At its February Ordinary Meeting, Leeton Shire Council endorsed three motions for submission to the 2026 National General Assembly of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA).
The 2026 National General Assembly of Local Government is being held in Canberra from 23 - 25 June 2026.
Proposed Motion 1: Cyber Security Support for Councils
That this National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to fund the establishment of shared Security Operations Centres (SOCs) for local Councils, including a managed Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) capability, delivered through scalable regional models. Funding should support 24/7 monitoring options, rapid incident response, threat intelligence, reporting, and secure Australian-based log retention. The program should enable Councils to adopt a tiered service level aligned to their risk and capacity and improve protection of sensitive community data and critical infrastructure (water, wastewater and other essential services).
Proposed Motion 2: Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) Intergovernmental Forum
That this National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to formally set up an ongoing Intergovernmental PALM Engagement Forum consisting of, at least, the Department of Employment and WorkPlace Relations (DEWR), the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Department of Home Affairs, Australian BorderForce, the Fairwork Ombudsman, Welcoming Australia and Local Government (via ALGA) to address issues and opportunities related to the PALM Scheme.
Proposed Motion 3: Murray Darling Basin Representation by Local Government
That this National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to permanently include Local Government representation (via ALGA) on Murray Darling Basin Ministerial Council.
With the Basin spanning 172 councils across four states, decisions under the Basin Plan have significant social, economic and environmental impacts on regional communities. As the 2026 Basin Plan Review gets underway, Council believes local government must have a seat at the table to ensure water security, food production, community wellbeing and environmental outcomes are properly balanced through genuine on-the-ground input.
Deputy Mayor Cr Michael Kidd congratulated the Council staff who put the motions together.
"These motions reflect strong collaboration between Councillors and staff," Cr Kidd said. "From cyber security and protection of essential services to better coordination of the PALM Scheme and ensuring regional voices are heard in Basin decisions, the work put into refining these proposals ensures Leeton is advocating clearly and constructively on issues that matter to our community."
Council noted that this year, ALGA specifically requested that councils do not repeat submissions made in the previous two years or any motions already on the ALGA "advocacy books". In recent years, Council has advocated for assistance with financial sustainability across Local Government, assistance with shoring up water security in irrigation communities, assistance with funding for housing in rural Australia, assistance with recruiting doctors to rural areas and assistance with migrant settlement support, to name a few. All previous motions were carried at the National General Assembly.
