THE federal government will give Mornington Peninsula Shire almost $6.5 million from its Financial Assistance Grant Program for 2015-16.
The amount is part of $39 million for councils partly or wholly in the federal electorate of Flinders, held by environment minister Greg Hunt, who announced the funds in a statement last week.
City of Casey receives the lion’s share of the money with $17.31 million for its 283,000 residents.
Cardinia Shire gets $9.89 million for its population of 87,000 and Bass Coast $5.49 million for its 30,000 with Mornington Peninsula Shire receiving $6.43 million for its 150,000 people.
The government is providing $2.3 billion to local governments nationwide in 2015-16. “This includes $1.1 billion in Financial Assistance Grants already paid to councils to ensure immediate access to untied funding to support local priorities,” Mr Hunt stated.
“Councils are free to spend this untied grant funding according to local priorities, including for infrastructure, health, recreation, environment, employment and roads projects.”
Mr Hunt stated the grant program “gives local councils greater flexibility about where they spend their funding and provides an additional boost to make our communities better places”.
Councils across the nation will also share the $3.2 billion Roads to Recovery program pot.
Mr Hunt stated an additional $200 million had been committed by the government over the next two years under the $500 million Black Spot program.
Details of the grants are at regional.gov.au/local/assistance/index.aspx
First published in the Mornington News – 29 September 2015