August 19, 2014
Gippsland councils will receive $37.4 million in Financial Assistance Grants from the Federal Government this financial year.
Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said the grants would allow Latrobe City, Wellington and East Gippsland shire councils to fund vital infrastructure, health, recreation, environment, employment and roads projects.
Mr Chester acknowledged that indexation of the grants would be temporarily paused from this year, as part of the government’s plan to repay the debt it inherited from Labor.
“It’s important that the Federal Government supports councils across Gippsland as they continue to deliver a diverse range of services and new facilities with a limited rate base,” Mr Chester said.
“In a perfect world, we would be able to increase that funding every year, but the former Labor government left the nation’s budget in such a mess that we’ve had to make some tough decisions.
“No funding has been cut from local councils, but the anticipated CPI increase has been paused.
“It’s pleasing that Gippsland councils will still receive more than $10 million each from the Commonwealth this financial year through the Financial Assistance Grants. In addition, they will receive funding from the Roads to Recovery, Black Spot and Bridges Renewal programmes.”
The total breakdown of Financial Assistance Grants allocated to Gippsland councils includes:
East Gippsland Shire Council $13,828,659
Latrobe City Council $11,427,473
Wellington Shire Council $12,197,106
The first quarterly payments for 2014-15 have been made.
Full details of the allocations to councils under the Financial Assistance Grant Programme are available online at regional.gov.au/local/assistance/index.aspx.