Council
8 July, 2026
Councils unite for fairer funding approach
CORANGAMITE Shire Council representatives were among those uniting behind an appeal for fairer funding in Canberra last week.
Councillors mayor Kate Makin, Nick Cole, Geraldine Conheady and Ruth Gstrein, alongside chief executive officer David Rae, joined 1100 other local government leaders for the 32nd National General Assembly of Local Government (NGA), convened by the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) recently.
The Corangamite team had a meeting with Primary Industries Standing Committee deputy chair Jamie Chaffey, and discussed local matters with Member for Wannon Dan Tehan.
Cr Makin said a key focus of the NGA was united advocacy for fairer Financial Assistance Grants.
“The assembly supported calling on the Australian Parliament to restore Financial Assistance Grants to one per cent of federal taxation revenue annually,” she said.
“Since 1996 they have progressively fallen to about half a percent today.
“That extra half a percent of the federal $840 billion tax revenue is not much to the commonwealth proportionally, but would be huge to councils’ ability to deliver the projects our communities deserve.
“Local government is being asked to do more than ever, often under increasing financial and community pressure and the continual decline in funding is like the death by a thousand cuts.”
Delegates heard from a range of federal, territory and parliamentary leaders across the assembly, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Emergency Management, Regional Development, Local Government and Territories Minister Kristy McBain also spoke alongside Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King and Housing Minister Claire O’Neil.
Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs Assistant Minister Julian Hill, Primary Industries Standing Committee deputy chair Jamie Chaffey, Productivity Standing Committee chair Senator Andrew Bragg and Nationals leader Senator Matt Canavan also spoke.
The program featured a regional forum which focused on the conditions needed for thriving regional communities, including infrastructure, workforce, housing, emergency management and service delivery.
Key themes of the general assembly included financial sustainability, emergency management, housing and planning, workforce and skills, climate resilience, disability inclusion and community cohesion.
The regional forum discussed disaster management fatigue, the state of the regions, national productivity and local roads, renewable transition opportunities and challenges and regional health.
The theme of the assembly was ‘Stronger Together: Resilient. Productive. United’, reflecting the sector’s shared commitment to working with all levels of government to deliver better outcomes for local communities.
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