Murray River Council Mayor John Harvie and councillor Gary Pappin are set to meet with federal and state politicians, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, at two Country Mayors Association of NSW events about regional housing later this week.
Cr Harvie and Cr Pappin will travel to Sydney to dine with the prime minister, who is the guest keynote speaker at a special CMA dinner function on Thursday, August 27.
The next day, they’ll attend the CMA’s General (members) Meeting at NSW Parliament House where they’ll hear from several key figures in NSW politics, infrastructure and building, including state opposition leader Kellie Sloane.
While the councillors are unsure of how much time they will get to chat to the prime minister and the other speakers, Cr Pappin said if they got the chance, they’d raise a number of issues affecting the region, including years of cuts to federal assistance grants for local government.
They’ll also raise their opposition to a new regulation brought in by the NSW Government that forbids councillors other than the mayor or chair of a meeting from discussing matters with council staff that are, or will be, listed on the agenda before council meetings.
The CMA of NSW was formed to advocate on behalf of the state’s rural and regional residents and lists more than 75 councils, including MRC, among its members.
