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East Gippsland Council advocates regional priorities such as biodiversity and insurance at National General Assembly

East Gippsland Shire Council successfully advocated for five motions at the National General Assembly, focusing on climate change, biodiversity, funding, and insurance reforms.

By news@gippsland - 16th June 2023 - Back to News

East Gippsland Shire Council has advocated strongly for the region's priorities at this year's National General Assembly of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA). The assembly, held each June, is an opportunity for councils from across the nation to vote on motions submitted by participating councils. The motions focus on programs and policies that the Australian government can support and work with the local government on, or new programs to help local governments deliver national objectives.

Mayor Cr Mark Reeves meeting with Senator the Hon. Murray Watt (Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry), and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (below) in Canberra this week

Motions for submission

At its March meeting, council endorsed five motions for submission to the ALGA for consideration for inclusion on the assembly's agenda. They covered the topics of:

• Upgrading critical infrastructure to respond to the impacts of climate change through investment in detailed modelling, setting of new design standards and infrastructure upgrades
• Review the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 so that it is more effectively applied without unintended consequences
• Adequately resource the implementation of the recommendations in the State of the Environment Report to ensure that matters of national environmental significance can be managed
• Restore funding for local government Financial Assistance Grants to a level equal to at least one per cent of Commonwealth taxation revenue
• Requiring insurers to not apply a postcode approach when considering extreme weather events on a particular property. Rather, undertake a risk assessment of each property and disclose the basis on which insurance decisions are made

Mayor Cr Mark Reeves said he was delighted that all five motions were adopted this week in Canberra. "The National General Assembly is a way for local governments to collectively advocate to the Australian government, and we are grateful for the support from other councils across the nation on what are key issues," Cr Reeves said.

Advocacy and collaboration

Cr Reeves said, "As the level of government closest to communities, it is important for local governments to work together to advocate on major community issues and aspirations to the Australian government, for the betterment of residents everywhere. Motions were requested to focus on eight priority areas, including climate change and natural disasters. Being a council which has experienced floods and bushfires, East Gippsland has some valuable, lived experience of navigating through preparing,responding, and recovery to natural disasters to inform our voting at the assembly," Cr Reeves said.

Council also participated in the Australian Council of Local Government Forum, which has been re-established by the Albanese government. "This was an opportunity to meet with the Prime Minister and a range of federal ministers, including in portfolio areas that impact East Gippsland. These include regional development, local government, transport, climate change and energy to name a few."

"It was a great opportunity to use the collective strength of our Gippsland council colleagues to impress on a Commonwealth audience - both the government and opposition - on the many collective advocacy items for our region. This included the recent Victorian government decision to bring forward the ban on all native hardwood timber harvesting by six years," Cr Reeves said.

Governor-general visits

Cr Reeves was also able to spend some time with the Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC and Mrs Linda Hurley during a dinner with 24 mayors at government House.

"The Governor-General and Mrs Hurley have been very welcome guests of East Gippsland over the past three years as part of our 2019-20 bushfire recovery. The Governor-General passed on his best wishes to our community and indicated a return visit to East Gippsland within the next 12 months," Cr Reeves said.

Pictures from East Gippsland Shire Council website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com