PM asks councils to spend $300m in 2009

More than 400 local mayors and shire presidents left Canberra with a Christmas present of a one-off funding grant and newfound respect from the federal government after a two-day summit.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd declared the inaugural meeting of the Australian Council of Local Government had gone off without "the faintest whiff of party politics".

The leaders representing 565 local council areas met nearly every federal cabinet minister to discuss problems facing local government which directly employs 168,000 people to provide billions of dollars in services.

Mr Rudd announced $250 million in one-off grants to be spent on new community infrastructure projects such as libraries, parks, playgrounds and other community facilities by the end of September 2009.

Brisbane City Council received the largest grant of nearly $2.9 million while 195
local councils with populations of less than 5,000 people each received a grant of
$100,000.
Councils will also have the chance to bid for larger funding amounts - starting from
$2 million - from a $50 million fund reserved for larger projects.
Local Government and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese said the average grant
was around $450,000 and councils were required to submit plans for new projects as
soon as possible with allocations to be paid out by the end of next June.
Mr Rudd said the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program was the next
phase of the government's economic stimulus strategy and follows the $10.4 billion
announced last month.
He said the nation was "crying out" for infrastructure development.
Mr Rudd also made a commitment to pursue recognition of local government in the
Australian Constitution and announced $8 million for a "centre of excellence" to be
located at a university.
More commitments on infrastructure spending are expected to be announced closer to
the next Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting of state and territory
governments on November 29.
Australian Local Government Association president Paul Bell declared the meeting,
promised by Labor during last year's election campaign, a historic milestone in
relations between federal and local government.
Mr Bell said progress had been made on areas such as health, social inclusion,
climate change, water shortages and urban congestion.
"We still have a way to go in the area of fair funding for local government," he said.
Mr Rudd attended the meeting after jetting in from Washington DC, where he attended
the emergency G20 summit on the global financial crisis over the weekend, but not
before he diverted to Brisbane in the morning to inspect storm damage in the city's
north.
He said he expected thousands of jobs to be created as councils got to work on the
projects in the next few months.
"Local governments have the capacity to roll out smaller-scale infrastructure
projects quickly," Mr Rudd said.
"We'll be asking local government to implement a speedy roll-out of infrastructure
investment to deliver both immediate economic benefits and to deliver long-term
community benefits.
"Our intention is to have this spending done as quickly as possible."
Opposition local government spokesman Scott Morrison welcomed the extra funding but
said the government had missed an opportunity to reform local government.
"There is a very good argument for federal taxpayer funds to be increasingly devoted
to addressing these issues but only in return for a reform quid pro quo from local
government," Mr Morrison said.