Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the nationals Barnaby Joyce has said Tuesday’s budget announcement was an investment in regional Australia.
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In a joint statement with his Nationals’ deputy Fiona Nash, the member for New England said the government’s investment in infrastructure and regional communication would drive economic growth and secure jobs.
Mr Joyce took to Twitter after the Budget speech:
$75 billion in infrastructure funding and financing from 2017-18 to 2026-27 for critical airport, road, and rail infrastructure projects.
In one of the biggest investments ever seen in regional Australia, the Government will fund the Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail project with an additional $8.4 billion.
The project will benefit the Moree and Narrabri districts.
A $472 million Regional Growth Fund will be established to deliver critical infrastructure to ensure regional areas do not miss out on Australia’s growth story, the National Party says.
The Roads to Recovery Program has been secured with $4.4 billion from 2013-14 to 2020-21 committed to the construction, repair and upgrade of local roads.
The Coalition Government will also continue to fund the Black Spot Program with $685 million committed from 2013-14 to 2020-21 to deliver improvements such as safety barriers and street lighting to sections of dangerous road that have a crash history.
Also announced was a $4 billion Regional Investment Corporation, a national body to streamline and speed up the approval of farm concessional loans and administer the National Water Infrastructure Loan Facility.
The $500 million National Water Infrastructure Development Fund and the $2 billion National Water Infrastructure Loan Facility are in place to incentivise state and territory governments to fast track priority projects that will support the growth of our agricultural industries and regional communities.
Under the Regional Growth Fund, $200 million in additional funding will increase the Government’s commitment to the Building Better Regions Fund to almost $500 million, supporting more projects across rural, regional and remote Australia.
A $9 million investment will see rural and remote Australians for the first time be able to access psychology services covered by Medicare through teleconferencing.
The Government has also resumed the indexation of Financial Assistance Grants to councils, which results in an extra $836.5 million provided over the forward estimates.