Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I have got them if you want to see them. I will read some quotes from them. The Greater Hume Shire Council says: 'The freezing of FAGs has a disproportionate negative effect on local government authorities in rural areas in that it forms a significant larger share of a rural council's revenue stream.' Too right it does. And here is another one: 'The financial assistance funding forms the base of revenue for all councils, and regional and rural areas will be hardest hit by this decision.' Too right. Another council, from my electorate, wrote to me—and, in fact, to all Tasmanians, including the Premier—about the impact that this cut in Financial Assistance Grants will have on local government.

Interestingly, the Roads to Recovery money which is used by councils, as well as the Financial Assistance Grants, will be wiped out in six years because of these cuts; you might as well not have Roads to Recovery or the Financial Assistance Grants because they cancel each other out. Interestingly, the department, when asked about the financial assistance grants at estimates, said each individual council will have to reshape their budget. That, of course, is code for cuts to councils and loss of services—and, as we have just heard, regional and rural councils will be hardest hit. We have had no analysis of the impact of the budget on rural and regional areas in Australia; the department has admitted that that has not been done, and, in fact, we have had other departments admit that it has not been done. And now we have got the Financial Assistance Grants cut. Of course, the freeze in indexation will actually be a permanent funding cut that they will never get back. And now we hear that local councils are going to have to cut services and cut their budgets because of this indexation freeze to Financial Assistance Grants. So they are being hit right across the board in regional Australia as a result of this budget, and it appears that nobody from the government actually cares that regional Australia is being impacted more adversely by this budget than anywhere else in the country.

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