With many rural, remote and even regional Councils in NSW struggling to make ends meet due to inadequate funding and rising costs, the Country Mayors Association of NSW (CMA) has held workshops and meetings for Members to address the problem head-on.
Two recent CMA meetings in Sydney saw members come together in force to discuss critical financial sustainability issues and hear from guest speakers on the subject. "Each year we survey our members for their top priority concerns. Financial sustainability is consistently number one and it really shouldn't be." CMA Chairman, Temora Shire Mayor Rick Firman OAM said.
The CMA Board and its 89 member Councils tackled the financial sustainability issue in Parliament House, with over 160 Mayors, General Managers and guests in attendance. "Members amplified the point that financial sustainability of rural, remote and regional Councils is at a critical point," Mayor Firman said.
Guest speakers at the meeting were NSW Grants Commission Chairman, Ms Linda Scott; NSW Shadow Treasurer, The Hon Scott Farlow MLC; NSW Shadow Local Government Minister, Mr Tim James MP; Valuer General of NSW, Mrs Sally Dale; Auditor-General for NSW, Mr Bola Oyetunji; NSW Minister for Roads and Minister for Regional Transport, Hon Jenny Aitchison MP; NSW Minister for Finance, Minister for Domestic Manufacturing and Government Procurement, Minister for Natural Resources, the Hon Courtney Houssos MLC; IPART Chairman, Mrs Carmel Donnelly PSM; and CEO of the Regional Australia Institute, Mrs Liz Ritchie.
"Our CMA Board members and staff are continuing to work as hard as they possibly can on the financial sustainability issue. We acknowledge the NSW Government, including Premier, The Hon Chris Minns MP and Local Government Minister, The Hon Ron Hoenig MP are listening to the problems we are having and supporting us in our goal to restore the Federal Government's Financial Assistance Grants to 1% of total tax revenue. This is about keeping our doors open and lights on," Mayor Firman said.
"In Local Government, we live in constant hope but something has got to give. Remote, rural and regional communities rely on us to provide a wide range of services and facilities, from playing fields and parks and gardens to engineering, town planning and economic and community development. In many cases our Members are also involved in the delivery of communities services like child care, aged care and even the provision of medical centres. The CMA has launched the Invest in Us Campaign to highlight the depth and breadth of services provided by local councils and raise awareness of the need for a better investment to be made in them, if they are to continue," he said.
Prior to the meeting at Parliament House just over 100 CMA members attended a workshop in the head office of T'Corp, the financing arm of NSW Treasury.
"Our Deputy Chairman, Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick (Bega Valley Shire) has a wealth of financial expertise and experience behind him. He painted a bleak picture of the current financial health situation across our NSW Local Government sector," said Mayor Firman. "We then heard from Blayney Shire Council's Mayor Bruce Reynolds and General Manager, Mr Mark Dicker about their Special Rate Variation (SRV) application process and Hay Shire Council's Mayor Carol Oataway and General Manager, Mr David Webb, about their non-SRV approach and strategies for surviving without rate increases above the pegged increase limit. The presentations were appreciated by our Members."
"The CMA Board, Members and staff will continue to work as hard as we can to ensure our Federal and State Government enhance their support of our rural, remote and regional Councils and the communities we proudly serve," Mayor Firman concluded.
