Country Mayors Association of NSW

I begin by acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

And thank you to Country Mayors Association of NSW Chairman, Mayor Rick Firman OAM, for that warm welcome.

All of you here tonight represent two important truths.

Firstly, that local government plays a vital role in the life of our nation.

And secondly, the fact that Australia has always been so much bigger than our big cities.

The regions give this country so much of our strength, both economically and in terms of our identity as a people and as a nation.

Local government has long been one of my priorities.

As Minister for Local Government in 2008, I established the Australian Council of Local Government.

Then, after it was abolished by the former government, I reinstated it in 2023.

Its role as an advisory body is invaluable.

And it is complemented by the open line you have to my office and to my ministers.

In us, you have a Federal Government that recognises the pressures you face – and works with you towards solutions.

A Federal Government with a track record of backing local government with real funding, a record we have continued in this year’s Budget.

A Federal Government that understands that you are in so many ways the frontline of our democracy – essential to Australia’s functioning, both in the here and now, and in the building of our future.

A future in which we see the towns and communities of our great continent’s regions become ever more viable, growing in desirability as places to live.

Places where it’s easier for younger generations to stay, and more appealing for newcomers to move to – whether it’s to set up a business or to make a home.

And we do it with the knowledge that our choice is to either shape the future, or be shaped by it.

My Government’s approach is built on anticipation – not just reaction.

One very topical example is our establishment of a bird flu taskforce – in 2024.

So when bird flu reached our shores recently, we were ready.

We have also learned from past mistakes that left Australia vulnerable.

Since we were elected in 2022, our Government has been working consistently and carefully to restore Australia’s relationships with our neighbours in the region.

One dividend of that work is we now have more fuel in Australia than before the current Middle East crisis began, including the diesel that is one of the lifebloods of the regions.

And we’ve unlocked an additional 250,000 tonnes of fertiliser from Indonesia.

There is so much that can be achieved, but everything is governed by reality.

You and your councils cannot be expected to pull off the miracle of doing more with less.

That’s why, at the Labor Party’s National Conference in July, we endorsed a five-year Federation Compact that commits to ongoing increases in the Financial Assistance Grants, restoring funding certainty for local councils after the freeze that the former government imposed.

That is a success that resulted in no small part from the patience, hard work and persuasive powers of your membership. 

Conference delegates also agreed that we would:

Through the 2026-27 Budget, our Government is providing $3.6 billion in untied Financial Assistance Grants. More than $880 million of that is to NSW local governments.

Real money that local governments can spend on their own priorities. 

This includes bringing forward payments of $2.9 billion – or 80 per cent of the 2026–27 FA Grant estimate – to assist with immediate cost pressures during this period of unpredictability in the global economy. 

Compared with the Coalition’s last five years in power, Labor is delivering more than two-and-a-half times the growth in Financial Assistance Grants.

As for disaster funding arrangements, councils have told us that the current disaster funding arrangements are too slow and complex. 

We have listened. Our Minister for Local Government Kristy McBain has commenced consultations to make the process simpler and faster for councils to navigate. 

When disaster strikes, the role of the local council is vital.

As many of you know, I will always try talking with the mayor in the disaster zone first to find out what’s actually going on – and, crucially, what is needed.

In the Budget handed down in May, the Government committed an additional $395 million to major projects in NSW, bringing our 10-year commitment under the Infrastructure Investment Program to $17.3 billion.

Major IIP projects in Regional NSW include the M1 Pacific Motorway Extension to Raymond Terrace, which is about to open, and $1.4 billion for Princes Highway Corridor from south of Nowra to the Victorian border, including the Milton to Ulladulla Bypass Motorway

Under the Roads to Recovery program, the Government has committed $922 million to your member councils for the years 2024 to 2029. 

This funding represents a total increase of over $331 million from the previous funding period 2019-24.

This Government has doubled funding for Roads to Recovery, reaching $1 billion per year from 2027–28.

We have committed funding to your member councils under the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program since 2022 to support the delivery of safer and more productive roads across Australia.

Among other projects, we have also committed $96 million to your member councils under the Black Spot Program to improve road safety and help prevent serious injuries and deaths on our roads. 

On the rail front, I know many of you were disappointed by the decision on the Inland Rail Project – but in a world where money is most definitely finite, the case for it just didn’t stack up.

 Yet we will still benefit from it.

 As part of our record investment in freight rail, we are investing $2.8 billion in the productivity and resilience of our national rail network.

And getting on with completing construction between Beveridge in Victoria and Parkes in NSW. 

 This will enable double-stacked freight trains to travel between Melbourne and Perth, via Parkes.

We are an orderly, methodical Government. By getting the detail right, we deliver real benefits to communities.

On which note, we not only want you to build more housing, we want to help you do it.

That is why we are making $2 billion available for the Local Infrastructure Fund under the Housing Support Program to help local governments and state-owned utilities build the critical ‘last mile’ infrastructure needed to support new housing developments, and to help unlock development-ready land by fast-tracking enabling infrastructure such as water, sewerage and electricity connections.

A key part of the economic lifeblood of many regional NSW communities is working holidaymakers from overseas.

Working holiday visas are still being processed, albeit more slowly in order to manage net overseas migration. 

The number of working holiday visas is at a historically high level.   

As announced in the Budget we are managing demand for the program and providing a fairer allocation of visas, while continuing to support the tourism economy and workforce needs particularly in regional Australia 

The Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders to monitor critical workforce needs.

Continuing a key part of the Government’s mission, we’ve been strengthening Medicare by boosting bulk-billing, making mental healthcare more accessible, and establishing Urgent Care Clinics. 

There are now 36 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics in NSW, including in Albury, Batemans Bay, Bathurst, Bega, Cessnock, Charlestown, Coffs Harbour, Dapto, Erina and Lismore. 

We’re training more doctors for the regions, and expanding Commonwealth Paid Prac for people training in frontline health professions, making it easier for students to undertake placements in regional areas.

We’ve been enhancing education opportunities and building vital skills through free TAFE – indeed, a third of enrolments are in regional and remote areas. 

And we’re tapping into a huge pool of talent by making it easier to get more regional Australians into university, helping them study closer to home and building the regional workforces we need.

We’re making it easier for households, small businesses and indeed local councils to cut their power bills through cheaper rooftop solar and our Cheaper Home Batteries program, which has seen the regions and outer suburbs leading the charge, installing over half a million batteries.

We’ve been eroding the tyranny of distance by improving the NBN and keeping REX in the air. 

We’re tackling more mobile black sports with funding for 10 new mobile base stations across regional NSW.

We’ve focused on jobs as the building blocks of regional Australia’s future, through our support for industry – a prime example being our investment earlier this month in the workers of Tomago.

And we’re seizing the opportunities of renewable energy in places like the mighty Hunter.

On the 1st of July 2026, Orica reached Final Investment Decision on its Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub, and will proceed with a grant from the Government’s Hydrogen Headstart program to produce and use renewable hydrogen in the Hunter Valley. 

The plant will become operational in 2029. 

That is just one example of how we are building Australia’s future in the regions. 

Of course, water is central to that future.

The National Water Grid Fund is investing in active projects in regional NSW, including the Molong Water Security Pipeline, which will improve water reliability for communities in the Central West, the Walhallow Aboriginal Community Water Supply and Wastewater Reuse project, which will improve drinking water quality for an Aboriginal community in northern NSW, and planning projects, such as the Macquarie-Wambuul Water Security Project Detailed Business Case, which will consider a range of options for improving water supply across the region.

Achieving a genuine balance between water for communities and industry and water for the environment is a real challenge. 

We have the Murray Darling Basin Plan because it was recognised by the governments of the day that the balance was wrong.

Almost 15 years later, independent evaluations make clear that the Basin plan is working. The hard work of communities, farmers and governments to restore water use in the Basin to a sustainable level is paying off.

However, there is more work to do to get the Basin Plan balance right.

Our Government has started the work to develop a new Basin Plan that will inform future approaches to how water is managed in the Basin.

Basin communities have made their voices heard during consultation. Our Government will listen carefully to those voices because we are committed to delivering a new plan that delivers the genuine balance.

And that captures so much of the essence of our Government’s approach.

Listening, consulting, getting it right.

Working with ambition, but not rushing the job.

Recognising that what matters in even the biggest picture is the detail.

And that when it comes to the details that make up the communities of regional NSW, and right across our continent, no one is across them like their local councils.

When we work together, we lift your communities.

And when we lift them, we lift Australia.

PM&C acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past, present and emerging.