Local people will have an opportunity to contribute to the Prime Minister's Australian 2020 Summit with the announcement of a Geelong Summit to be held on Friday 4 April.

Federal Member for Corio Richard Marles said nominations for the local summit were now open.

"The local summit is an opportunity for the people of Geelong to participate in the historic Australian 2020 Summit," Mr Marles said.

"Like the national 2020 summit, the local summit will seek ideas from participants about the future direction of our nation across the same topics as the national summit.

"The ideas developed during the Geelong Summit will be collated and forwarded to the national summit.

"We would expect that themes such as sustainability, economic development and community strengthening would be among those developed during the Geelong Summit and subsequently fed into the national equation," Mr Marles said.

Mr Marles said local summits will be held across Australia on Friday 4 April and Saturday 5 April. Attendees at the local summits will not attend the Australian Summit in Canberra.

City of Greater Geelong Mayor Cr Bruce Harwood said the Geelong Summit would be hosted at City Hall between 1pm and 5pm on Friday 4 April.

"This is an opportunity for the local community to put its case to Canberra and ensure that the future of our region is considered as part of the future planning for the country," said the Mayor.

"Geelong plays an increasingly important role on the national stage being a significant residential, education and industry growth area.

"The summit is a fabulous opportunity for local people to consider Geelong's development in a national context and I encourage interested people to nominate for attendance at the Geelong Summit.

Nominations will be assessed by a panel comprising Federal Member for Corio Richard Marles, Federal Member for Corangamite Darren Cheeseman, State Member for Bellarine Lisa Neville and State parliamentarians Member for South Barwon Michael Crutchfield, State Member for Geelong Ian Trezise, State Member for Lara John Eren, State Members for Western Victoria, Peter Kavanagh, David Koch, Gayle Tierney and City of Greater Geelong Mayor Cr Bruce Harwood..

Nominations for the Geelong Summit should be directed to Sav Chirumbolo at Richard Marles' electoral office. Nominations can be emailed to sav.chirumbolo@aph.gov.au or faxed on 5222 4505. Phone inquiries can be made on 5221 3033.

Nominations close on Tuesday 25 March 2008. Applicants will be selected by Friday 28 March.