Speaking to the Bay Post/Moruya Examiner, Mr Toole said the petition sent a “very strong message of concern” in regards to the increase.

He said it was the biggest petition that had been put forward from the 22 councils which successfully applied for rate increases this year.

“I thank the Member for Bega Andrew Constance for his strong advocacy on behalf of his community and he has raised those concerns to me directly about the increases that have been put onto that community,” Mr Toole said.

“These are mums, dads, pensioners, that have now got to dig deep into their pockets to be able to pay for these increases that have been put forward by the council.”

Mr Toole said that in the past two years, a third of councils across NSW had applied for special rate variations.

All SRVs are assessed by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), which also serves as the NSW Government’s economic advisor and policy “think tank”. 

Mr Toole did not answer whether he had faith in IPART’s ability to judge correctly whether or not councils should receive the increases.

“IPART has been doing this process for a number of years, but I think when you do get a petition of 11,000 signatures, that does raise some question about the community consultation process, which is a requirement as a part of the process,” he said.

When questioned about the fact IPART was satisfied with Eurobodalla Shire Council’s community consultation as part of its application, Mr Toole again said the petition’s response was concerning.

He said the state government expected all councils in NSW to consider their financial sustainability and how to deliver infrastructure and better services to their communities.

“We cannot keep going out there and asking mums and dads, families and pensioners, to continually put their hand into their pocket to just continue with existing services,” he said.

While councils often cite years of rate pegging and cost shifting from other levels of government as contributing to their financial woes, Mr Toole did not say whether the state government bore any responsibility for that.

“We just can’t go blaming it on rate pegging and cost shifting because the issue is you cannot continually go out there and ask mums and dads and families to continually keep putting their hands into their pockets to pay for these increases,” he said.

“That is why under Fit for the Future we have the $1 billion package there to support councils.

“We’ve committed to rewriting parts of the Local Government Act, forming joint organisations across the state in regional communities (and) we’re also creating a state financing authority to help councils borrow to build their infrastructure.

“It’s also up to councils to take the opportunity to partner with the state in ensuring that they are becoming a sustainable sector here and into the future.”