Councils across remote, rural and regional NSW are calling on the Federal Government to increase its investment in Local Government. Mayor Rick Firman OAM, Chairman of the NSW Country Mayors Association of NSW (CMA) said "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."
"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" Mayor Firman said. "The Board and our Members are excited about the campaign which is also supported by LGNSW. We want our residents to understand how, in so many ways, every day, our councils are providing the services and facilities that we all count on, however it is getting harder and harder to do so."
"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."
"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."
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.
"The CMA Board and Members welcome this Inquiry; we find it hard to believe that it will not identify that the current Federal funding has not kept pace with growing demands for services and facilities" Mayor Firman said. "The restoration of the Financial Assistance Grants to 1% would immediately double the revenue that most councils currently receive. The increase would not only wipe out deficits but also reduce the need for Special Rate Variations to which a growing number of our 89 Members have been forced to consider and implement."
"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. We are more than happy for them to keep the remaining 99% to meet Federal budget needs" Mayor Firman said. "For many of our Members this is about keeping the doors open, the status quo simply cannot and must not continue."
The Invest in Us campaign will be engaging with both State and Federal politicians, local stakeholders and the community to push for the restoration of the grant to 1% of total tax revenue.
Murray River Council Mayor, Cr John Harvie, said Council has been advocating on this issue alongside the CMA, LGNSW and ALGA since being elected in 2024.
"The Federal Government is effectively trying to force councils to raise rates by up to 90 per cent to make up for the loss of grant funding.
"Over time, Federal funding to local government has been reduced by almost $4 billion each year, and now ratepayers are being asked to fill that gap.
"In Murray River Council's case, grant funding has been cut by $11 million annually, contributing to an unfunded backlog of critical infrastructure projects of around $40 million.
