Mayor seeks seat on funding body

JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
GEELONG’S council is trying to secure a seat on a committee advising governments on the region’s funding priorities, according to Mayor John Mitchell.
Cr Mitchell said he would nominate for the Regional Development Australia (RDA) committee covering Geelong and south-west Victoria after a call for expressions of interest this week.
“As I understand it, all positions are up for grabs and I’ll be putting in an application.
“I believe the city should be represented, even though I’ll be nominating as an individual.
“I’ll be representing the region, not just the council. You have to put your parochialism to one side and represent the whole of the region.
“It goes all the way to Portland, so it’s a big region.”
Council unsuccessfully bid for a seat last year when a vacancy opened.
RDA executive officer Peter Anderson said existing terms expired at end of June, with all positions spilled.
“Current members have been encouraged to reapply and some of them will,” Mr Anderson said.
“Some won’t reapply, so there’ll be new people on the committee.
“The decision of who is offered a position is a joint Spring St and Canberra process. It will be competitive and hotly contested.”