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Business View Oceania - January/February 2017
sources. About one-third comes from
subscriptions and the remaining por-
tion from government grants and busi-
ness initiatives of the LGAQ.
The association’s role as a peak body
is to be the interface between govern-
ment, both state and federal, and coun-
cils. While governments can deal with
councils one-on-one, when it comes to
the development of programs of leg-
islation or funding schemes, then it is
important that the LGAQ ensures that
local government gets the best possi-
ble deal. This is one of the critical ser-
vices that the association provides to
its members.
Programs
The LGAQ plays an important role in a
number of programs. At the state lev-
el, one of the important initiatives is
the Transport Infrastructure Develop-
ment Scheme (TIDS). It provides about
$60 million a year to councils to help
them do work on their local roads.
Another recently introduced program
from the state government is the Build-
ing Our Regions Program. It is worth
about $70 million a year and funds can
be allocated to a variety of applications
including water and sewerage systems,
public buildings including libraries,
swimming pools or similar projects.