Gannawarra Shire Mayor Garner Smith has criticised the proposed $150 million Sustainable Communities Fund, arguing more funding should reach communities affected by water reform.
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Gannawarra Shire Mayor Garner Smith has gone public with a confidential funding table that lays bare the Victorian Government’s initial and revised spending proposals for the $150 million Sustainable Communities Fund.
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The table includes changes to funding allocations across irrigation, agriculture, regional development and community programs.
The mayor has defended his decision to release the funding table, despite it being provided to him as a confidential document.
“The planning proposal was awful. So I just released it,” Cr Smith said.
“I haven’t tried to deny it to anyone that’s asked me. I said, ‘Yeah, hell yeah, I put it out.’”
Cr Smith has hit out at the proposal, arguing too little will reach communities affected by water reform.
He said the package placed too much emphasis on plans, studies and administration rather than practical support for farming and regional communities.
The table outlines the Victorian Government’s initial and revised proposals for the $150 million Sustainable Communities Fund, including changes to funding allocations across irrigation, agriculture, regional development and community programs.
The table outlines about $140 million in proposed funding, including $46.65 million for Irrigation Evolution for Northern Victoria, combining three previous funding streams.
Agriculture Victoria programs would also receive reduced funding, while $4.55 million is allocated to Community, Land and Water Co-ordination.
Unchanged allocations include $35 million for economic resilience, $10 million for the Local First Fund and $9.6 million for GMW Major Road Bridges.
Cr Smith estimated Gannawarra could receive only about $1 million through the Local First Fund and called for 20 per cent of the overall package to be directed to the shire for trunk infrastructure, housing, road access and economic diversification.
“I’m not in it for money for the council. I’m in it for money for the community,” he said.
Cr Smith also criticised the amount allocated to planning and studies, saying about $75 million was effectively being spent without guaranteed follow-up funding.
“The problem with that is that there’s no follow-up funding,” he said.
He claimed local government had been excluded from key discussions, saying Murray River Group chair Stuart King was invited to a meeting before being uninvited.
“This is a conscious effort to remove elected representatives from the process,” Cr Smith said.
He also criticised a lack of consultation with the Victorian Farmers Federation Water Council, on which he sits.
Cr Smith claimed Gannawarra had lost 51 per cent of its water and suffered 21 per cent of the impacts of water reform, alongside claimed losses of 39 per cent of agricultural jobs and 57 per cent of food manufacturing jobs.
He called for the government to return to the negotiating table with local representatives.
The government has not yet commented on the claims made by Cr Smith.
