A Shellharbour City Council initiative to call on the Federal Government to commit a further 5 per cent of its health budget to preventative health measures was unanimously supported at the National General Assembly of Local Government (NGA) in Canberra yesterday.
Caption: Mayor Chris Homer, Councillors Mitch Ellis and Robert Petreski, Acting CEO Wayde Peterson and Executive Director Infrastructure Services Ben Stewart at the 2025 NGA in Canberra this week. Image courtesy of Shellharbour City Council.
At the Australian Local Government Association's (ALGA) 31st NGA, Mayor Chris Homer represented the Council when Motion 127 was put forward.
The motion's objective urges the Federal Government to invest in one of the most underfunded areas of the health as less than 1 per cent of the federal health budget is spent on preventative health.
Mayor Chris Homer said increasing the spend on preventative health was one of the most important ways to improve community health.
"By intervening early, we know this will help to prevent the onset of chronic illness with leads to our hospital emergency departments and GP offices being unable to keep up with demand," he said.
"This is something that can make a difference to people's lives and to have support from our fellow local government mayors is absolutely amazing."
More than 1300 mayors, shire presidents and councillors from across the nation attended the NGA to engage with federal politicians, build partnerships between councils and advocate for better funding.
Mayor Homer was joined by Councillors Robert Petreski and Mitch Ellis.
As part of the NGA, Shellharbour City Council supported a number of motions calling for more funding for roads and greater federal support for local infrastructure.
