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Town & Country Journal, Week #123 - May 18, 2023

Page 1

Town &

Y! L K E E W E F RE

18th May 2023

CountryJournal Read online!

smallnewspaper.com.au/country-journal/

TV Guide inside! p.21 Footy Tipping Comp. p.14 Weather outlook p.6 p.10 p.12 p.28

More safety concerns about glyphosate

Pozieres' apples are sweeter than sweet

Stanthorpe Gremlins' latest news.

Local government, an "unsustainable" business Jonathan O’Neill

oneill.jonathan1@outlook.com

M

ayor of the Southern Downs, Vic Pennisi has expressed frustration with the funding model for local government, as being "unsustainable". In a tense discussion with community members at Dalveen about rates within the local government area, Mayor Pennisi responded to calls for lowering the property rates, by saying that

the Southern Downs Regional Council is on a constrained budget, and rates are the only way Council makes money. “I’ll be making representation in Canberra in June in relation to the unsustainability of the funding model for local government,” Cr Pennisi said. “I’ve made representation to the LGAQ. They’re acutely aware. At some stage in this country, there needs to be a mature conversation about how local government is going to be funded in the future. “At the moment it is unsus-

tainable but it is what we have to live with right now, and unfortunately the only place we get our money is from ratepayers." The Mayor, at this stage, has not divulged what will be included in the submission piece in June. Currently, local governments source their revenue from three main sources, taxation, user charges/sales of goods and services, and federal and state government grants, with taxation (aka rates) being by far the most prominent. The Australian Local

Government Association have said in an article on their website, that due to limited ownsource revenue-raising capacity for rural and remote Councils (which Southern Downs falls under), grants can account for more than 50% of Council revenue. “The roles and responsibilities of local governments have increased as a result of increasing community demand, cost shifting, and the need to address market failure,” the ALGA said. “(This is) particularly in rural areas, where it is commonly not

financially viable for the private sector to provide essential goods and services such as aged care or childcare. “The roles and responsibilities of local governments have grown significantly over time, its revenue base has not." In some states, such as New South Wales, their state government have introduced rate-capping, however, the ALGA found that it does not improve municipal efficiency. Continued on page 7....

LifeFlight's half a million Kim Hanson-Ross and Selina Venier

editor@thedailyjournal.ink

Following our Stanthorpe Record newspaper report from May 12 about a black-tie event on May 6 in Toowoomba, Granite Belt Brewery and Retreat has helped raise almost $500,000 for RACQ LifeFlight.

Owner of the local drawcard-venue, Dee Davenpport said she was made aware of the importance of services like RACQ LifeFlight through personally knowing Santina Leonardi, who required the service. RACQ LifeFlight invited the Davenports' business to supply a boutique beer and one of their ciders, as "Presenting Partners" of the gala. She also gave a speech where she spoke of

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Miss Leonardi. Mrs Davenport said the gala event was “an excellent opportunity" for their business to support and it was "pretty amazing seeing six-hundredand-fifty people" with their beer in-hand. “We’ve got excellent (medical) facilities in Stanthorpe, but some cases are so critical and serious that they have to Continued on page 9....

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Town & Country Journal, Week #123 - May 18, 2023 by SmallNewspaperCo - Issuu