Councils need guarantees on Federal funding — Gulaptis
North Coast councils need cast iron guarantees from all local Federal election candidates that they will continue to enjoy record levels of Federal Government funding, according to Page Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis.
Mr Gulaptis made the comments following the release of a new report by Fiscal Star which rated the financial positions of Clarence Valley, Richmond Valley, Ballina and Lismore City councils as ‘unsustainable’.
“The Coalition has put its cards on the table: the Roads to Recovery and Accident Black Spot funding and the Financial Assistance Grants for North Coast Councils will continue if we are re-elected. They are worth nearly $30 million to our local councils this year alone,” he said.
“We have also announced a new special funding program, Growing Regions, which is specifically designed to help councils with infrastructure needs caused by growing populations, with $1m to $3m grants.
“Most of these Coalition initiatives, including Roads to Recovery, Regional Partnerships and Sustainable Regions have been described by the Labor Party as ‘National Party pork barelling’, a charge I am happy to plead guilty to.
“The Labor Party therefore urgently needs to say which of them it will abolish if it wins government.”
“Growing Regions is specifically designed to assist areas cope with the effects of rapid growth.
“The Page electorate has already benefited countless times from the existing Sustainable Regions and Regional Partnerships program, with recent examples including the Ballina Community Centre and the Kyogle Technical Enterprise Training Centre.”
Mr Gulaptis said Ballina Shire Council would receive $3,013,121 in Financial Assistance Grants in 2007-2008, and $498,976 in Roads to Recovery grants.
