Councils across remote, rural and regional NSW are calling on the Federal Government to increase its investment in Local Government.
“Investment by successive Federal Governments in Local Government through the Financial Assistance Grants has fallen from 1% of total tax revenue in the mid-1990s to around 0.5% today and it is just not sustainable,” said Mayor Rick Firman OAM, Chairman of the NSW Country Mayors Association of NSW (CMA).
“The CMA has launched a new campaign called Invest in Us with the goal of raising awareness of the need for a greater investment from the Federal Government into the provision of Local Government services and facilities.”
“Everyone wants parks, sporting fields, swimming pools, playgrounds, roads, libraries and theatres as well as economic and community development, planning and engineering services. Local Government provides these services.”
“In the case of our Members they are being provided to almost 3 million people living across around 700,000 sq kms from the coast to our western plains of NSW.”
“All we are asking is for the Federal Government to restore the funding to 1% of total tax revenue, this could be achieved incrementally over the next 3 Federal Budget cycles.”
Mayor Firman said the increase would wipe out deficits and reduce the need for Special Rate Variations.
The financial sustainability of Local Government is currently in the spotlight with a Federal Government Inquiry into the issue. Hon Kirsty McBain MP, Minister for Local Government and former Mayor of Bega Valley Shire is leading the Inquiry. One of the issues the Inquiry will consider is how funding arrangements, including indexation freezing, influences the financial sustainability, service delivery capacity and infrastructure investment of Local Governments.
“If the Federal Government wants our communities in remote, rural and regional locations to continue to have the access to these essential services and facilities, then they must increase their investment in us” Mayor Firman said. “Local Government creates the communities we all live and work in. We need the Federal Government to invest in us, so that we can invest in our communities.”