A CALL to have smaller financial institutions, such as Hume Bank and WAW credit union, given the same status as their big rivals by the NSW Treasury Corporation has won unanimous support.
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A motion passed at the Local Government NSW Conference on Monday to lobby against the TCorp rules, which give greater protection to big banks.
The step, moved by Greater Hume Council, will see Local Government NSW make “strong representations to...TCorp and the Office of Local Government...opposing any substantial changes to the Ministerial Investment Order that would restrict council investment in unrated Approved Deposit Institutions”.
Those unrated institutions include Hume and WAW.
The motion also stated “Councils making application to TCorp for loan funds not be subjected to financial covenants that severely restrict investments with unrated small banks, building societies and credit unions”.
Greater Hume deputy mayor Doug Meyer, who moved the motion, welcomed the support but added changing the rules would not be simple.
“There’s still a lot of work to do, there’s a lot of pushing needed to get it happening,” Cr Meyer said.
“Just because you move a resolution at conference doesn’t mean you don’t have to fight for it.”
Cr Meyer said he expected progress within six months and final answers in 12 months.
Labor councillor Mark Drury from Sydney’s Inner West municipality sought to amend the motion to also call on TCorp to create an investment product that provides a choice to councils that do not want to invest with those that support fossil fuels.
The amendment was lost 44 to 56 per cent, a move welcomed by Cr Meyer who believed it would complicate the situation unnecessarily.
Two motions put by Albury Council were approved.
One involved Local Government NSW lobbying the Murray Darling Basin Authority to consider the impact of river water levels during holidays and working with stakeholders to better regulate flows.
The other called on Local Government NSW to request the state government to review provisions for feline controls to give councils a greater ability to “effectively manage the nuisance effects of cats on residents and wildlife”.
Albury mayor Kevin Mack told delegates the impact of cats was a particular concern in the Thurgoona growth zone.
A Wagga Council motion calling for lobbying action on lift and change rooms along major highways, such as the Hume, for those with mobility needs, was passed.
The conference will conclude on Tuesday.