LGAQ annual conference starts next week

The 121st Local Government Association of Queensland annual conference will be held from 16–18 October.

Approximately 700 delegates, observers, trade representatives and government officials are expected to attend the event in Gladstone.

Key themes at the conference will include the launch of a new data analytics project, which will allow local councils to use the huge amount of information they collect to help improve the way they operate their businesses and serve their communities.

The project, dubbed LG Sherlock, will headline three days of discussion and debate on issues affecting the local government sector, from the impact of Airbnb on local communities to the potential for street lighting to provide high-technology services like Wi-Fi and energy efficiency.

LGAQ President Mark Jamieson said the association had last staged its annual conference in Gladstone 30 years ago and is returning to the region at a time when it has become one of Australia’s foremost industrial hubs.

“It’s been estimated that $3 million will be injected into the Gladstone economy as a result of the conference,” Jamieson said.

“I believe our theme for this year’s event — Waves of Change, Oceans of Opportunity — is entirely appropriate, as it reflects the approach that local governments take in planning for the future of their communities.”

Delegates will debate nearly 90 policy motions at the conference, ranging from the future of flying fox management to reform of natural disaster funding.

Queensland Governor Paul de Jersey, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and several other cabinet ministers and directors-general will attend the conference, which runs from 16–18 October at the Gladstone Entertainment and Convention Centre.

Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Abel Mitja Varela

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