Regional ratepayers are footing the bill for the Allan Labor Government’s relentless cost-shifting on to local councils.
The government’s systematic shifting of state responsibilities onto councils has been exposed in a Parliamentary inquiry and regional communities are paying the price, The Nationals’ Member for Northern Victoria Gaelle Broad said today.
Ms Broad was a member of the committee that conducted the inquiry and heard first-hand from councils right around the state.
Ms Broad said a range of key issues were not properly addressed in the Inquiry into Local Government Funding and Services report, which has just been released.
The Nationals and Liberals produced a minority report which highlighted these concerns:
- Renewable energy facilities rate contributions: Under the Payments in Lieu of Rates
scheme, renewable energy facilities bypass paying their fair share, forcing regional
communities to cover the shortfall.
- Fire Services Levy contributions: While renewable energy facilities increase fire risks,
they pay subsidised rates, leaving farmers and regional families – many of whom
volunteer with the CFA – to pay disproportionate costs.
- Infrastructure delays in growing suburbs: The Allan Labor Government has slashed
funding for the Growing Suburbs Fund from $50 million to a paltry $5 million,
crippling councils’ ability to deliver essential infrastructure on the city fringes.
- Cultural heritage processes delaying and blocking developments: Unregulated and
expensive cultural heritage assessments are stalling crucial projects, costing councils
and communities millions.
“The Nationals and Liberals broadly support the majority report’s findings and recommendations, but we are alarmed at these major issues which have been exposed. Labor’s cuts, incompetence, and cost-shifting have left councils with no choice but to cut or reduce many essential services. In regional areas, this is compounding the struggle many people are having with daily cost of living pressures,” Ms Broad said.
“The report has exposed the Allan Labor Government’s financial incompetence. The Government must take immediate action on these recommendations. Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage local government and yet again regional Victorians pay the price.”
To view the report visit:
Reports – Inquiry into Local Government funding and services – Parliament of Victoria
Media Contact: Linda Barrow 0484 303 764, linda.barrow@parliament.vic.gov.au
