The Weekly 2 December
Thank you, conference attendees
Thank you to everyone who attended the online Annual Conference on Monday this week, particularly given your busy schedule in the lead-up to the local government elections this Saturday.
While it was disappointing to meet online for a second year, we appreciate your patience amid the ever-changing constraints of COVID – and we’re all looking forward to catching up in person at our upcoming Special Conference from 28 February to 2 March 2022.
This Special Conference is where we will debate motions, develop advocacy priorities for 2022 and hear from some fantastic keynote speakers.
Registrations are open, and our most recently announced keynote speaker, Greig Pickhaver AO (aka H.G. Nelson), looks set to amuse and entertain us with his musings as the head of The Even Greater Sydney Planning Committee – you can see a quick preview here.
International Women's Day Lunch
On a more serious note, we are also offering members exclusive access to pre-sale tickets for the 2022 International Women’s Day Lunch at Luna Park Sydney on Tuesday 8 March.
The 2022 campaign theme #BreakTheBias will be addressed by our keynote speaker Jennifer Robinson - an international philanthropist, barrister and human rights lawyer who most recently appeared for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, The New York Times and Bloomberg. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday 9 December, but members have early access to and can lock in their seat or table by booking.
LGNSW Advocacy wins
On the advocacy front, there was welcome news for our sector this week, with the recent announcement of project funding for every regional LGA in NSW under the Stronger Country Communities Fund Round Four.
The funding is set to deliver new and upgraded facilities, infrastructure and programs that make a big difference to everyday life in the bush. You can read the announcement from Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole here.
Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock also confirmed the NSW Government’s earlier commitment to provide an additional $29.1 million in funding for the NSW Electoral Commission to ensure local councils and ratepayers do not foot the bill for election day delays caused by the COVID-19 Delta outbreak.
We may not be able to enjoy our usual “democracy sausage” this year, but at LGNSW we are very much looking forward to working with all newly elected and returning councillors to help drive a locally led recovery in NSW in the new year and beyond.
Our best wishes also go out to all the council staff preparing to welcome a new council and a new year. If you’re a human resource professional who has not yet registered for our Human Resources Conference (31 January to 2 February 2022), the early bird deadline has just been extended to Friday 17 December. That gives members a further two weeks to secure tickets at a $150 discount before taking a break for Christmas.
Weekly Summer editions
As the local government calendar draws to a close, we’ll be pausing our usual weekly publication schedule for this newsletter and replacing it with a Summer Edition, which will be issued twice a month in December and January.
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