I am very pleased to see the renewed relationship between local government and the federal government, with the first formal meeting in a decade of the local government council.

I’ve had really positive feedback from some of the attendees of last week’s meeting including Hawkesbury Councillors Mary Lyons-Bucket and Blue Mountains deputy mayor Romola Hollywood.

We channel millions of dollars through Councils to repair and improve roads and upgrade infrastructure, not just in times of crisis.

I’m particularly pleased with the new $100 million fund to help councils improve their energy efficiency.

Because it’s co-funded, this has the potential to unlock over $200 million in high-impact energy upgrades to save community facilities on bills over the medium and long term.

It could be upgrades like replacing energy-intensive heating in council pools with heat pumps and energy efficient lighting and battery storage at sporting fields, libraries and community centres.
I know Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill is excited at the opportunity - Council has adopted the target of net zero emissions from operations by the end of 2025 and has joined the Cities Race to Zero.

And Hawesbury City council has a Net Zero Emissions by 2030 or earlier target, so I know Councillor Danielle Wheeler who was also here for the meeting thinks it could make a difference.

We know that every dollar local governments save goes back into their community, so this is another way we can ease costs for every ratepayer.