30 June 2014
The Federal Government’s release of the Terms of Reference for the White Paper on the Reform of the Federation gives a framework to rethink the responsibilities for Australia’s cities and urban areas, says the Urban Taskforce.
“ When Australia became a federation of states and territories over 110 years ago, our cities were small and most families lived in detached suburban houses,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “ Now Australia is an urban nation and its cities have become the economic drivers of the country and the centres of population.”
“ The Urban Taskforce believes the state and territories should have the dominant responsibility for cities and that local government should play a support role. The federal government as the main collector of taxation must equitably fund cities through state governments.”
“ A current confusion from our three levels of government is in the management of population growth. The majority of the population growth in Australia is from immigration that is determined by federal government policies. Last financial year immigration brought in approximately 244,000 extra people while births over deaths accounted for around 160,000 new people. The federal government however has no role in where these extra quarter of a million people a year end up living. Most end up in cities but state governments often pass the responsibility of where the new housing growth should go down to local government where communities are often anti change.”
“ The Reform of Federation must ensure that there are clear responsibilities across all three levels of government to accept the current level of population increase and that most will need to be housed in cities. The federal government may need to look at grant funding of infrastructure that is only allocated where increased housing supply is planned.”
“The Urban Taskforce is keen to contribute to a broader discussion on the Reform of Federation and contribute to the White Paper on this topic. We do however believe that the management of growth in Australia’s cities needs to be an important part of the discussion.”
