Regional city reps visit Canberra to call for support

AHEAD of the Federal election later this year, four representatives of advocacy group Regional Cities Victoria have visited Parliament House, Canberra.

RCV’s chair and deputy chair, City of Greater Shepparton mayor Cr Shane Sali and City of Greater Bendigo mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf, alongside Greater Shepparton CEO Fiona Le Gassick and Greater Bendigo CEO Andrew Cooney, have been in the ACT this week to lobby to ministers and members of parliament around workforce shortages negatively impacting the construction of housing, the need for road works, reccurring funding for regional infrastructure programs, and natural disaster resilience.

“Demand for workers in regional areas is at an all-time high,” Cr Sali said.

“Regional businesses are suffering from skills and labour shortages across a range of sectors including health, early childhood education, aged care and disability services, agriculture, construction, accommodation and food services, and education and training.

“The Australian Government can play a greater role in attracting critical workers to the local government sector to not only boost housing, but support local economies and plan the future.

“We’re not looking for sugar hits. We’re looking for certainty, and consistent investment for the long-term is key.

“Our cities are at the forefront of responding to population growth and maintaining the liveability for which regional Victoria is renowned.

“Recurring funding, instead of one-off commitments, gives us a reliable foundation to build sustainable cities and the confidence to commit ratepayers’ funds to projects that will grow our regions.

“We will continue to work with our federal colleagues to develop policies that not only invest equitably and sustainably in our regional cities but ultimately support a growing and prosperous Australia.”

To enable regional cities to grow, and to create opportunities, Cr Metcalf said Federal backing through policy and funds is essential.

“At the moment, a lack of utilities – water mains, sewerage plants, local roads upgrades –stand in the way of unlocking land supply and building more, much-needed homes in regional Victoria,” she said.

“The Housing Support Program addresses many of the challenges Local Government faces to improve planning capacity and ensure there is the infrastructure and amenities needed to unlock new housing. However, to allow councils to plan for the future, RCV is advocating for the program to be permanent.

“A confidence in housing and infrastructure supply can also help address challenging workforce shortages. Statewide, Local Government is experiencing a shortage of planners, building surveyors and engineering staff, roles that coincidentally are critical to supporting housing delivery.

“RCV also wants regional cities to receive $1 billion annually through the federal Growing Regions Program and Regional Precincts and Partnership Program. We believe regional areas need more favourable funding ratios, with a guaranteed 25 per cent of the state’s allocation to be invested in regional Victoria.”

Ms Metcalf said road safety was a key priority in the talks.

“So too was the continual push to be allowed to ‘build back better’ following a natural disaster. Victorian and Commonwealth governments need to work together to include infrastructure betterment provisions within Category B and Category C of the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements,” she said.

“To be able to ‘build back better’ after natural disasters is a critical investment in long-term sustainability but something Local Government cannot fund by itself.

“Our discussions focused on key investments that need to be made available to regional Victorian communities now.

“Such funding guarantees mean we can strategically plan for and manage a future pipeline of infrastructure projects, and ensure we are better prepared to navigate challenges that come along the way.”