The NSW Budget was announced on June 23rd and although some introductions will see a relief from the current cost-of-living crisis, a lack of funding for rural facilities and communities has caused a spark in concern by local politicians.
As part of the budget, the NSW Government has announced $100 off of vehicle registration for the next 12 months, frozen public transport fees, a reduced toll cap of up to $50 a week and permanently abolishing toll administration fees.
An increase in frontline domestic and family violence of 50 percent will see the largest rise in a decade.
Most funding went into regional communities, and Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke said the Budget results proved to be a disappointing result for local, rural communities.
“I was very hopeful that we would see critical funding for new projects, but unfortunately, there’s nothing new in this budget,” she says.
Ms Cooke said the Budget failed to deliver funding for several major projects that remain critical to the future of local communities.
“We’ve seen no new money for that critical infrastructure that we need,” she said.
“New health infrastructure for Coolamon has long sat at the top of the Murrumbidgee Local Health District’s priority list yet remains unfunded, along with new infrastructure for Cootamundra and Grenfell.
“Most disappointingly, there is no new money for critical water infrastructure projects, such as the Narrandera Water Treatment Plant and the Boorowa pipeline.
“The Government is fully aware that these projects are vital to securing reliable water for our communities and supporting future growth across the region.
“There is also no new money for the William Bradford Bridge that we know is a critical project that will actually save lives on the Burley Griffin Way.”
Ms Cooke said the Budget highlighted a growing divide between metropolitan and regional New South Wales. While welcoming the Treasurer’s announcement of a $100 registration discount for motorists and $80 for motorcycle registrations, she said the measure could not disguise the Budget’s broader shortcomings.
“I think that families doing it tough with cost-of-living pressures at the moment will be welcoming of that news,” she said.
“However, despite the advancements in health infrastructure, beyond that, there’s very little for the people of Cootamundra to celebrate in this year’s budget.”
The Premier of NSW Chris Minns sent out the following statement regarding their latest budget announcement,
“It’s a Budget focused on helping with some of the pressures families are facing right now, while continuing to invest in the schools, hospitals and public assets our communities rely on.
Global events are hitting people hard right now, so the first priority is giving some practical support to help with everyday costs.
I know this won’t solve every cost-of-living problem, but it will help ease some costs now, while we continue to build the schools, hospitals and roads people in NSW rely on.
In this year’s Budget, we’re also making the biggest increase in frontline domestic and family violence funding in decades – a 50 per cent boost that will help ensure women and children escaping violence can access support when they need it.
Because when someone makes the difficult decision to leave violence, they should be able to get help – not join a waiting list.
This package builds on our first three Labor budgets – rebuilding public services, fighting back against privatisation, and finally tackling the housing crisis in NSW.
In our first Budget, we abolished the Liberal Party’s wages cap — a policy that was driving experienced workers out of our schools, hospitals and police stations.
As a result of that decision to respect essential workers, we’ve been able to recruit 6,496 more nurses and midwives, 986 more paramedics, and 2,263 new teachers – cutting the teacher vacancy rate 71%.
In our second budget, we confronted the housing crisis, with the biggest new investment in new public housing in New South Wales history. Proudly, half of these new homes will go to victim survivors of domestic violence.
In our third budget, we reversed the Liberal Party’s privatisation agenda, investing in new public hospitals, while bringing Northern Beaches Hospital back into public hands.
And we’ve done all that while reducing the budget deficit we inherited from $15 billion in the year before we were elected down to $2.3 billion.
In the coming weeks and months, we’ll announce more policies to cut costs, rebuild public assets, and support jobs in this state.
At a time of global uncertainty, steady leadership and responsible decisions matter.
We believe we have the right plan to help people with the pressures they face today while continuing to build a stronger future for our state.
In less than a year’s time, the people of NSW will judge us on our record.”
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