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Latrobe City Council Meets With Minister Wong

Latrobe City Council is continuing to provide leadership in representing the broader interests of its community on issues relating to climate change.

By Latrobe City Council - 11th December 2009 - Back to News

On Monday, Latrobe City Council Mayor Lisa Price led a delegation to meet with Senator Wong in her capacity as Minister for Climate Change.

Councillor Price described the meeting as highly productive and a meaningful exchange of dialogue.

"The Minister and her staff were interested and engaged throughout the meeting.

"Our key message was very clearly around the fact that the community want us to work together and they want to see that there is an ongoing dialogue between their local government representatives and the Federal Government.

"The delegation was able to provide the Minister and her staff with information about Latrobe City, its population and its economic relationship with brown coal.

"This overview also included a summary of the previous privatisation of the power generators in the late 1990’s and the impacts and implications that this had for the community and local economy," said Cr Price.

"We felt that providing some history of the Latrobe Valley’s experience around significant industry transitions was important in both setting the scene and providing a local context for our discussions.

"One of the key messages presented to the Minister and her staff was our desire to work with the Australian Government in relation to the structural adjustment component of the Climate Change Action Fund.

"The idea of a Gippsland Advantage Fund or a Development Fund and the way in which it could assist communities in their transition was discussed.

"Council was resolute in its position that such funds should be developed as a proactive mechanism which support communities to transition in a meaningful and positive way as opposed to a reactive fund which is deployed only when local economies start to fail.

"It was further noted that there should be an avenue through which the Australian Government could engage directly with affected communities," said Cr Price.

"A Climate Change Action Fund sub group comprised of local government authorities was suggested as an appropriate avenue for these discussions."

Cr Price said that all at the meeting were supportive of moves to encourage greater community dialogue around the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

"There was wide agreement at the meeting that climate change and the CPRS are challenging issues for the community to grasp.

"Minister Wong was supportive of Latrobe City Council’s position of community leadership on this issue and recognised the importance of providing the necessary support and forums to enable the community to develop a wider understanding of the issues."


Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com



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