THE Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Federal Leader of The Nationals, David Littleproud, is one of the most accessible Federal MPs in the country, always publishing his interviews on a range of subjects around the place.
Last Sunday, he was on the Weekend Today Australia show on Channel 9 when co-hot Alison Piotrowski started complaining about how ratepayers in North Sydney “are facing a hike of nearly 90 per cent over the next two years” while ratepayers in Sydney’s northern beaches are staring down the barrel of a 40 per cent increase in rates.
While sympathising with the interviewer about cost-shifting from state to local government he said the city ratepayers needed a bit of perspective around their concerns the minimum rate was going up to $1200.
Ahead of any rate rise, council rates in North Sydney, in 2024-25, were an average of $1040 while most ratepayers in Bass Coast are paying $2000 plus and South Gippsland ratepayers considerably more.
On the ‘Know Your Council’ website the average rate in Bass Coast is listed at $1680 and in South Gippsland it’s $2220.
We’d love a rate notice that had $1200 on it.
So, why are cashed-up homeowners in affluent metro municipalities paying only a fraction of what socio-economically challenged ratepayers are paying in our rural town?
We’ve been saying it for a long time, rural and regional ratepayers are getting slugged for maintaining huge road networks and for providing services to widespread communities and something needs to be done about it.
In so many ways, local government, especially in country areas, is broken and needs a complete overhaul but do you hear the state and federal MPs talking about it in the lead-up to the looming federal election, and state election in 2026… barely a word.
