Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for his question, a very important question. And I want to acknowledge the new lord mayor of Parramatta, Sameer Pandey, who I sat next to, the first lord mayor of subcontinent descent in our country.

Last week the Albanese government delivered on an important commitment for the local government sector by bringing back the Australian Council of Local Government to Canberra for the first time in a decade, an election commitment. We delivered on this government's promise to bring local government back to the table, an election commitment that brought together 650 local government representatives from every corner of Australia, from the Torres Strait to King Island from Kununurra to Whyalla, such is our commitment to listening to and learning from those who know their communities best, which is local government.

There is a local government in every town, every village, every city across this country. Our solutions, we need to listen to, are locally led. Achieving net zero emissions was a significant theme across the forum, and local governments were acknowledged as leaders in this space. That's why we supported them, with the announcement of a community energies upgrade fund, a $100 million Australian government investment which will co-fund energy efficient projects across local communities, from pool heating upgrades to energy efficient lighting for sporting ovals. I want to thank Minister Bowen and Assistant Minister McAllister for this announcement, because they are listening to the sector. The forum also highlighted our refreshing approach to grant programs, new community infrastructure programs, growing regions and thriving suburbs. The forum discussed how transparent, merit based, community based programs need to be done. It also—

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