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Shire President to attend National General Assembly
Shire President Julia Meldrum hopes to strengthen relationships with the federal government and ensure the needs of our community are heard when she heads to Canberra next month.
The Shire President will travel to the ACT with acting CEO, Nick Byrne to attend the 2024 National General Assembly - an annual meeting of local government representatives from around Australia.
Julia said the National General Assembly provided an opportunity for local government leaders to engage with key Federal Ministers and highlight the opportunities and challenges faced by their communities.
“The needs of our community deserve to be heard and our attendance at the National General Assembly is an example of how the council and Shire leadership team is willing to push the envelope to advocate for the region like never before,” she said.
“Over the past 30 years, the percentage of Commonwealth tax revenue distributed to local governments via grants has nearly halved. We want funding levels to return to historical levels, as well as more funding for local governments who, like us, host tourists, because it just doesn’t seem fair that our ratepayers are the only ones investing in services used by visitors and local alike.”
“As we’ve said previously, the strength of our community will be eroded if the State and Federal government continue to develop and promote our region for tourism without making a social investment too.”
The trip is the latest in a series of proactive meetings to be undertaken by Council to draw attention to the issues affecting residents including the housing crisis and limited funding for local social services. In May the Shire President met with the WA Premier, and meetings have also been held with Minister Simone McGurk (Minister for Training and Workforce Development; Water; Industrial Relations); Minister John Carey (Minister for Planning; Lands; Housing; Homelessness) and Minister David Templeman (Minister for Culture and the Arts; Sport and Recreation; International Education; Heritage)
“To deliver the services our community expects and deserves we want to work in partnership with all levels of Government. This is the last ACLG before the next Federal Election, so it’s important we make sure the needs of our community are on the government’s radar,” said Julia.
The Shire President said the ACLG forum also provided a valuable opportunity to exchange knowledge and build relationship with other local government leaders, and that the Shire was working to secure meetings with Federal minister and their offices.