Moorabool Shire Council, Victoria, has accused the State and Federal governments of favouring local government areas in marginal seats when allocating grants funding.
Council asserts that figures from the Know Your Council website show a disproportionality low level of recurrent grants cost Moorabool Shire between $2.7 million and $4.1 million a year.
Mayor Paul Tatchell said it was frustrating and disheartening to see other municipalities receive a far greater proportion of government revenue simply because they fell within marginal electorates.
“Here we are with a population growth of three percent, the second highest of any shire in regional Victoria, yet we are receiving millions of dollars less in government grants than slower growing centres which often have the ability to generate much greater income due to a bigger and more densely settled population.”
The mayor said Moorabool had undertaken in-depth community consultation to determine priority projects as part of infrastructure planning but it needed governments to support these projects financially.
“We have two levels of Government that preach decentralization but are not prepared to invest in peri-urban areas – delivering these vital projects give them the opportunity to do so.”
“The figures on the Know Your Council website do not lie.
“We are advocating hard for these projects in the lead up to both elections, first the State and then the Federal.
“Experience has shown that politicians rarely come to us so we are going to them and have initiated meetings with relevant MPs and candidates in a bid to have these projects delivered.”
