Councils lament cost burden at Camperdown hearing

The Legislative Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee travelled to Camperdown in southwest Victoria to hear the concerns of eight different municipalities.

‘It is really important that the committees come to these regional and rural areas to see what we here are experiencing,’ Corangamite Shire Mayor Kate Makin said.

Ms Makin highlighted the implications of cost shifting from state and federal governments to local council on services, facilities, roads and infrastructure.

‘We only have a small budget of $68 million and that just puts more and more pressure on our community,’ she said.

Several of the councils raised a new expense for the provision of child vaccinations as a measure by which the state government was shifting the financial load onto them. 

‘Changes to immunisation charging are real issues for rural communities,’ Warrnambool City Council CEO Andrew Mason said.

‘Local councils are really struggling financially and there is this huge burden of costs and cost pressure coming back to us.

‘There are things that can be done and most of those really involve making sure that state government departments don't continue to try and pass the buck and pass costs.’

Inquiry MPs will next travel to Bendigo in late August, followed by Traralgon and suburban areas of Frankston, Broadmeadows and Melton in September.

A full list of the council representatives who appeared at the Camperdown hearing is available on the Committee’s website.

Full transcripts are usually published a fortnight after they take place.