Mayor Crawford Joins MAV’s ‘Make Good Happen’ Federal Election Campaign Launch

Mayor Crawford has been selected as one of ten spokespersons for the Municipal Association of Victoria’s (MAV) federal election campaign, ‘Make Good Happen’. She proudly represented the City of Port Phillip at the campaign launch on 20 February 2025. 

The event, which marked the beginning of MAV’s ‘Make Good Happen’ campaign, saw representatives from councils across Victoria come together to celebrate. MAV, the legislated peak body for Victorian Local Government, represents 79 local councils and provides a unified voice on issues of national importance. 

“All councils across Victoria are wanting to partner with the federal government to meet housing demand, fix potholed roads, deliver energy transition commitments, fortify our critical infrastructure to withstand fires, floods or storms, and promote active local democracy and cohesive communities,” MAV CEO Kelly Grigsby said.  

“With all of these challenges upon us, there has never been a more important time to advocate on behalf of our communities for policies, initiatives and investments that will help build a resilient and sustainable Victoria,” Ms Grigsby added.  

The MAV ‘Make Good Happen’ campaign will focus on:  

1. Making Community Infrastructure Happen:
   Delivering the infrastructure growing communities need to thrive
2. Making Safer Roads Happen:
   Connecting communities and supporting a safer and more productive Victoria
3. Making Fairer Energy Happen:
   Engaging communities in Victoria's energy transition
4. Making Resilient Communities Happen:
   Future-proofing communities to withstand natural disaster
5. Making Local Democracy Happen:
   Supporting stronger, safer communities and countering disinformation

In each of these five areas the MAV campaign will showcase best practice programs and initiatives that can be replicated state and nationwide and call for supportive policy and funding.

Mayor Crawford will be part of the MAV Mayoral Delegation, a group with a deep understanding of the most pressing issues facing key federal seats. At the launch, she highlighted the campaign’s key pillar, “Make Community Infrastructure Happen,” addressing the critical lag in infrastructure to support new housing, using Fishermans Bend as a key example.

The Federal Government’s Housing Accord aims to build 1.2 million new, well-located homes nationally by 2029. However, current funding is insufficient to deliver all the necessary infrastructure for new and growing communities. Mayor Crawford emphasised that local governments across Victoria could unlock new housing supply if there was a pipeline of place-based funding for enabling trunk infrastructure.

To address this, the MAV proposes a “Building Connected Communities” fund. This dedicated fund would enable councils across Victoria to partner in realising the full community benefit of the federal government’s record-level commitment to housing provision.

The MAV Make Good Happen campaign is providing a unified voice for the local government sector as they advocate to bring about positive change within communities across the state.

For more information visit Make Good Happen - A Unified Voice for Victorian Councils | MAV website

For more information on Council’s Federal Advocacy Campaign, visit Council's 2025 Federal Election.