House Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport — hearing of 11 September 2026: transcript & video · Polyfact

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House Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport

10 September 2026

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Contents updated on 11 Sept 2026

The Chair opens the inquiry, sets procedural parameters and broadcasting rules, then hears VLGA evidence on Victoria’s local government funding architecture, rate capping, grants and service cost pressures, followed by a detailed Q&A on revenue constraints, federal–state–local roles and potential reforms. The VLGA session ends with discussion on regional collaboration, amalgamations and councils’ broader social roles before the Chair formally closes this witness segment and confirms follow‑up material timelines.

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Inquiry opening and VLGA evidence on council funding

15:14

Hearing opening, VLGA mandate and funding model

15:14

Hearing opening and VLGA mandate

15:14

Hearing opening, broadcast rules and introductions

15:14

VLGA president — context and fiscal crisis

18:22

Local government funding model and cost pressures

20:36

Rate capping model — structural flaws and inequities

20:36

Cost shifting and expanding council service roles

23:24

Infrastructure, workforce constraints and funding reform asks

26:01

Q&A on rate capping, revenue constraints and grants

29:25

State rate capping and local revenue constraints

29:25

Chair — Q: state levers on local pressures

29:25

Councils’ experience seeking rate cap variations

34:28

Federal role, constitutional limits and state cost shifting

36:50

Financial Assistance Grants and taxation share for councils

38:56

Aged care, childcare and local government service pressures

40:25

Blunt rate cap, revenue constraints and development charges

44:06

Intergovernmental roles, grants and local service pressures

36:50

Federal role, constitutional limits and state cost shifting

36:50

Financial Assistance Grants and taxation share for councils

38:56

Aged care, childcare and local government service pressures

40:25

VLGA evidence — regional collaboration and local roles

46:31

Regional approaches and council amalgamations

46:31

Regional approaches, amalgamations and disaster capacity

46:31

Regional collaboration vs council amalgamations

49:43

Local government roles and VLGA session closure

53:55

Community expectations and expanded local roles

53:55

VLGA evidence concluded and procedural next steps

55:48

GSEM regional evidence on structural fiscal pressures

01:00:00

GSEM evidence opening and structural fiscal pressures

01:00:00

GSEM opening — regional role and structural fiscal pressures

01:00:00

GSEM representatives introduced and regional profile

01:00:00

GSEM opening — cost shifting and structural imbalance

01:03:43

Chair Q&A — state responsibilities and local service funding gaps

01:07:04

Chair — Q: state vs Commonwealth drivers

01:07:04

Maternal and child health and libraries funding gaps

01:10:16

Rate capping impacts, cost shifting and local government resilience

01:13:13

Rate capping, cost index and housing‑related infrastructure

01:13:13

Neumann — Q: Victorian rate cap as blunt tool

01:13:13

Infrastructure charges, housing targets and growth funding

01:16:15

State cost shifting and GSEM advocacy strategy

01:20:47

Commonwealth frustration — Q: state cost shifting and lobbying

01:20:47

GSEM response — multi‑level roles and tax share

01:22:45

Council amalgamations, regional resilience and shared services

01:24:46

Neumann — Q: amalgamations vs regional cooperation for resilience

01:24:46

Examples of regional shared services and procurement

01:27:22

Federal grants design and shift to TCICA evidence

01:28:47

Design of federal grants, cost shifting data and infrastructure funds

01:28:47

Designing federal infrastructure grants and alternatives to competitive programs

01:28:47

Quantifying cost shifting and request for further evidence

01:31:35

Financial Assistance Grants — proposal to tie to asset renewal

01:33:42

National housing and enabling infrastructure funds and preference for untied support

01:35:18

Transition between GSEM and TCICA evidence

01:37:18

Closing of GSEM evidence and procedural directions

01:37:18

TCICA witness introduced and opening statement

01:49:57

Remote Indigenous councils — funding models and fiscal constraints

01:56:01

TCICA — place‑based funding, governance and council roles

01:56:01

Place‑based governance, self‑determination and funding models

01:56:01

Chair — Q: place‑based model and self‑determination

01:56:01

Chair — Q: funding formulas and remote cost drivers

01:58:27

Burnell — Q: fragmented services and program evaluation

02:00:58

Burnell — Q: regional shared services and capability

02:03:16

Burnell — multi‑year place‑based funding model

02:06:18

Multi‑year funding blocks, procurement and continuity

02:06:18

Burnell — Q: multi‑year place‑based funding efficiencies

02:17:48

Remote councils as providers of last resort — funding, services and assets

02:08:44

Provider of last resort — uncosted service load

02:08:44

Funding gaps and limited own‑source revenue

02:11:27

Airport operations, CASA training and cost recovery

02:15:12

Lifecycle funding gaps for gifted community assets

02:21:54

TCICA witness closure and procedural directions

02:24:12

Closing TCICA evidence and procedural directions

02:24:12

LGANT hearing — NT councils, funding and disaster resilience

02:33:21

Hearing opening and NT local government context

02:33:21

LGANT witnesses introduced and hearing formalities

02:33:21

LGANT opening — NT council profile and expanded roles

02:35:03

Short‑term tied grants, remote cost premiums and fiscal constraints

02:39:48

Indigenous councils, ACCO funding and grant stagnation

02:42:35

Aboriginal‑led councils, ACCO preferencing and grant access

02:42:35

Financial Assistance Grants, NT operational subsidies and disaster recovery reforms

02:45:04

ACCO-only grants — inclusion of Aboriginal-led councils

02:49:29

Revenue constraints, FAGs methodology and disaster funding

02:52:56

Rating caps on mining and pastoral leases

02:52:56

Financial Assistance Grants methodology and non-rateable land

02:57:17

Disaster relief funding access and build-back-better limits

03:05:32

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House Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport

10 September 2026

House Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport Fri, 11 Sept 2026 Australian Parliament

15:14 - 16:25

Speaker 1

I declare open this public hearing of the Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport's inquiry into local government funding and fiscal sustainability. I'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which we meet today, and I pay my respects to their ancestors and their elders, past, present and future. I extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in their cultural and spiritual connections to Australia's lands and waters. In accordance with the committee's resolution of 28 August 2025, this hearing will be broadcast on the Parliament's website, and the proof and official transcripts of proceedings will be published on the inquiry website. I remind members of the media who may be present or listening on the web of the need to fairly and accurately report the proceedings of the committee.

I now call on representatives from the Victorian Local Government Association to give evidence.

For the Hansard record, would you please state your full name and the capacity in which you appear before the committee.

16:25 - 16:38

Speaker 2

Thank you. My name is Councillor Jane Karzlake. I am a VLGA president, but a councillor at Glen Eira Council, and a very new president.

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