cost shifting onto local government more and more local councils will join the ranks of the financially distressed.

“The Coalition has consistently raised legitimate questions about how the finances of local government are being administered, how the investments are being made and what level of governance, oversight and controls there are to protect ratepayer funds but we have yet to see any statement, policy, measure or reform suggestion from the Rudd government which will address the issues of financial governance in local government.

“If the Rudd government does not act we could be left with councils that are in no position to meet the growing demands of their local communities,” Mr Morrison said.