May 9, 2018
by Dafyd Martindale
Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison’s 2018-19 Budget, brought down on Tuesday night, includes 10 sweeteners for rural and regional Australia.
These include measures to improve health – including funding for the University of Queensland Clinical School in Kingaroy – and more aged care places and packages.
There is also funding for “strategic” freight roads, although it is unknown if any of these dollars will flow through to the South Burnett.
The Budget also confirmed the previously announced $11.2 million to upgrade the intersection of the Wide Bay and Bruce Highways near Bells Bridge.
Benefits For Rural Australia
- Funding for the University of Queensland’s Rural Clinical Schools in Kingaroy, Hervey Bay and Bundaberg to attract more health students to build their careers outside metropolitan centres
- $3.5 billion for Roads of Strategic Importance to target upgrades to key regional roads and freight routes
- A $2.4 billion commitment to upgrade public technology infrastructure including better satellite imagery, more accurate GPS and upgrading the Bureau of Meteorology’s technology platform
- $146 million to improve access to aged care services in rural, regional and remote Australia
- A Health and Multidisciplinary Training Program which aims to attract would-be medical professionals to rural and remote areas via more specific rural training for students; the development of training strategies to deliver strong workforce outcomes in regional, rural and remote areas; and extra support for medical professionals providing specific services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
- A $28.2 million allocation over four years to expand higher education places for sub-bachelor students from remote and regional areas
- Improved access to the Youth Allowance through changes in family income thresholds for regional students
- Additional funding to protect against pests, disease and weeds, and funding new technology to better detect biosecurity risks
- A promise that the Federal Government will increase its efforts to negotiate away technical trade barriers to agricultural exports in more countries
- An extra $200 million for a third round of the Building Better Regions Fund
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