Make Good Happen - A Unified Voice for Victorian Councils

As the peak body for local government in Victoria, the MAV is giving voice to the needs and aspirations of communities across Victoria, and supporting Victorian councils to create cities, regions, towns and growing suburbs that are thriving, resilient and sustainable.

There are five priorities for Victorian councils this federal election.

Together with Victoria’s 79 local councils we have identified five themes representing the most pressing priorities for Victorian communities.

1. Making Community Infrastructure Happen:
   Delivering the infrastructure growing and connected communities need.

2. Making Safer Roads Happen:
   Connecting communities and supporting a safer and more productive Victoria.

3. Making Fairer Energy Happen:
   Engaging communities in Victoria's energy transition.

4. Making Resilient Communities Happen:
   Future-proofing communities to withstand natural disaster.

5. Making Local Democracy Happen:
   Supporting stronger, safer communities and countering disinformation.

Building connected communities

• The Federal Government’s Housing Accord target is to build 1.2M new, well-located homes nationally by 2029.
• Building these new homes is about building communities too – with public spaces and shared facilities.
• Current funding won’t deliver all the infrastructure new and growing communities need to thrive.

The investment

• A dedicated ‘Building Connected Communities’ Fund to enable councils across Victoria to partner in realising the full community benefit of current record-level commitments to housing provision.

Community roads repair blitz

• Funding road maintenance is essential to the overall financial sustainability of councils.
• Victorian councils have relied on the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure fund (LRCI) to fund maintenance of the Victorian local road network – this has now expired.
• Increased traffic and growing truck numbers are increasing road maintenance and funding needs – and compromising safety and productivity through last mile impact.

The investment

• We need a repair and renewal blitz to ensure the safety and efficiency of local roads
• A dedicated ‘Community Roads Repair Blitz’ Fund would allow councils to address priority road repairs across Victoria to boost economic activity and productivity of the nation.

Powering communities

• Victoria is targeting net zero emissions by 2045 – five years earlier than the current national target, requiring real acceleration in renewable energy generation, particularly wind and solar.
• Communities and local governments are in a unique position to deliver locally supported outcomes but lack resources to facilitate participation in the process.
• A lack of standardisation in community benefit sharing arrangements is contributing to confusion, consultation fatigue and tension within and between communities, risking loss of social license for projects
• Powering Communities will provide a coordinated and consistent approach to support host councils and communities to realise benefit-sharing alongside energy transition projects over the coming decade.

The investment

• MAV is seeking $5 million in funding to develop its ‘Powering Communities’ initiative to distribute knowledge and tools needed to bring innovative community benefit-sharing arrangements to life as the energy transition is expedited.

Building to withstand

• Governments across the nation have come to terms with the need to fund ‘building back better’ as extreme weather events wreak havoc on community infrastructure with increasing regularity.
• It’s time to think further ahead to fund resilient infrastructure that can withstand storms, bushfires and floods, and avoid the need for costly and repeated rebuilding.
• Weather damage already costs Victoria about $2.7 billion a year. Without action to better protect infrastructure, reconstruction costs and insurance premiums will grow.

The investment

• A dedicated ‘Build to Withstand ’ Fund would allow Victorian Councils to conduct priority pre-disaster investigation work to identify and address the highest priority infrastructure for resilience upgrades across the state.

Safe and cohesive communities

• When disinformation influences public opinion and fuels division it erodes trust in institutions and discourages community members from participating in local forums and events
• Democratic processes like local government elections also suffer when candidates are discouraged from participating
• Leaders in local governments across Victoria want to support safer, more connected communities by countering disinformation – but need the tools to do it.

The investment

• A $4.5 million ‘Local Issues, Local Solutions’ Active Local Democracy Fund will allow Victorian councils to design and pilot programs that promote active democracy and combat disinformation at the community and neighbourhood level.
• The pilot program will allow the MAV to develop a scalable toolkit that can be rolled out to Councils across the state and nationally to tackle disinformation and protect the foundations of our democracy.