Hunter mayors take funding, housing and jobs campaign to Parliament House

newy.com.au – Hunter mayors and council general managers are heading to NSW Parliament House in Sydney this month for more than 20 meetings with ministers, shadow ministers and Hunter MPs as they press the region’s case ahead of the 2027 state election.

The Hunter Joint Organisation delegation, led by chair and Singleton Mayor Sue Moore and deputy chair and Port Stephens Mayor Leah Anderson, will take a set of priorities from the region’s 10 councils covering economic transformation and jobs, housing, roads and the financial sustainability of local government.

Among the main asks are an increase in the NSW Future Jobs Investment Fund to $150 million a year, $54.45 million for diversification projects including international tourism marketing, an air freight precinct business case and cycle tourism, and action on post-mining land use and a community benefit funding model for the Hunter Renewable Energy Zone.

The councils are also seeking $100 million a year, indexed, for enabling infrastructure to help meet housing targets, along with support to repurpose temporary housing used for the Hunter Transmission Project for long-term housing, reform of road funding models, and a three-way federal, state and local funding model for council-owned water and sewer infrastructure.

Moore said the push came as the Hunter prepared for long-term economic change, with the region’s coal industry supporting about 15,000 direct jobs and another 37,000 indirect jobs, according to the NSW Government. She said federal and state forecasts pointed to an approximate 50 per cent fall in global coal demand by 2035.

Muswellbrook Mayor Jeffrey Drayton said, “Unlocking post-mining land is critical to creating new industries, supporting regional jobs, and ensuring the Hunter’s economic future beyond coal.”

Anderson said councils were ready to help deliver more housing but needed support for roads, drainage and other enabling infrastructure, while Cessnock Mayor Dan Watton said the sector also wanted NSW support for advocacy to restore Commonwealth Financial Assistance Grants to 1 per cent. City of Newcastle deputy lord mayor Charlotte McCabe said the mayors would also press for a greater share of the waste levy collected from Hunter ratepayers to be returned to local government.

Dungog Mayor Digby Rayward said roads would be a major focus of the talks as councils across the Hunter maintained thousands of kilometres of local roads supporting freight, regional growth and community connections. The delegation represents Cessnock, Dungog, Lake Macquarie, MidCoast, Maitland, Muswellbrook, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Singleton and Upper Hunter councils.