24 June 2014

Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor has outlined a bigger pool of infrastructure funding for local councils under the Federal Government’s Budget.

In a meeting at Parliament House last night with SEROC (South East Region of Councils) mayors and general managers, as well as ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher, ACT Senator Zed Seselja and Member for Eden Monaro Peter Hendy, Mr Taylor explained how local councils could secure funding from a range of Federal initiatives.

“The Stronger Regions Fund starting in 2015-16, Roads to Recovery, the Black Spot Programme and the Bridges Renewal Programme, are targeted infrastructure programs for local government over the forward estimates. My message to Hume councils is that there are significant financial offsets despite the pausing of the indexation of Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs).

“While I know some councils are concerned about the FAGs, I am determined to explain the significant net benefit to local government from the Budget. If we all work together – Federal, State and Local Government – to get more than our fair share of the pie, we can secure jobs growth, infrastructure improvements and better outcomes than before,” Mr Taylor said.

Together with Zed Seselja and Peter Hendy, he said the region would benefit from stronger private sector investment.

“For Australia as a whole, 84 per cent of employment is in the private sector. And this is what we should be aspiring to for the Capital Region. We don’t want our national capital as a one company town. I urge Katy Gallagher’s Government to focus on building a stronger private sector, as this will be a source of future growth and prosperity.”

Councils represented at last night’s meeting included Boorowa, Bombala, Cooma-Monaro, Eurobodalla, Goulburn-Mulwaree, Harden, Palerang, Queanbeyan, Snowy River, Upper Lachlan, Yass Valley and Young.