{"id":345951,"date":"2024-03-22T14:52:23","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T04:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=345951"},"modified":"2024-03-22T16:14:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T06:14:29","slug":"council-inquiry-kicking-the-can","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2024\/03\/22\/council-inquiry-kicking-the-can\/","title":{"rendered":"Council Inquiry ‘Kicking The Can’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shadow Minister for Local Government Darren Chester<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 22, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Federal Coalition has labelled this week’s announcement of an inquiry into the financial sustainability of local councils as “another broken promise” and “a cynical attempt to stall action to deliver more support”.<\/p>\n

Shadow Minister for Local Government Darren Chester said the Labor Party promised “fair increases” to local government funding before the 2022 Federal Election but had actually delivered cuts to regional programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Prime Minister is kicking the can down a pot-holed road to avoid making any new commitments to Australia\u2019s 537 local Councils in this year\u2019s Budget,\u201d Mr Chester said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cJust a month ago, the Australian Local Government Association publicly warned that ‘time was running out for the Federal Government to deliver on its pre-election promise of fair increases to Financial Assistance Grants to Australia\u2019s 537 local governments\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of keeping its promise, we have yet another review from a government which has failed to deliver a single project under its regional grants program after almost two years in office.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Chester said the fact submissions to the inquiry were due by May 3 was “an admission there will be no new funding for local government in this year\u2019s Budget”.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We can expect Cabinet Ministers to hide behind talking points that they \u2018can\u2019t possibly speculate while the inquiry is under way\u2019,\u201d Mr Chester said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, the burden will fall on family budgets as ratepayers will be forced to fund the widening gaps in demand for new infrastructure, maintenance and critical services.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the cynicism of this decision, I urge councils across Australia to make a submission to the inquiry and highlight concerns around financial sustainability, cost shifting, disaster resilience and workforce shortages.”<\/p>\n