More than 300 elected representatives and other local government officials from across Australia have united at the National Local Roads and Transport Congress in Mount Gambier to pass a resolution calling on the Federal Government to continue the Roads to Recovery program on a permanent basis and increase funding to recognise a massive shortfall in expenditure.


The resolution is the culmination of the two-day Roads Congress, which marked the start of a national campaign to secure ongoing federal funding to assist councils to maintain local roads and address an estimated annual shortfall of $1.2 billion in their investment by the Australian Government.

 

To reinforce the theme Better Roads are Safer Roads, the Roads Congress has been addressed by a host of road safety experts, academics and federal politicians, including Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Transport, Catherin King; Leader of the Nationals, Warren Truss; Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Water, Senator Barnaby Joyce; and Independent Member of Parliament, Tony Windsor.

 

President of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) and North Sydney Mayor, Genia McCaffery said that in passing the resolution, delegates committed their councils to an ongoing campaign in order to achieve Roads to Recovery funding beyond 2014, when the program is due to end.


"Delegates will be reminding the Federal Government that much more needs to be done to ensure the safety of local roads and address the estimated shortfall in Commonwealth investment of $1.2 billion annually. They expressed concern that continued under-investment in local roads hinders local social and economic development," Mayor McCaffery said.

 

"Delegates also noted that no substantial additional funding has been committed to achieving the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020. Delegates called on the Federal Government to commit additional funding to meet the road safety objective of a 30 per cent reduction in fatalities and serious injuries by 2020."


"In addition, delegates committed local government to working closely with the Federal Government in striving to achieve a 30 per cent reduction in deaths and injuries by 2020 and cooperating with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.


"The Congress reinforced the need for local government to be recognised in the Australian Constitution to ensure that the Federal Government can provide direct funding to local government, for example through the Roads to Recovery program.


"We need continued bipartisan support and call on all major political parties at the state and federal level to support constitutional recognition of local government to remove any doubt about the validity of the Commonwealth funding local government directly."