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LORD MAYORS WELCOME PRIME MINISTER’S COMMITMENT TO NEW WORKING PARTNERSHIP
The Lord Mayors of Australia’s capital cities have saluted the commitment of the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to a “new era” of working together on initiatives aimed at building national prosperity.
The Lord Mayors, making up the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors (CCCLM), met with Mr Rudd and Infrastructure Minister, Anthony Albanese, in Canberra today to discuss a formal mechanism for capturing and implementing the new partnership arrangement.
The meeting follows a promise by Mr Rudd last August that if elected he would sit down with the CCCLM to discuss progressing a new alliance early in 2008.
Chair of the CCCLM, Michael Harbison, the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, said the meeting produced a “major breakthrough” for the country’s eight major cities.
“The Prime Minister told us that cities were back on the agenda as a significant policy innovation, which was very pleasing to our ears,” Mr Harbison said.
“He accepted our offer to invest resources jointly with the Australian Government to explore and set in motion programs geared to achieving broader and better outcomes, especially in social inclusion programs such as alcohol management, homelessness, and sustainability.
“The Prime Minister also expressed commitment to broad infrastructure programs relating to revitalizing cities and achieving national coordination to the development of important projects,” Mr Harbison said.
“The heart of our approach is a new effective arrangement for taking on and achieving joint results in the areas of social inclusion, urban congestion and transport, innovation, productivity and global engagement.
“This is an important linchpin of consolidating resources, ideas and programs to arrive at specific implementation timetables and specific outcomes.
“We are very pleased that the Prime Minister and Minister Albanese agreed on the need for such a partnership.”
Mr Harbison said the Council made it very clear that numerous programs and projects already in place in individual cities would produce national outcomes when spread around the country under the partnership mechanism.
“Many things we are doing, if consolidated and expanded, will undoubtedly increase global competitiveness and the liveability of Australian cities.”
The CCCLM comprises: Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Michael Harbison, Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman, ACT Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, John Hargreaves MLA, Lord Mayor of Darwin, Graeme Sawyer, Lord Mayor of Hobart, Rob Valentine, Lord Mayor of Melbourne, John So, Lord Mayor of Perth, Lisa Scaffidi, and the Lord Mayor Sydney, Clover Moore MP.
Media contact Graham Cassidy, Cato Counsel, 0419 202317
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