South East Queensland (SEQ) is the obvious choice of partner for the Federal Government in the nation’s first ‘City Deal’, according to the Council of Mayors (SEQ). The Turnbull Government recently backed ‘City Deal’ as a new approach to infrastructure funding.
Federal Cities Minister Angus Taylor announced the adoption of an Australian ‘City Deals’ approach at last week’s Green Cities Conference. A ‘City Deal’ is an agreement between two or more tiers of government to prioritise and jointly invest in major infrastructure based on its expected economic growth.
Council of Mayors (SEQ) Chair Councillor Graham Quirk is confident SEQ is well placed to lead the nation in successfully demonstrating the benefits of the ‘City Deals’ approach, a funding model the region’s Mayors have been exploring for some time.
Cr Quirk said, “The Council of Mayors (SEQ) has been investigating the ‘City Deals’ funding model, and its application in Australia, for more than two years. The ‘City Deals’ work that has already been done in SEQ is far more advanced than any other region in the nation.
“This region is home to five of Australia’s largest councils, and the councils in SEQ have a strong and established history of regional collaboration. There is no doubt SEQ is the prime location to pilot the ‘City Deals’ model.
“The SEQ Mayors have already signed an agreement with the Queensland Government and the Property Council of Australia to advance its work on ‘City Deals’ by modelling options for specific projects. The key players in SEQ are at the table and ready to partner with the Federal Government to make this work.
“The Council of Mayors (SEQ) has previously partnered with the Federal and State governments to develop and implement a number of successful planning reform initiatives. The knowledge, experience and ability to deliver Australia’s first ‘City Deal’ are ready and waiting in SEQ.”
The Federal Government’s commitment to the ‘City Deals’ funding model came days after Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad announced a funded partnership between the Council of Mayors (SEQ), Property Council of Australia and the Queensland Government to investigate how the ‘City Deals’ approach could be applied in SEQ.
An outline of the Council of Mayors’ (SEQ) previous work on the ‘City Deals’ approach can be found in its 2016 Federal advocacy document, A Shared Future: Collaborative Opportunities for South East Queensland found at seqmayors.qld.gov.au/.
