THE Victorian Government must prioritise regional projects in the upcoming State Budget, says Member for Northern Victoria Gaelle Broad.
The Nationals MP said regional Victoria’s population was growing rapidly, and significant investment was urgently needed in roads, hospitals, schools and rail.
She told State Parliament last week that in the last budget, regional Victoria only received 13 per cent of new infrastructure spending, but nearly 25 per cent of Victorians called it home.
“Victoria’s Big Build is pouring billions into Melbourne projects, while regional Victoria is left waiting – waiting for basic infrastructure,” she said.
“In Cohuna, the community have asked for a new child care centre for the last eight years.
“They need it to help the town grow.
“The Murray Basin Freight Rail Project was due to finish in 2018, and we are still waiting for it to be completed.”
Ms Broad said last year’s floods put further pressure on basic infrastructure needs, and funds were desperately needed to help local communities recover.
“Our roads are falling apart after years of neglect, and last year’s floods made them even worse,” she said.
“In NSW, the government allocated $500 million to help local councils repair roads, but our local councils are still waiting.
“Regional Victorians are tired of waiting and deserve a fair share of State Government funding.
“I ask the Treasurer to listen to local communities and prioritise this regional infrastructure in the next state budget.”
Premier Daniel Andrews on Thursday said the 2023/24 budget would look “very different” to previous years after the government was forced to “borrow money to get through” the coronavirus pandemic.
“Let’s be very clear about this – the budget is not the budget that was delivered five years ago – we will deliver all of our election commitments, every single one of them, because that’s what we do, but we had a COVID emergency and we had to go and borrow money to get through,” he told reporters.
“That money now has to be paid back and I’m not going to have a situation where we simply ignore the reality that interest rates have gone up – they’ve gone up for ordinary, hardworking Victorians across the state and they’ve gone up for the government too – and we will cut our costs accordingly.”
