FOREWORD
WORDS FROM THE
ALGA PRESIDENT
It was with great pleasure that I welcomed
delegates from councils across the country to
Alice Springs in November for the 14th National
Local Roads and Transport Congress. The
Congress marked an exciting opportunity for
local government representatives to play a part
in shaping the policy agenda for national local
roads and transport.
As I told delegates when I opened the Congress,
local governments as a collective can influence
the future management of roads and transport.
The recent change of federal government
offers changes of ideas, changes in policy and
changes in priorities and most importantly, it
offers opportunities. A new government offers
opportunities for councils to advocate policies
to a new audience, to explain specific needs and
propose sensible solutions to the problems we
all face. This change also provides opportunities
to review what councils have been doing and
to think about better ways of doing things and
working together.
Over the past 14 years, the National Local Roads
and Transport Congress has discussed the
importance of local roads and the role they play
in our nation’s transport system. Our objective
has remained the same: we need more help;
better funding; and more support to manage
community infrastructure assets. To underscore
the critical need for additional assistance,
ALGA has released the 2013 State of the Assets
Report. It provides evidence of the backlog in
expenditure and the need for further work on
asset management.
We also heard from a range of speakers
including roads and transport experts from
Canada and New Zealand, who outlined their
experiences in local government infrastructure
and associated finance issues.
The CEO of the National Heavy Vehicle
Regulator, Richard Hancock, updated us on road
reforms and the new access regime, and we
heard about changes to heavy vehicle charging
and investment.
A number of sessions and workshops were also
held to discuss transport issues specific to local
communities and I thank Alice Springs Mayor,
Damien Ryan, for hosting these discussions.
To download material from the National Local
Roads and Transport Congress, including my own
video message, please visit the ALGA website at
the following address: alga.asn.au
Mayor Felicity-ann Lewis
ALGA President
Mayor Felicity-ann Lewis became President of the
Australian Local Government Association (ALGA)
in September 2012, having previously been Vice
President since 2010. Mayor Lewis has been a
member of the ALGA Board since 2009.
Mayor Lewis is a passionate supporter of reform
in local government and was President of the
Local Government Association of South Australia
in 2009/11. She is currently the immediate past
president.
Mayor Lewis hails from South Australia and is the
City of Marion’s first-ever female Mayor and the
longest serving Mayor of more than 10 years.
Mayor Lewis is a Senior Lecturer in Health
Education at Flinders University focussing on
health promotion and health education. She
is currently studying as a candidate for a PhD
Doctorate.
As an advocate for local government, Mayor Lewis
has promoted Marion Council and the community
by developing strong alliances with all levels of
government and has established good working
relations with neighbouring councils.
Govlink Issue 2 2013
With a strong interest in environmental issues,
Mayor Lewis was appointed as a member of
South Australia’s Natural Resources Management
Council in 2010.
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