Council
12 May, 2026
Surrounding shires echo muted budget reaction
LAST week’s state budget received an unenthusiastic response from Horsham Rural City Council for its lack of regional funding allocations, and this was generally echoed by other shires in the region.
HRCC mayor Brian Klowss said he saw “the gap between regional areas and the city widening,” and similar sentiments were expressed by Hindmarsh, Buloke and Yarriambiack shires.
In a lengthy statement, Hindmarsh Shire Council mayor Ron Ismay detailed their concerns and said it was deeply disappointing for rural councils, with no meaningful recognition of the scale of assets they manage or the economic contribution they make to Victoria.
“Once again, rural councils have been overlooked,” he said.
“There is no targeted funding response for councils that maintain vast infrastructure networks with very small populations and highly constrained rate bases.
He said funding continued to be allocated primarily on population-based measures and ignored the reality rural councils are responsible for significantly larger asset portfolios per resident.
“In Hindmarsh Shire, the infrastructure burden sits at more than $51,000 per resident, compared with around $9800 per resident in metropolitan councils,” Mr Ismay said.
“Yet funding models fail to recognise this gap.
“Our communities depend on safe roads, bridges, and essential infrastructure to support agriculture, freight, emergency response and regional connectivity. These assets are critical to Victoria’s economy, yet the Budget shows no recognition of the economic output generated from rural and regional Victoria.”
Cr Ismay also highlighted the growing impact of cost shifting from other levels of government, particularly in areas such as emergency management, public health, libraries, compliance, and infrastructure standards, which places additional pressure on small rural councils with limited revenue-raising capacity.
“Rural Councils are being asked to do more, maintain more, and manage greater risk, with fewer funding tools,” he said.
Buloke mayor Graeme Milne highlighted road maintenance as being underfunded.
“Council sees this budget as only a first step toward what’s truly needed in rural Victoria, including Buloke,” he said.
“While we welcome increased funding for rural roads, our community requires fair investment to restore flood-damaged roads, sustained growth in maintenance funding over the next four years, and dedicated support to manage the unprecedented scale of renewable energy, transmission and mining investment across our region.”
“It is alarming that this budget demonstrates a massive decrease over two years in relation to regional road patching, declining from 566,000 square metres down to just 74,000 sq metres. This will have a huge impact on Buloke, on all our road users.”
The Yarriambiack Shire Council was more positive overall, welcoming the Victorian State Budget’s $20 million “Future Regions” program, saying it will help support new housing, community facility upgrades and private investment across regional Victoria.
Mayor Andrew McLean said the municipality was already well placed to pursue funding opportunities through the program.
“Yarriambiack Shire already has several grant applications prepared for infrastructure projects to support housing development in Hopetoun, Warracknabeal, and Murtoa,” he said.
“I hope that rural Victoria, specifically Yarriambiack Shire, will be given priority when allocating this funding, noting that construction costs in rural areas often hinder development and unfairly impact the outcomes of funding applications.”
The council also expressed support for the State Budget’s $1.5 million initiative to attract local businesses and events to regional areas.
Cr McLean said smaller rural communities must receive a fair share of the funding.
“We are seeking a dedicated allocation for rural communities, ensuring that funding is not concentrated in major regional centres at the expense of smaller rural areas,” he said.
While the council welcomed the positive budget measures, Cr McLean said further investment remained critical for Yarriambiack Shire and rural Victoria more broadly.
“We recognise that despite the positive steps in the recent budget, rural Victoria, and especially Yarriambiack Shire, still requires more investment,” Cr McLean stated.
“We are optimistic that the next election, no matter which party is successful, will bring significant funding for our local roads, housing, and community infrastructure.”
The West Wimmera Shire Council were also contacted but did not respond before the deadline.