Councils in Macarthur have this week welcomed their third quarterly payment under the Australian Government’s Financial Assistance Grant program.
Federal Member for Macarthur, Russell Matheson, announced that the Australian Government is providing $575 million to local councils nationwide, including $9,363,009 in Macarthur this quarter.
“Councils in the Electorate of Macarthur will receive a total of $37.4 million this financial year,” Mr Matheson said.
“The Australian Government is committed to supporting local communities to deliver the services and facilities they need.’’
The Financial Assistance Grant program will deliver $9.3 billion to local governments from 2014–15 to 2018–19 for investing in services and building community infrastructure.
“The great thing about this funding is councils are free to spend this untied grant money according to local priorities, including for infrastructure, health, recreation, environment, employment and roads projects,’’ Mr Matheson said.
“As such, it is tangible recognition from the Abbott Government of the importance of local councils, which is in addition to the Australian Government’s $2.1 billion Roads to Recovery, $500 million Black Spot and $300 million Bridges Renewal programs.
“I am looking forward to seeing our local councils target local priorities with this Financial Assistance Grant funding,” Mr Matheson said.
Camden Council will this year receive a total of $3.1 million ($776,359 this quarter); Campbelltown $10.2m ($2.5m); Liverpool $9.3m ($2.3m) and Wollondilly $3.4m ($857,000).
