Representing member councils Campaspe, Gannawarra, Loddon, Moira, Mildura and Swan Hill, delegates travelled to Canberra for the event.
The motions, put forward by Loddon Shire Council on MRGC’s behalf, were centred on disaster resilience, housing, roads, pools and water buybacks.
MRGC chair and Loddon Shire Mayor Dan Straub was happy to see the group’s collaborative efforts met with a positive reception.
“This is a great endorsement of our advocacy as a united group of councils,” he said.
“We spoke with one voice on some of the big issues facing our communities, and I am pleased to say our message was heard loud and clear.
“Every motion we put forward was grounded in the lived experiences of our towns and rural industries.
“We made the case for common-sense, local solutions that can deliver safer regional roads, more homes in our towns, safeguard our irrigation districts and ensure our communities benefit from the energy transition that is happening right here in our region.”
The motions call for:
- A Regional Infrastructure Resilience Fund to upgrade assets before disasters strike;
- A multi-year fund to unlock regional housing development by investing in trunk infrastructure such as water, drainage, sewers, power and roads;
- A national funding commitment to help repair and maintain the crumbling local road network;
- Renewal of our regional pools to maintain water safety and strong communities; and
- An end to damaging open-market water buybacks, calling instead for local leadership in future Murray-Darling Basin Plan reform.
The purpose of putting forward motions at the National General Assembly is to highlight regional issues on a larger scale, ideally gaining more bargaining power when MRGC speaks with decision makers.
“The main reason for putting motions up is to garner as much support as possible from the broader local government sector,” MRGC chief executive Geoff Turner said.
“Essentially, what it means for us is that we can now go to decision makers and public servants and the people who we try to influence on behalf of our communities and explain that these positions that the MRGC have developed (and) that we’re advocating for are supported by the broader local government community across the whole of Australia.
“It just gives that extra bit of weight to those issues as we’re trying to raise them in Canberra and in Spring St.”
On deciding on the seven motions, Mr Turner said the group was driven by its common concerns.
“We pitch those advocacy issues carefully to be the ones that are shared by all councils,” he said.
“For example, things around water and irrigation and ag and food manufacturing, those are the fundamentals of our economy right across our six councils.
“Or also for issues that are of regional significance.”
MRGC delegates also advocated to Local Government, Regional Development and Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain.
“We were grateful Minister McBain met with us, and she clearly listened and heard these key challenges facing our councils,” Cr Straub said.
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