Budget Delivers for Regional Australia

10 May 2011
BUDGET DELIVERS FOR REGIONAL AUSTRALIA
 
REGIONAL communities including the NSW Mid-North Coast will see major improvements in health, transport, education and employment under announcements made in tonight’s Federal Budget, Independent MP for Lyne Rob Oakeshott said.
 
Mr Oakeshott cited the $1 billion fast-tracking of Pacific Highway work and $1.33 billion for more than 60 regional health and hospital projects, including Port Macquarie Base Hospital, as funding examples for critically-needed rural infrastructure.
 
“In this Budget, rural communities have finally found their voice,” Mr Oakeshott said.
 
“We have seen today, for the first time, a good portion of the Budget papers dedicated exclusively to regional Australia.
 
“I would hope that this acts as a template for future policy planning.”
Mr Oakeshott said many of the Budget investments in regional projects would deliver benefits for the nation as a whole.
 
“The allocation of just over $1 billion in this Budget to bring forward work on the Pacific Highway is great news not only for people in my region, but for Australia’s economy generally.
 
“We are going to get this Pacific Highway job done and I hope we get it done with the support of the NSW Government when its first budget is handed down later in the year.
Mr Oakeshott also welcomed the allocation of $500 million to a regional round of the Education Investment Fund, along with $110 million for loading payments to support regional universities.
 
“The disparity between urban and country areas when it comes to participation in higher education is well-known and acknowledged.
 
“Initiatives that increase access and aspiration to higher education for people in rural Australia will drive outcomes that not only empower local communities, but also support the national economy.
 
“We are also seeing $200 million to help apprentices - numbering more than 3200 on the Mid-North Coast – get to the end of their apprenticeships, while the extension of priority employment areas will continue to promote local jobs growth.
 
“I am also pleased to see 63 regional communities, including my electorate of Lyne, sharing in $1.33 billion of new health spending through the first regional round of the Health and Hospitals Fund.
 
“With a further round of $475 million still to come, we continue to push on local projects, including the upgrade of Manning Rural Referral Hospital.
 
“The $2.2 billion mental health package is a huge step forward and will make a difference in regions like mine, where people with mental illness, their carers and families and long been fighting for better access to care.”
 
Mr Oakeshott said he looked forward to seeing the outcome of the first round of the $1 billion Regional Development Australia Fund.
 
“This is a new way for communities to work with government, empowering them to define and present their own priorities, rather than being forced into accepting a top-down funding model that dictates what they need,” Mr Oakeshott said.
 
“In my view, this is a Budget that will pass.”
 
ENDS
Media contact: Garth Norris – 6277-4054, 0429-787320