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- 20 June 2007
Rural and Regional Budget
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Page: 1288
The Hon. GREG DONNELLY: My question is addressed to the Minister for Rural Affairs. Will the Minister outline to the House what is in the 2007-08 budget for country people?
The Hon. TONY KELLY: I am only too happy to expand on what the budget means for rural and regional people in New South Wales. Hearing Mr Stoner desperately trying to run down the budget on radio this morning reminded me of the words of the English statesman Benjamin Disraeli, who once said of a political opponent, "The honourable gentleman has the perennial misfortune to be constantly mistaken." Here we are, a century and a half and 20,000 kilometres from Disraeli, and The Nationals once again have it wrong. If ever there were a budget that would give the lie to The Nationals' claim that this is a city-centric Government, this is it. By any benchmark, rural and regional New South Wales is getting its fair share, and then some. We set out to embark on the largest capital works program that has ever been undertaken in this State. Some 46 per cent of the capital works funding in the budget will be spent outside Sydney, which means money into schools, hospitals and roads. The State will spend $50 billion over the next four years, an increase of some 56 per cent on the past four years.
Roads are very important for country communities, and in that regard I note that the Minister for Roads has made some comments. Some $2.6 billion of the Roads and Traffic Authority's capital and maintenance program has been committed to rural and regional roads, which is 72 per cent of the total Roads budget—something The Nationals should applaud not criticise. I recall two elections ago when the National Party, as it then was, demanded that the Labor Government commit 60 per cent of the Roads budget to expenditure on rural and regional roads. Well, this budget commits 72 per cent of the Roads budget to rural and regional roads, which is much more than was asked for. The Nationals should sing our praises, not try to run us down. The Pacific Highway, the Princes Highway, the Newell Highway, the Silver City Highway and the Hume Highway are all about to have major funding injections.
The Hon. Charlie Lynn: What about Eric's "Princess"?
The Hon. TONY KELLY: For the benefit of the Minister for Roads, I am very proud to say that I was educated at a private school. In fact, I never went to any school other than a private school. We are lifting the funding assistance for councils across the State to $146 million to help them with their regional roads, and there is plenty more. In Education, $4.5 billion has been allocated to rural and regional New South Wales—$83 million for initiatives in rural and regional public schools, $116 million for maintenance programs in rural and regional schools and TAFE colleges, nearly $82 million for literacy and numeracy in rural and regional areas, upgrades at Bega High School, Tweed River High School, Tumut Public School, Dubbo TAFE, and funding for trade schools at Queanbeyan and that lovely place which was mentioned earlier, the Nambucca Heads High School.
In Health, there is a record investment of $3.69 billion in rural and regional areas, which represents an increase of 6.5 per cent or $225 million on last year. It means more beds, more clinicians, more elective surgery and better health benefits for regional New South Wales. The Government will also continue the redevelopment of Bathurst, Orange, Gosford, Wyong and Queanbeyan hospitals. From one end of the State to the other, we will redevelop, upgrade or begin the planning of hospitals and health facilities at Batlow, Berrigan, Bombala, Junee, Merriwa, Tingha, Walcha, Warialda, Bingara, Dunedoo, Guyra, Tottenham, Tullamore, Narromine— In Health, there is a record investment of $3.69 billion in rural and regional areas, which represents an increase of 6.5 per cent or $225 million on last year. It means more beds, more clinicians, more elective surgery and better health benefits for regional New South Wales. The Government will also continue the redevelopment of Bathurst, Orange, Gosford, Wyong and Queanbeyan hospitals. From one end of the State to the other, we will redevelop, upgrade or begin the planning of hospitals and health facilities at Batlow, Berrigan, Bombala, Junee, Merriwa, Tingha, Walcha, Warialda, Bingara, Dunedoo, Guyra, Tottenham, Tullamore, Narromine—we've been everywhere, man! [ Time expired.]
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