Media Releases

What if one person’s personal agenda could stop future local projects like Council’s very successful Healthy Communities Initiative? Well that could be a reality if we don’t secure a YES vote in the upcoming referendum to continue Federal funding to local councils, as has been done for more than a decade.

Those on the other side of the referendum vote will try to tell you that voting no will not change a thing. But that sort of fiction is exactly the reason why I’m telling people to get the facts about the referendum. Those advocating a no vote might not value the Healthy Communities Initiatives, or the Aquatic and Leisure Centre, libraries, parks and roads, but I know that the Alice Springs community does. That’s why it’s so vitally important to get the facts on this issue.

Two cases which came before the High Court recently have put Federal funding in jeopardy, meaning important extra funding for things like parks, pools, roads and community services could disappear. The most recent of those cases was brought by a Queensland man who successfully challenged the legality of the Federal Government giving money to schools to fund school chaplains.

One of Australia’s leading constitutional experts, Professor George Williams from the University of NSW, said the decision means “direct federal funding of local government, including the Roads to Recovery program, continues to be subject to considerable doubt.” Professor Williams also says direct Federal funding for a range of other non-government organisations, schools and sports clubs is also under a cloud.

A YES vote in the referendum to recognise local government in the Constitution is essential if we are to guarantee continued Federal funding to our local community. Without the help we would not have been able to pay for the Healthy Communities initiative. We just didn’t have the funds, and to be perfectly frank, no-one else was offering the money.

The upcoming referendum is designed to take away the uncertainty of local funding by including in the Constitution the ability of local councils to receive direct funding from the Federal Government – nothing more and nothing less. All it will do is make sure that the procedures that have existed for more than a decade will continue, that funding arrangements can stay as they are, and the Alice Springs community can still receive it’s fair share.

The referendum has the overwhelming support of Federal politicians from all political parties – with 95 per cent of MPs and senators who voted in favour – and the vast majority of all local councils. In the face of such support, those against it have unfortunately resorted to a fear campaign, because fear is all they have got to counter the facts.

I’m urging everyone to get the facts for themselves about the Referendum, regardless of how you feel about politics, because this is an issue that could affect our local parks, playgrounds, libraries, pools, roads and community services – the things we all should enjoy as a right. So get the facts about this referendum, because the facts say yes.

www.thefactssayyes.com.au

For further information contact:

Damien Ryan (Mayor) M: 0428 825 392