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

asked the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, in writing, on 15 July 2014:

In respect of the freeze on indexation to Financial Assistance Grants resulting in an estimated total loss of $925 million in council funding,

(a) is he aware of comments made by the President of the Municipal Association of Victoria,

Councillor Bill McArthur, that these cuts will create a ‘black hole’ in Victorian council budgets, primarily in rural communities,

(b) can he advise what services local councils should cut to recover this loss of funding,

(c) is it a fact that rural, remote and Indigenous councils will at the same time incur rising diesel costs, as claimed by the Chief Executive of the Local Government Association Queensland, Mr Greg Hallam, and

(d) did he ask his department to undertake a regional impact study to assess the impact on rural and    regional councils; if not, why not.

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