Local government advocacy

The 2016 State of the Regions report was released at the National General Assembly (NGA) in Canberra this week, presenting an ideal opportunity for the ALGA, the MAV and councils to advocate for political parties to support our joint election document, Local Government’s Plan for an Innovative and Prosperous Australia.

The report shows regional prosperity is concentrated in small pockets while many areas face inequities in productivity, employment, and income. The State of the Regions report builds on the National State of the Assets report released late last year, which estimated 11 per cent - or around $27 billion - of community infrastructure is in poor or very poor condition and in need of replacement, maintenance or upgrades.

Together the reports provide compelling evidence to support local government’s federal advocacy efforts to secure additional funding for community infrastructure, local roads and freight initiatives.

Attendees at the NGA included the Minister for Local Government, Paul Fletcher; and Shadow Minister for Local Government and Regional Development, Julie Collins. The Labor Party this week committed to recommence indexation of financial assistance grants in 2017 if elected, as well as re-establishing the Australian Council of Local Government to ensure ongoing direct dialogue between the Prime Minister, Cabinet and local government. In her address to the NGA, Ms Collins said Labor wanted local government to be a genuine partner in building innovations and prosperity, not an afterthought. Minister Fletcher discussed the government’s plan for a Smart Cities and Suburbs Program to improve liveability of cities.

Interesting tidbits

• An election podcast by VICE Australia explores under-reported stories from the last seven days of the election
• The Chaser’s Election Desk has returned
• The ABC investigates: can homeless people vote? And Radio National’s Four perspectives from life on the street
• ABC Newsbot has been launched to answer voter questions on Twitter and Facebook.

Leaders’ debate

• The third and final election leaders’ debate between Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten was hosted by Facebook and news.com.au on Friday 17 June. The audience declared Bill Shorten the winner. Review a summary of the debate and questions the leaders were asked.
• Senator Richard Di Natale, Leader of the Australian Greens spoke at the National Press Club this week. National Press Club addresses are broadcast live on ABC News and ABC News 24, and also available to watch on iView.

Liberal – Nationals Coalition policies

Election commitments announced over the past fortnight include:

• $50 million competitive Smart Cities program for local government to apply innovative technology-based approaches to improve the liveability of cities and suburbs
• Refocusing the National Stronger Regions Fund as the Building Better Regions Fund with a focus on funding for rural, regional and remote areas, and introduction of three infrastructure project categories so smaller projects won’t need to compete against multi-million dollar projects for funding.
• Establishing a Regional Investment Corporation to fast-track delivery of $4.5 billion in Commonwealth drought and water infrastructure loans
• $10.5 million for an indoor regional netball centre in Deakin
• $20 million to prevent domestic violence, including developing prevention strategies with local government, businesses, sporting organisations and community groups
• A further $15 million has been committed to frontline services including further support for the 1800RESPECT helpline, a housing innovation fund, and financial support for women experiencing or at risk of domestic violence.

View all Coalition policies.

Australian Labor policies

Election commitments announced over the past fortnight include:

• $20 million pledged for the AEC to undertake council plebiscites across NSW to gauge community support for the forced amalgamations undertaken by the NSW Premier
• A commuter infrastructure plan including $500 million from the Melbourne Metro Tunnel and a Park and Ride Access Fund
• A preventative health package including establishing 50 Healthy Communities and development of Australia’s first National Physical Activity Strategy to address obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases
• $68.6 million to develop local jobs for local people
• $2 billion over four years in additional funding for hospitals as part of a health reform package including restoring the National Health Reform Agreement, a new model of integrated primary care, and retaining and protecting Medicare in public ownership
• $16 billion savings package to improve the Federal Budget
• $84 million suicide prevention package, including 12 regional suicide prevention pilot projects and a National Suicide Prevention Strategy.

View all Australian Labor policies.

Australian Greens policies

Election commitments announced in the past fortnight include:

• $240 million to retrofit all 421,000 public and community housing with solar panels to ease power bills for low income earners
• $46 million plan over six years to prevent violence against women through working with schools, sporting clubs and businesses to achieve gender equality
• A package of support for older Australians, including quality aged care and mature age employment opportunities
• $20 million for infrastructure upgrades at South Yarra Station and planning for a Melbourne Metro Rail interchange at South Yarra
• A plan to protect native forests from logging

View all Australian Greens election policies.

Latest polls

• Roy Morgan’s analysis of the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) in South Australia from April to June shows a 21 per cent rise in voter support for NXT
• The Australian-Newspoll, conducted from 16-19 June, shows Labor and the Liberal-Nationals Coalition remain deadlocked at 50:50 on the two-party preferred vote
• Essential Report, conducted from 16-19 June, showed Labor on 51 per cent on the two-party preferred vote, with the Coalition trailing on 49 per cent
• Crikey’s Poll Bludger is an aggregate analysis of the national opinion polls
• The Guardian Australia’s Poll of Polls combines all available opinion polls to statistically predict the election outcome
• A 7 News-ReachTEL poll, conducted on 16 June, has the Liberal-Nationals Coalition leading the two-party preferred vote on 51 per cent to Labor’s 49 per cent
• A Fairfax-Ipsos poll, conducted from 14-16 June, has Labor retaining a narrow lead with 51 per cent of the two-party preferred vote to the Coalition’s 49 per cent.

This image was supplied courtesy of the AEC under a CC by 3.0 license.

Election resources

• ABC Federal Election Guide: contains detailed electorate profiles, list of retiring MPs, electoral pendulum, House of Representatives calculator, a seat-by-seat candidate guide and elections analysis
• Vote Compass: election 2016: A collaborative project between ABC, University of Melbourne and Vox Pop Labs, this social and data science tool calculates how a user’s personal views compare to the positions of political parties
• Sky News Election 2016: has the latest election news and analysis, and an #auspol social hub with all the latest tweets sorted by political party
• Curious Campaign: a new initiative where the public can submit story questions, and vote for their favourites with ABC News journalists investigating the winning questions
• The Tally Room: profiling details about marginal seats each day
• YourVote: a tool developed in collaboration by Fairfax Media, Kieskompas and the University of Sydney to help voters find out what the parties stand for.