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Don’t forget the Valley

Latrobe City Council has expressed strong disappointment at the Federal Government’s recent decision to axe the $200 million Regional Structural Adjustment Assistance Package as part of recent budget cuts.

By Latrobe City - 7th June 2013 - Back to News

The region can now expect just $1.4 million over the next financial year towards economic diversification, and a total of $15 million over the next five years.

Latrobe City mayor, Councillor Sandy Kam, said she called on the Prime Minister to honour the promises she made to stay engaged with the Latrobe Valley and to work with the community at the time of the introduction of the carbon price in 2011.

"The Australian Government cannot simply forget us, when we know we have such a turbulent, economically challenging time ahead of us. Now is the time for governments to invest if they are serious about proactively supporting us and our economy to a low carbon transition.

"We reject any claim that we haven’t put forward any projects for assistance. Council has clearly identified priorities that are absolutely ready for investment and may provide long lasting jobs. Our Securing Our Future 2013 document identifies projects at a range of scales that will help our economy to diversify and grow. We will be presenting this document to Ministers and Shadow Ministers in Canberra at a range of meetings in June," Cr Kam said.

"Further, we are still waiting for a response from the Australian Government to the report prepared by the Latrobe Valley Transition Committee and delivered to the Federal Government in June 2012. The report clearly showed that the Latrobe Valley was at the greatest risk of being affected by structural economic changes from the Federal government’s climate change policies.

"If the Australian government acknowledges that its climate change policies will hurt the local community, it is up to them to honour their obligations to look after the valley, to help us to transition to the low carbon jobs we need.

"The Latrobe Valley potentially has a great future, but policy changes over the past few years have deterred investors, due to the lack of certainty. Council has been proactively pursuing opportunities for jobs creation and economic diversification, but has always acknowledged that this is big task and that we cannot do it alone," Cr Kam concluded.


Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com



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