Kristy McBain has been sworn into two ministries this week. Photo: Supplied.
Eden-Monaro has expanded its presence in Australia’s Cabinet, with its MP taking on two ministries after her re-election.
In the Albanese Government’s second term ministry, Kristy McBain has held onto her role as the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, after first being appointed in 2022.
She has also been named the Minister for Emergency Management, taking over from Jenny McAllister.
Ms McBain told Region she was excited to take up the new ministry.
“From a community perspective, I know what it’s like firsthand to be at the centre of a disaster,” she said.
“I’ve seen friends and family go through that direct loss, so I’m really excited to be able to now work on that.”
During the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires, McBain was the mayor of Bega Valley Shire Council.
The fires covered about 60 per cent of the shire. Four lives were lost in the shire and 467 homes and about 1000 sheds and outbuildings were destroyed.
McBain said she wanted to connect different levels of government through her new role.
“In a disaster, people look towards their local council to have the answers, to provide communication, to ensure that water pumps are still working and toilets are still flushing.
“It is a real natural synergy that in a disaster, you work closely with local governments. I’m really excited that we’re bringing those two together so that we can ensure a seamless delivery between the Federal Government and local councils, in particular.”
She said a focus would be on implementing the National Messaging System, as well as helping border communities benefit from emergency messages.
“There was a lot of firsthand evidence given to the Black Summer bushfire royal commission by people who lived in and around border areas and the issues they had with looking at particular messaging apps about where fires were headed,” she said.
“I’m going to be keen to look back over that royal commission and the recommendations and make sure that we’re doing everything that we can across the country to make those things easier for our communities.”
Ms McBain also said working to progress the Surf Beach and Moruya future emergency services hubs on the South Coast would be “front and centre”.
The sod was turned on the $25 million project at Moruya in January, while a tender for the Surf Beach project was released earlier this year.
Kristy McBain has taken on two ministerial roles in the returned Albanese Government. Photo: Auspic.
As the returning Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, Ms McBain said she was committed to speaking with regional residents across Australia.
“I am proud to have brought local government back to the table as a trusted delivery partner – including at National Cabinet and through two successful Australian Council of Local Government forums – while increasing local road funding for every council and launching transparent grant programs that every community can apply for,” she said.
“We remain committed to supporting councils, including through our response to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Local Government Sustainability, which we will finalise this term.”
In the federal election, she held off a challenge from Liberal candidate and Cooma local Joanne van der Plaat.
Ms McBain received 44,698 first preference votes (or 43.12 per cent), while Ms van der Plaat received 33,236 (32.06 per cent), according to data on the Australian Electoral Commission’s website.
Original Article published by Claire Sams on About Regional.
