Message from the Lord Mayor

Tusday 17th November

Lord Mayor – Graeme Sawyer

As Lord Mayor of Darwin I am a member of the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors. It is great that Darwin is a part of something as big as this. This forum gives Darwin a seat at the table with the major players like the Federal Ministers, the Prime Minister and other Capital City Lord Mayors.

The aim of the group is to focus energy on practical solutions that we can introduce now to cope with the demands of the future. So we are concerned with getting real benefits on the ground in the sort term with a strategic overview.

One of the big announcements to come out of last week is the formation of an alliance and working group with major regional cities Newcastle, Geelong and the Gold Coast. The focus is to forge stronger links with the Federal Government and to work closely with the Prime Minister to develop productive, affordable, liveable and sustainable cities.

The important issue is that infrastructure funding will not flow unless we have communication between levels of government. The Council of Capital City Lord Mayors is doing this. The Australian Government recognises that major cities are engaged on a daily basis in balancing the economic and social needs of their city. City councils have the experience in maximising urban activity while designing for the density required to accommodate forecasted population increases. This is why the Australian Government has been directly targeting local government with grants as a part of the stimulus package. They want to stimulate the economy, but more importantly they want ‘Bang for their Buck’.

The Darwin connection has a significant part to play in the new working group as I am the Deputy Chair and Darwin City Council CEO, Brendan Dowd is the Secretary. This, together with the decision for the group to meet in Darwin 3 times next year (April, July and November), really puts us in the box seat so to speak.

While we were down south we had a look at how larger Australian cities have developed infrastructure and inner city development. Really what works and what does not. This type of information will help Darwin become the best and hopefully avoid some of the mistakes other capital cities made in their development.

Lord Mayor, Graeme Sawyer