PAT Conroy says he will be “very surprised” if Tuesday’s federal budget contains any major funding announcements for the Hunter, as Labor sought to heap pressure on the government on the eve of the budget over a mooted tax break for incomes above $80,000.
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Pre-budget hype has surrounded tax concessions for higher wage earners as well as the $1.2 billion investment in schools, but in the Hunter its the mainstays of the region’s infrastructure wishlist like the Raymond Terrace bypass and the Glendale Interchange that groups like the NRMA are pushing to have funded.
The first section of the Interchange is partially complete, but the second, which involves the construction of the Pennant Street Bridge to connect Glendale and Cardiff, is still largely unfunded.
Lake Macquarie Council has pledged $6 million to continue the interchange, leaving $26 million to be made up in state and federal funds.
But the federal government has twice rejected the council’s applications for further funding, and there’s seemingly little expectations among Hunter MPs that the government will provide funding on major infrastructure projects.
“The Glendale Interchange should be funded, and I will continue to campaign for it to be funded, but I’m not expecting it to be given this government’s attitude toward the project,” Mr Conroy said on Monday.
With two months until the election, Mr Conroy said the lead up to the budget had been “very curious”.
“Usually with a pre-election budget you’d be expecting them to spread the goodies around, but they’ve sort of floated a few thought bubbles without much substance,” he said.
Among the certainties heading into the budget are a planned corporate tax cut, a tax break for people earning more than $80,000, and $1.2 billion in extra funding to schools across the final two years of the Gonski plan – 2018 and 2019 – and a third year, 2020, as part of its new $73.6 billion “student achievement plan”.
Tuesday's budget is also expected to crack down on multinational tax avoidance and close superannuation tax concession loopholes.
Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon has a list of issues she wants the government to commit to, including more emphasis on regional cities.
She called for funding to progress high-speed rail planning, which would “turbo-boost our regional economy, as well as “sustainable investment into affordable housing, an area of increasing need in Newcastle”.
She said the Government’s ‘Smart Cities’ plan announced last week “ignores the needs of regional cities” like Newcastle.