. VICTORIAN . Regional Development Strategy and Local Government Structure .
In 1986 the Government of the day passed the Australia Act.
The effect of this act was to cut our links with Great Britain and the Constitutional Monarchy, and all our rights and freedoms. It also, purportedly, gave our politicians the right to amend the Constitution without a referendum of the people.
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As the Government has presented several Constitutional changes to the people does this mean the Australia Act is not really legal, and if not, surely our Common Law rights and freedoms are  still a reality.
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 1988. A referendum question to the Australian people.
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To alter the Constitution to recognise Local Government.
 Insert. 119A. Each State shall provide for the establishment and continuance of a system of Local Government with Local Government bodies elected in accordance with the laws of the State, Statute Law, and empowered to administer and to make by-laws for their respective areas in accordance with the laws of the State.
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This was rejected by the Australian people.
Worth noting that councils operated within the Common Law at this time.
The Government agenda was to bring councils under Statute Law and as the people rejected this they enacted the Local Government Act in 1989.
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Was the referendum just to let the people think the Constitution was still the basis of our Law, or was it in fact the Government showing the people they could override the Constitution if it was required? This poses some perplexing questions.
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Recall, in 1998, July 1, John Howard said; “our basic rights have been defined over the centuries through Acts of Parliament, decisions of Courts, the ancient Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights (1688) and so forth. They are our basic rights”
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In 1992 , our Federal Government signed the United Nation's Agenda 21. This was without asking the Australian people if they wanted to become a coalition member of the United Nation's blueprint for a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT [GLOBALISATION].
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The ensuing years have brought many negativities in the way our Federal and State Governments have done business and implemented policy. Incredibly in 1998, the second year of John Howard's leadership he announced that in his perception Australia had lost it's sovereignty and was virtually governed by international forces.  Weekend Australian newspaper  13:14/06/98.
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Sydney Morning Herald 14 November 1999 reports John Howard as saying; "Nobody has an option to say, I wont take Globalisation, I'll take something else, because there isn't anything else”.
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The early 1990's saw the beginning of Agenda 21 and the Australian Government create the Council of Australian Governments ... COAG.  This was facilitated under the Department of Transport and Regional Services ... DOTARS.
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This enlisted the State Governments into the agenda. Subsequent to the creation of COAG, the Local Governments were enlisted by the creation of the Australian Local Government Association ... ALGA.
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Consequently we saw the amalgamation of local councils and the installation of the Commissioners to oversee these changes. In 2000 ALGA implemented a five year plan to achieve central planning for all Local Government which they called the ALGA Corporate Plan 2000-2005. This may still be viewable on the ALGA website.
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To quote their own documentation, “In the twenty-first century Local Government will establish it's place as an autonomous level of government in Australia, working as an equal partner with other levels of government {removed from State Government control} supported by, and responsible to the community that appointed ... NOT ELECTED it and acting to administer the laws of Australia, the construction of which it participated in as an equal partner”
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The control of Local Government by the United Nations, is rapidly becoming a reality  through the international body now known as  the United Cities and Local Governments...UCLG. This is linked to COAG which is linked to the ALGA which is linked to the VLGA and so to our Local Government. Our Local Government now sends representatives to international meetings of the UCLG. The last meeting was in Canne in 2004.
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In 1999 the Victorian Government implemented their next component of Agenda 21. This was the Rural and Regional Strategy.
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This plans for the development of rural and regional Victoria into communities that will sustain markets for corporate development and provide a Local Government that will facilitate corporate developments at whatever the expense to the local communities, including exorbitant rate rises, corporate bodies administering and formulating policies and the steady elimination of public access to council business.
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The community is currently confined to one public meeting per month in an increasingly controlled environment.
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A fine of $500 for interrupting at other than allocated public time is an example.
We should question our rights at this time as WE elect the council to administer to our community for OUR benefit ... not corporate development and profit.
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Examples of some statements in this strategy should start alarm bells ringing;
“ To achieve the vision of the Forum the planning processes of ALL 3 LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT  and RELEVANT AUTHORITIES need to be INTEGRATED.
This should occur in such a way as to achieve an approach to development that is seen by business as one which facilitates, encourages, minimises the cost of development and EMPOWERS THOSE INVOLVED IN DEVELOPMENT” and;
“It .. the strategy .. is designed to create excitement and to breakdown the resistance of the internal culture.”
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Local Governments are now required to initiate LOCAL Agenda 21. An extract from the  ICLEI document on the Role of Local Government in Sustainable Tourism.
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This is available on the ICLEI website www.iclei.org/europe.
 United Nations Publication.   ISBN 92-807-2267-0
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 “Local Agenda 21 is the special mandate given to local governments within Agenda 21, adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro as a way to move towards sustainable development.
The Local Agenda 21 approach brings this commitment to the local level, allowing each community to set its own path towards sustainable development. ICLEI’s concern is to ensure that Local Agenda 21 processes are truly participatory with the involvement of all stakeholders, and that they result in new commitments by municipalities and their communities not only to improve and extend urban services, but to do so in a  sustainable way”.
Sustainable means sustainable for the developers and corporates, not the communities.
Why does our Federal Government sanction control of our Local Government  by a foreign organisation ???
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Interestingly the ALGA and VLGA web sites give no indication that this situation is the reality. This can only mean the Australian people are NOT being told the TRUTH.
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Our Local Government structure is decrying the fact that they need a fair portion of the Federal State funding Our rates are not sufficient to fund all their responsibilities under this new regime. One interesting point here is that the ratepayers are funding Bill Gates.. Microsoft.. to the tune of $7,000,000 per year for software for the Local Government computer systems. This system now has a secure network.. LGNet. and an integrated video link inaccessible to the rate payers.
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The rate payers are now in a position where their only definitive role is the election of their representatives, now considered to be nominated as per ALGA documents. Once elected these people become swept into the corporate body, as structured by the Commissioners, and that body is now being controlled by a foreign organisation, the United Nations, as per Agenda 21.
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Interesting definitions.
PRIVATISATION:  Politically motivated, quid pro pro (in compensation) distribution of previously developed national wealth to the richest 10%.
DEREGULATION: Gives the unscrupulous a freer hand to sacrifice standards and service for profit maximisation.
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We have effectively lost control of our local administration.
We have effectively lost control of our State government.
We have effectively lost control of our Federal Government.
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References.
There are volumes of pertinent information available on the Internet.
Subject searches using a search engine such as Google provide substantial data.
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 United Nations Structure and Organisations.
 www.un.org         www.unsystem.org      www.undp.org
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 International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives.  ICLEI.
 www.unesco.org
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 United Nations Educational, Scientific Cultural Organisation.    UNESCO.
 www.unesco.org
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 United Cities and Local Government.  UCLG.
 www.cities-localgovernments.org/uclg
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 Department of Transport and Regional Services.   DOTARS.
 www.dotars.gov.au
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 Australian Local Government Association.  ALGA.
 www.alga.asn.au
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 Victorian Local Government Association.   VLGA.
 www.vlga.org.au
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 Municipal Association of Victoria.   MAV
 www.mav.asn.au
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 Local Government of Victoria.   LGV.  Now   DVC.  State Government.
 Old site. www.doi.vic.gov.au       New site. www.dvc.vic.gov.au
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 We are tenuously close to losing control of our communities and governments. Do some serious research and consider how many of our freedoms we have lost already. Unless we pressure all our elected representatives to change this situation we will have what we deserve.