CHAIR – It’s an interesting observation. On the same theme of health and wellbeing and mental health, I talked about local government facilities aiding local communities. The Future of Local Government review identified that local government plays a key role in community wellbeing, including the rollout of workshops and learning on preventative health programs and community and cultural festivals. A lot of those are really important and given the positive impacts of these for health and wellbeing, are we already paying a lot for preventable diseases and illnesses through our state health system? Could you confirm which funds have been allocated for preventative health programs within local government?
Mr HEALEY – It’s probably a question more for Public Health and the Health department. I know they run health prevention programs, including at the local level. The one thing I could say is you may be aware that the Premier at his Estimates tabled the state’s Wellbeing Framework.
CHAIR – Yes, and it kind of relates to that and the importance of embedding that in local government and supporting it. What do you see as your role in doing that, minister?
Mr VINCENT – It’s probably something I do naturally. A lot of people move to sunny Sorell just for the relaxed lifestyle which improves their health straight away before they have to drive into Hobart. I understand people even move from Western Australia to sunny Sorell for the lifestyle too.
I think with the maturing conversation with local government, there are certainly areas like that where we could assist through various departments, but at this point in time I haven’t ventured in that area but fully understand.
The part answer to that is my view towards communities of like in regions. Where I want to head with that is towards understanding what is important to each of those communities of like. They’re all different, and we learned this through work we’ve done through some of the merger amalgamation talks or with bodies like SERDA and STCA on some of the things that you need to concentrate on in some of those communities a little bit differently.
When I was doing work on disaster recovery after Dunalley and then working with the government recovery for the Geeveston fires, it is so different for individual needs when you get further out from the metro area. In the metro areas you have so many different services. What stood out to me is that when the pressure is on, the far-reaching regional areas do not have access to a lot of very basic thing, so we have to have a better understanding of what is needed to make those communities work and tick.
A lot of that is not normally council work, although some smaller communities do get into some of those delicate areas. I think between local and state and certainly with assistance from federal funding when it’s available, we could be doing that so much better than we are now. That is part of what I would like to start to do in 2026.
CHAIR – I think you’re perfectly placed with all the intercepting roles you have to a point that affects Glenorchy and Hobart – the swimming pools – so both are very important, but also Bushy Park in Mr Mitchell’s electorate and there are various other places. Local pools are really important. Doone Kennedy Aquatic Centre is very important and funded by the council. I did go cap in hand to the former minister a few ministers back to get funding but to no avail from the sports minister and local government minister at the time. How are you enabling communities to continue running those really important local sports facilities and particularly pools, because they give a whole lot of water safety skills as well to build on?
Mr VINCENT – Yes, the government has supported quite a few pools recently, both from federal funding and state funding towards pools in areas where there isn’t close proximity to one. There is one being built at the southern beaches now. One went in at Oatlands a few years ago that had support from all levels of government to make sure it was there.
Councils do not like swimming pools, as you well know, because of their loss-making situation. This refers back a little to what I was saying about understanding communities of like so that you’re not duplicating facilities. Regardless of who’s in government, state and federally, there is more and more pressure coming on budgets, so we have to be smarter about how we do things and part of that is understanding how many footy grounds, speedways, swimming pools or whatever else might be around the area are needed to make an area work. The days of each community having a full suite of services that are breaking the local community isn’t necessarily a good thing anymore. You have to look at what you need for people to have access to essential services and sporting and community activities, and that is part of the body of work I’d really like to do in communities of like or regionalisation.
CHAIR – There is a lot about to be spent on the stadium, which really compares starkly with what’s spent in local communities for the health and wellbeing for kids in the local community.
Mr VINCENT – I will just give an example of how it changes. I know it’s back in my own territory but Pembroke Park as a regional sports centre and it used to be just used by cricket and football. We used to estimate 200-300 people a week and then gradually grants were achieved to add netball, which is just amazing and has gone from four local teams to about 28 now. There’s BMX there and the soccer club is expanding so quickly they can’t keep up. Footy and cricket are going stronger, as well as basketball, and Little Athletics its just incredible. The closest estimates I can come up with are that over the last 10 years that has gone from 200-300 people to 6000 people a week using that complex. I know it’s only a small regional area but we’ve got mums and dads and people of all ages coming from Nubeena up and Swansea down, from all over the Acton area and Coal Valley, and that is driving communication for kids.
I remember a couple of the parents used to bring bus loads of kids up from Nubeena to play sport. It wasn’t the sport they were bringing them up for, it was for the kids to interact with people outside their area and vice versa. It’s all about health and wellbeing and the results of what’s happened with that, thinking about it as a region instead of just the individual town of Sorell, has driven benefits for the whole region.
Mr. HEALEY – Other recent examples include Dial Park, $14 million; Northern Suburbs Community Recreation Hub, $46.3 million; Glenorchy Sports Centre, $27.9 million. Since 2021 – and I’ve got a table here with 389 lines in it – the total, as I said before, is over $195 million of investment in local sporting facilities.
CHAIR – That is admirable but it’s a drop in the ocean when you compare how much is being spent on the stadium.
Mr MITCHELL – Have you got $100,000 for North Launceston Football Club in there?
Mr HEALEY – I can’t review the entire list so quickly,
Mr VERMEY – Council governance has been flagged as an issue in the local government sector quite regularly. Are you able to expand on the work being done to address these concerns?
Mr VERMEY – We’ve touched a bit today on the government priority reform program. Broadly, the progressed amendments are focused on delivering two key outcomes. First, the amendments respond to ongoing community and sector concerns about council governance and the conduct, professionalism and integrity of councillors. Second, they implement crucial reforms to drive a high-performing, transparent and accountable sector.
They are all nice words, but at the end of the day it means productivity and sustainability for the community. General managers and key staff in the council lose an enormous amount of time dealing with a lot of the issues before councillors at the moment. I was absolutely horrified when I came into this role to find that the officers of local government were spending well over 50 per cent of their time dealing with councillor lack of professionalism issues along the way.
That took away a lot of resources from the office. It takes a lot of time away from the general managers from doing exactly what they’re meant to be doing. This reform will assist in putting that level of professionalism of conduct right throughout the whole sector. You’re never going to stop the anomalies but almost all levels of the community are screaming out for that bit of assistance in getting that level of professional resident into the sector.
When you look at the issues that a lot of councils have to deal with now and the pressures being brought on by the expectations of growing communities, they are far different to what they used to be when we had a lot more councils and the councils were much simpler in regional areas. Growth has brought a whole different vision about what communities expect. A lot of councillors feel that pressure and don’t know how to handle it, so some of this will help them deal with it.
