Ratepayers will pay more for local services and councils will build less community infrastructure following the Albanese Government’s decision to cut funding for Local Government in last week’s Federal Budget.

Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor said during a cost-of-living crisis, rate increases are something that people simply cannot afford.

“The Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program was an incredibly successful initiative by the former Coalition Government, and it will be sorely missed in the future,” Mr Taylor said.

“The program allowed local councils to plan community infrastructure in advance, knowing how much funding they would receive outside a tedious grant application process.

“Across my electorate, Councils have been delivering much-needed local infrastructure projects with this funding.

“The Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program funded projects like stage one of the Crookwell Multipurpose Aquatic Activity Centre, the new Cookbundoon Amenities Building in Goulburn, upgrades to Camden’s Macarthur Park and provided new netball facilities at Tahmoor District Sporting Complex.

Sadly, projects like these will be a thing of the past under Labor.”

Councils and their ratepayers deserve better than a Federal Government that makes their lives harder.