Local Government News Roundup

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Earlier this year, a thought leadership piece from Daniel Fletcher on the 8 Big Questions for Local Government in 2024 went viral on LinkedIn.

Daniel has been a council CEO, and is currently General Manager of Communities and Liveability at Western Downs Regional Council in Queensland.

He’s a speaker, mentor and coach with a passion for the local government sector and the success of its people.

In today’s edition of the Local Government News Roundup’s, Well Travelled Executive Series, Daniel Fletcher joins Chris Eddy to talk about this 8 big questions for the sector and more.

You can access the document here.

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Support the Roundup and get access to special episodes and regular breaking news updates by becoming a subscriber for around $5 per month. ($3 USD) Click here to subscribe now.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; with support from Davidson, the nationally recognised executive recruitment and business advisory service.

Links for stories referenced in the podcast can be found in the transcript, or by visiting the Roundup website.

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In March this year, Chris Eddy spoke with civility campaigner Diane Kalen-Sukra from Canada to talk about her crusade to tackle rising incivility against people in public life.

It has become one of the most listened to episodes of the Local Government News Roundup to date.

Six months on, Diane’s work to shine a light on toxicity and incivility in the public realm continues to gather pace, with hundreds of people signed up for her global online summit, Tackling Toxicity, Cultivating Civility in October.
 
Diane returns to the Roundup as part of the Well Travelled Executive series to reveal what progress has been made in these past six months, and to talk about what to expect from the upcoming summit.

Support the show

Support the Roundup and get access to special episodes and regular breaking news updates by becoming a subscriber for around $5 per month. ($3 USD) Click here to subscribe now.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; with support from Davidson, the nationally recognised executive recruitment and business advisory service.

Links for stories referenced in the podcast can be found in the transcript, or by visiting the Roundup website.

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David Keenan is a local government journeyman who has worked at the highest level at councils in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland over a nearly 30 year career.

He is currently the CEO of Scenic Rim Regional Council in Queensland, a position he’s held since late 2022.

David joins Chris on the Local Government News Roundup’s Well Travelled Executive Series to share his observations about working in councils in different jurisdictions, some of the challenges he’s faced along the way, and why the job of a Council CEO is both best and worst job in the world.

Support the show

Support the Roundup and get access to special episodes and regular breaking news updates by becoming a subscriber for around $5 per month. ($3 USD) Click here to subscribe now.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; with support from Davidson, the nationally recognised executive recruitment and business advisory service.

Links for stories referenced in the podcast can be found in the transcript, or by visiting the Roundup website.

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In this first episode of the Well Travelled Executive series from the Local Government News Roundup, Chris Eddy is joined by Lydia Wilson and Noelene Duff, Chair Administrators for the cities of Whittlesea and Casey respectively.

They tell Chris about the adjustments they have had to make to carry out the role, which is quite different to anything they’d undertaken in their long and distinguished local government careers to date.

And we’ll find out what comes next for them as the end of the term fast approaches.

Support the show

Support the Roundup and get access to special episodes and regular breaking news updates by becoming a subscriber for around $5 per month. ($3 USD) Click here to subscribe now.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; with support from Davidson, the nationally recognised executive recruitment and business advisory service.

Links for stories referenced in the podcast can be found in the transcript, or by visiting the Roundup website.

Send us a text

On the Local Government News Roundup for Monday 26th August 2024:

• Drug charges against a councillor dropped
• A Melbourne Lord Mayoral candidate pledges to scrap the Greenline project
• A major social housing plan falls over in Monash
• The councillor calling for a commitment to a ‘clean election campaign’
• Victorian councils grappling with major solar and wind farm proposals
• Councils asking questions over allegations against a leading e-scooter operator
• Council worker strike action looming in Toowoomba
• A backdown from a controversial swearing ban
• And English councils sound the alarm on a men’s health crisis

Plus more news from the world of local government around Australia and beyond.

Support the show

Support the Roundup and get access to special episodes and regular breaking news updates by becoming a subscriber for around $5 per month. ($3 USD) Click here to subscribe now.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; with support from Davidson, the nationally recognised executive recruitment and business advisory service.

Links for stories referenced in the podcast can be found in the transcript, or by visiting the Roundup website.

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On the Local Government News Roundup for Friday, 23rd August 2024:

• New housing plans draw a swift response from some affected councils
• Moorabool Council to raise its concerns about hospital services with government
• Bendigo receives a progress report on the city’s e-scooter trial
• Boat stacker sheds rejected on the Mornington Peninsula
• A former Lord Mayor’s involvement in a CEO recruitment process under scrutiny
• Queensland to finally get a Cross Border Commissioner
• A Tasmanian council distances itself from its mayor's comments about smacking children
• Big sector developments in New Zealand as the PM tells councils to get back to basics,
• and on Roundup Extra, Bayside Council CEO Mick Cummins talks to Chris about this week's big announcement of waste to energy initiative that will dramatically change how nine Melbourne councils deal with household waste.

Plus more from around the world of local government in Australia and beyond.

Support the show

Support the Roundup and get access to special episodes and regular breaking news updates by becoming a subscriber for around $5 per month. ($3 USD) Click here to subscribe now.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; with support from Davidson, the nationally recognised executive recruitment and business advisory service.

Links for stories referenced in the podcast can be found in the transcript, or by visiting the Roundup website.

Send us a text

On the Local Government News Roundup for Wednesday, 21st August 2024:

• Nine councils join forces in a new waste to energy initiative
• A Melbourne Council CEO stepping down, and the new gig for a South Australian CEO revealed
• A heritage win for Indigo Shire Council
• The NSW Liberals drop their threat of legal action over the council election nomination process
• 14 NSW councils affected by insufficient candidate nominations
• A council accused of bringing in an Indigenous treaty by stealth
• A mayor’s apology heads off an investigation
• Adelaide City Council makes its decision on a request to add Breaker Morant’s name to an Adelaide War Memorial; 
• and a UK council’s swearing in the street fine facing a legal challenge.

Plus more local government news from across Australia and beyond.

Support the show

Support the Roundup and get access to special episodes and regular breaking news updates by becoming a subscriber for around $5 per month. ($3 USD) Click here to subscribe now.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; with support from Davidson, the nationally recognised executive recruitment and business advisory service.

Links for stories referenced in the podcast can be found in the transcript, or by visiting the Roundup website.

Send us a text

On the Local Government News Roundup for Monday 19th August:

• An ex-footy star lines up for the Melbourne Lord Mayoral race;
• Approval granted for a contentious high rise Docklands development;
• Councils band together to call for united government action on housing;
• The weekend developments in the NSW council nominations fiasco;
• More councillors leave the Liberal Party, as long standing mayors flag retirement;
• Townsville Council makes a controversial decision and complains it has been used as a political football
• A South Australian Council CEO resigns
• The NT councillor issued with a no-trespass notice by her council - details emerge about her alleged offences
• and we find out about the City of Melbourne’s exciting Fishermans Bend Digital Innovation Challenge.

Support the show

Support the Roundup and get access to special episodes and regular breaking news updates by becoming a subscriber for around $5 per month. ($3 USD) Click here to subscribe now.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; with support from Davidson, the nationally recognised executive recruitment and business advisory service.

Links for stories referenced in the podcast can be found in the transcript, or by visiting the Roundup website.

Send us a text

In the Friday 16th August edition of the Local Government News Roundup:

• The monumental stuff-up in NSW that has led to the forced retirement of more than 40 current councillors
• A councillor resigns, heading off an arbiter-ordered suspension
• Yarra Ranges responds to a “high five” school crossing commotion
• A new renewable energy plan proposed as election campaigning picks up pace
• A NSW councillor censured and referred for further action for alleged misconduct
• The Albury Wodonga hospital on a council’s agenda again
• A council meeting suspended as a protest leads to safety concerns,
• Pressure on Townsville Council to decide on contentious City Deal funding, and
• The councillors who want to ban kebab shops from their city centre

Plus much more news from across the world of local government in Australia and beyond.

Support the show

Support the Roundup and get access to special episodes and regular breaking news updates by becoming a subscriber for around $5 per month. ($3 USD) Click here to subscribe now.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; with support from Davidson, the nationally recognised executive recruitment and business advisory service.

Links for stories referenced in the podcast can be found in the transcript, or by visiting the Roundup website.

Subscriber-only episode

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A breaking news update for Roundup subscribers, with the latest on a councillor resignation in Victoria and an election shambles in NSW.

Support the Roundup and get access to special episodes and regular breaking news updates by becoming a subscriber for around $5 per month. ($3 USD) Click here to subscribe now.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; with support from Davidson, the nationally recognised executive recruitment and business advisory service.

Links for stories referenced in the podcast can be found in the transcript, or by visiting the Roundup website.