There are 101 good reasons to be at the LGAQ Annual Conference in Cairns next week.

The KPMG report on how grant reforms should be pursued, completed during the last term of government, remains the blueprint - the gold standard if you like.

Queensland local councils are much more than roads, rates and rubbish. They provide opportunities for our communities to come together and build pride in who they are and what they stand for.

Over the past 12 months, our beautiful state has had to deal with fire, flood, drought and now more fire, each event close to unprecedented in severity and scope.

If local government needed any more reminders of the importance of basing decisions on strong, reliable data there were plenty of them at last week’s Waste Forum in Brisbane.

Quite a strong LGAQ presence in the State’s north this week with the entire Policy Executive meeting on Thursday Island in the Torres Shire senior staff attending the Northern Alliance of Councils at Bowen.

What hasn’t been said about the iconic nature of the Australian bush and the great enduring connection so many of us have with that part of our nation?

I’m proud to say that at the LGAQ we innovate in spades. It’s in our DNA

When you consider how each of the three levels of government are tackling the impact of climate change, it is local government that is determined not to allow short-term politics to spoil decisions about long-term policy.

Collectively, local government in this state has a great story to tell about how it manages budgets and debts.

I finished last week’s update reciting the LGAQ credo _ Connect.Innovate.Achieve. I start this week’s missive with the same exhortation _ Connect.Innovate.Achieve.

Some good news. No nett cost for LGAQ membership again in 2019-20 for members of the LGM and LGW schemes. That is a repeat of last year. No other peak body in Australia delivers that for its members.

The middle of June in Canberra is traditionally when the Australian Local Government Association’s National General Assembly rolls out and this year was no different. Indeed, this was the event’s 25th anniversary and it attracted a healthy 880 delegates from across the country.

The 2019 Queensland Budget was never going to set the world on fire

Wow, what a week. The Indigenous Leaders Forum here in Cairns, Queensland Day and a State of Origin win in the first game of the 2019 Series

New research released this week shows that, for all the talk of local councils being “on the nose” and the continued political assaults on local government from vested interests, the public is more satisfied with the sector than it was last year.

With the federal election campaign all but done and dusted, local government in Queensland has a much better idea about where the major parties stand on our policy proposals.

A matter of days out from the federal election it is pleasing to see issues that really matter to local communities are finding their way into the campaign narrative.

Next year will mark 100 years since the LGAQ became the industrial voice of local government in Queensland, a fact of which we are mightily proud.

The world is converging rapidly into a data driven, analytics led, hyper knowledge existence. We are all on the same journey whatever our role or calling in life.