By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
A GREATER emphasis on localised regional funding under a coalition federal government could help shires on Victoria’s south-west coast escape the attention focussed on Geelong projects, according to a pair of mayors.
Glenelg and Corangamite shires’ Karen Stephens and Chris O’Connor said it was time to review the funding boundary that lumped the south-west coast in with Geelong.
Cr Stephens said Glenelg missed out on the “full benefit” of government funding because the shire was “competing with Geelong”.
“We’d welcome the coalition seriously thinking about the way the current Regional Development Australia (RDA) system is set up,” Cr Stephens said.
“There’s no way Glenelg would get projects up over Geelong. It’s a fact, Geelong has enormous funding.
“Our staff put lots of time and resources into funding applications with no result. We’re going to be left behind if Geelong continues to get great chunks of funding.”
Cr O’Connor said existing regional boundaries incorporating Geelong with the south-west skewed key statistics and resultant funding allocations.
“There’s a feeling that perhaps Kardinia Park has done really well at everyone else’s expense,” Cr O’Connor said.
Barwon South West RDA co-deputy chair Ed Coppe said the Great South Coast region and Geelong had five members each on the committee.
“If anything, given that 80 per cent of the population lives in the Geelong region you could argue the committee is balanced away from Geelong,” Mr Coppe said.
“The committee is conscious of making sure it represents everyone in region but when it comes to significant projects it’s not surprising more than half of them end up in the Geelong region.”
Mr Coppe said the innovative Victorian approach joined state and federal regional development funding with a “high level of integration”.
“The model we have now is powerful and my sense is that it would remain essentially the way it is.”
A spokesperson for regional development shadow minister Barnaby Joyce said a coalition government would “strengthen the process to make it more responsive to local needs”.
“We’ll give local communities more control over the selection and funding of projects, as was the case with the (former) Area Consultative Committees under the previous coalition government.
“There’s too much bureaucratic control from Canberra. We would structure (the funding of regions) with local needs in mind.”
