There have been some big wins for regional NSW in the state Budget handed down today.
A $1.3 billion regional fund to turbocharge the regions leads a large infrastructure spend on roads, water, schools and hospitals. Read more about that here.
Regional NSW will get some of the 27 new schools promised in a $2.2 billion schools budget, while regional hospitals will also win.
There will be a $534 million new hospital at Tweed Heads, $43 million for Dubbo hospital, $8m for a new hospital at Mudgee, an extra $30m for the redevelpoment of Armidale and Inverell hospitals and $23m extra for Macksville hospital and $10m for redevelopment of Goulburn hospital.
A big winner for farmers is the announcement that farm insurance bills will be slashed next year under a new wave of tax cuts.
From January 1, 2018, duties on crop and livestock insurance will be abolished which will save farmers $12 million over the next four years. Read more about it here.
Regional towns in NSW have also cleaned up.
A record $1.3 billion of funding has been allocated to regional areas, with schools and hospitals sweeping the lion’s share of cash. Read more about it here.
When it comes to roads, there have also been some wins for regional NSW.
A bypass for Scone and the continued upgrade of the Pacific Highway feature in the road spend, including $500m promised to fix country roads. Read more here.
What the #Twitterverse had to say about the Budget:
Kim Chappell
As Senior Producer - Digital for ACM's regional titles I assist newsrooms in digital best practice. Before this role, I was the digital journalist with ACM's national team and prior to that, the digital specialist with ACM's Agricultural division. I started as a general rounds journalist with The Land in 2006, moving up to hold the title of chief of staff before switching to digital reporting in 2015.
As Senior Producer - Digital for ACM's regional titles I assist newsrooms in digital best practice. Before this role, I was the digital journalist with ACM's national team and prior to that, the digital specialist with ACM's Agricultural division. I started as a general rounds journalist with The Land in 2006, moving up to hold the title of chief of staff before switching to digital reporting in 2015.
