Standing up for the interests of our northern Victorian communities is the core business of the MRGC. The MRGC advocates to decision makers in Canberra, Melbourne and elsewhere on issues that affect people across the region to promote and sustain the prosperity and vitality of our communities, industries and towns.
MRGC’s key advocacy priorities for 2023 are:
Flood Recovery | Water | Energy |
Our advocacy includes engaging with Ministers and other decision makers, publishing media releases and making submissions to Government consultations and inquiries.
FLOOD RECOVERY
The record levels of flooding across northern Victoria in 2022 has left MRGC council’s communities reeling. The loss and damage will still be being assessed and repaired in the months and years to come. Losses to farm gate, food manufacturing supply lines, transport links and market access have been significant. In communities like Rochester and Echuca, some families are still waiting to get back into their homes some six months after the event.
MRGC is advocating to State and Federal Ministers seeking more and more efficient financial assistance to enable vital infrastructure to be rebuilt and to provide the services our communities require.
WATER
Water is the lifeblood of our communities. The MRGC supports the balanced implementation of the Murray Darling Basin Plan, to sustain the long-term viability of our regional economy and the well-being of our communities and to deliver the environmental outcomes that will protect and preserve our region’s ecosystems.
Key Issues for MRGC
- Buy backs divide and cause cumulative harm to our communities
- Future water recovery must be subject to the socio-economic neutrality test
- Completion of the Victorian SDLAM projects is vital to the health of our floodplains
ENERGY
The MRGC region has the climate, available land, and currently enjoys community support for large scale solar projects. Transmission network constraints are restricting investment in large scale solar generation infrastructure.
Across the Murray River Group of Councils region, councils have approved projects worth over $5 billion that could generate 4gw of renewable electricity once transmission lines are upgraded. Many more projects are in the pipeline.
MRGC supports the upgrading of Victoria’s transmission network and the development of the Murray and Central Victoria Renewable Energy Zones to unlock the huge potential for renewable generation across northern Victoria