By Deanne Jeffers
WITH fewer than 500 days until the state election, Greater Shepparton City Council is ramping up advocacy with its Victorian Government Priorities 2025/26 document, outlining key projects it wants funded. Mayor Shane Sali said the early launch was about being proactive ahead of the 2026 budget and election.
The six priorities include: funding for the Shepparton Sports and Events Centre, major road upgrades including a second river crossing, improvements to GV Health, a full bus network review, support to manage water buybacks, and a new infrastructure fund for regional projects.
The Sports and Events Centre remains the top priority, with revised funding—$12M from council (up from $4M), $15M from the Federal Government (down from $20M), and $5M from the state (down from $8M).
“We’ve made a decision at Greater Shepparton City Council that we want to build a new sports stadium, and the way we can do that is to increase our contribution and align that with the relevant grants that are currently available,” said Cr Sali.
Council is also calling for a new regional grants stream to replace the scrapped Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund. Cr Sali said a dedicated fund would support shovel-ready projects and drive regional growth.
“I want to pick up a state budget next year and see a line that says ‘Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund’, a regional fund of $150 million to $200 million … that is soley for regional Victoria,” he said.
Transport is a key area needing investment, with several roads identified for upgrades and a full review of Greater Shepparton’s bus services flagged along with the delivery of additional services promised under the Shepparton Line Upgrade.
“The simple fact that, beggar’s belief, you cannot get to work before nine o’clock if you live on the other side of the river,” said Linda Nieuwenhuizen, CEO of the Committee for Greater Shepparton.
“We really do function like a border town … we have an increasing number of services that are consolidated in one location, one side or the other, and that means access is a vital part for people participating in their communities, accessing health and other services … but also for education, schooling and participating in the workforce.”
Council is also advocating for improvements to GV Health, which includes new inpatient and clinical support facilities ($440M), an integrated cancer centre ($90M) and regional pathology hub ($18M).
“They’re part of what we need to do to complete the overall redevelopment of the Shepparton hospital, which is about 50 per cent complete in terms of the masterplan,” said GV Health CEO, Matt Sharp.
“We’re really pleased to be working closely with council, because health services are such an important issue for not only Shepparton and Mooroopna, but we have a regional presence and responsibility as well to provide those contemporary services.”
Council is also seeking state support to mitigate the impact of less water in the consumptive pool, due to water buybacks and drought. It wants to see $250,000 invested per annum over two years for strategic planning and capacity building.
The Victorian Government Priorities 2025/26 document is available from the Council’s website.
