Council has been collaborating with the local government sector to advocate on shared interests and goals for local governments across Melbourne, Victoria and Australia.
Council works closely with eight other inner-Melbourne councils, collectively called M9, and with the national state and local government bodies to advocate to the Victorian and Australian Governments.
Recent M9 collaborations have included:
- The creation of an M9/Homes Victoria reference group on redevelopment of Melbourne's public housing towers to ensure residents and local communities are kept well informed on the program
- Securing a grant of $2 million through the Federal Government's Disaster Ready Fund; the project will seek to embed climate resilience in asset management and investment processes at M9 councils
- Joint advocacy to the Minister for Planning to process important planning scheme amendments efficiently
- Joint advocacy to the Minister for Housing on the draft housing targets provided to councils and the need for accompanying community infrastructure to accommodate the anticipated growth
- Joint M9 submissions to parliamentary inquiries and state government consultations including:
- Federal Government inquiry into Local Government Sustainability
- State upper house inquiry into Climate Resilience
- State Upper House inquiry into Local Government Funding and Services
- Plan Victoria consultation.
The M9 councils endorsed a new Advocacy Strategy in May focussing on four key priorities: waste and sustainability; housing and planning; transport; and governance and leadership. This was presented to State Government Ministers and MPs at a dedicated meeting at Parliament House on 1 August.
At the State level, on Friday 23 August Yarra's Mayor Edward Crossland attended the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) State Council. On behalf of the City of Yarra, Mayor Crossland put forward three Motions that were carried successfully with some amendments:
- That the MAV prepare and lodge a submission to the Victorian Budget 2025-26 that seeks more direct funding for councils.
- That the MAV calls on the Victorian Government to uphold its commitment to the Victorian State-Local Government agreement 2014 or a successor agreement to be negotiated in good faith between the parties.
- In relation to the redevelopment of the public housing towers, which will affect 10,000 residents – That the MAV calls on the Victorian Government to engage with local government and residents on the project and provide data and evidence on the redevelopments.
And at the national level, in the first week of July 2024, Mayor Edward Crossland also put forward two successful motions to the ALGA National General Assembly advocating for strong national action on climate emergency and the circular economy. You can read more about this here.
Yarra's Mayor and Deputy Mayor Anab Mohamud attended the Mayoral Taskforce Supporting People Seeking Asylum meeting, also a part of the ALGA National General Assembly. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor both used the opportunity to pledge support for the Taskforce's Back Your Neighbour campaign.
