8.1.1 Funding Assistance

8.1.1.1  Federal legislation on road funding should provide for a tripartite agreement between Federal, State and Local Government.

8.1.1.2  Local Government has a right and responsibility to control, develop and maintain roads, and is entitled to an equitable share of Federal and State road funds for this purpose.

8.1.1.3  Financial assistance for roads should remain a specific allocation for the purpose and not become absorbed in any other avenue of financial assistance for Local Government.

8.1.1.4  The basis for allocation of road funding by the State and Commonwealth Government to Local Government should be reviewed and the mechanism for transfers of funds between both spheres of Government clearly defined and agreed.

8.1.1.5  State and Federal Governments should recognise the need for Local Government to have adequate notice of future road funding allocations to facilitate effective and efficient programming.

8.1.1.6  The quantum of Federal and State funds allocated to Local Government for roads should be at least maintained in real terms.

8.1.1.7  The share of Federal road funds allocated to Queensland should increase in real terms.

8.1.1.8  The process and methodology of allocating road funds to Queensland Local Government as determined by the Grants Commission should appropriately reflect the needs of Local Government.

8.1.1.9  Local Government recognises that the recommendations contained in the Layton Report on Road and Transport Infrastructure Funding represent the most achievable means of resolving Queensland's critical road and transport funding shortage in the decades ahead. Any consideration of the abolition of the Queensland Fuel Subsidy Scheme should be based on the need to quarantine the funds made available for road and transport needs. Any changes may need to be staged. 

8.1.2 Responsibilities for Roads

8.1.2.1  Local Government seeks an agreement by which the Commonwealth agrees to substantially increase funding for the local road network where:

• local roads provide for significant arterial and through traffic, or have economic significance beyond the access interests and responsibility of ratepayers.
• the relationship between a Council's potential rate base and its road responsibility is so unbalanced that the Council has no chance of meeting its obligations.

8.1.2.2  To meet its responsibilities, Local Government will seek to ensure Councils collectively and individually accept responsibility for more effective management and maintenance of the local road network by adopting professional asset management standards, maximising productivity gains, seeking and applying the most effective technology, and setting priorities which provide a necessary level of access in the most cost-effective manner.

8.1.3 Road Planning and Delivery

8.1.3.1  Local Government is committed to the principles embodied in the Road Management and Investment Alliance. These principles reflect a spirit of cooperation and joint decision making between Local Governments and between Local Government and State Government.

8.1.3.2  Local Government acknowledges the benefits of regional based road planning, management and delivery and continues to strive to realise these benefits.

8.1.3.3  Local Government is committed to working with the Department of Main Roads to jointly manage roads of comparable function to ensure the best delivery of services for the region.

8.1.3.4  Local Government is prepared to consider flexible, more productive arrangements for accelerated maintenance but only on the basis that there is no significant transfer of work from Councils to the private sector.

8.1.3.5  Local Government should retain the discretion as to whether road programs are put to tender or conducted by day labour and on application of funds to maintenance or construction.

8.1.3.6  Local Government is prepared to consider the expansion of the scope of the Road Management and Investment Alliance to incorporate new models of road stewardship and delivery provided the new arrangements do not diminish the voluntary, financial, and institutional and partnership bases of the Alliance.