2022
Incorporating
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
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COUNCIL BUDGET
Sport
A PORTRAIT OF MUM: The students at St Mary‘s Primary School celebrated Mother‘s Day with great gusto this year. In the week prior to the special day, the prep students painted a portrait of their mother, and the Year 6 students challenged their mums to a netball game that led to some fierce competition. Pictured are Rhys Letchford, Alana Zoric and Tyler Lovett with their paintings. Full story and photos on page 7. PHOTO: Jo McPhee
EAGLES’ NEW COACH
Federal budget bit of a mixed bag for Mansfield Member for Indi Dr Helen Haines says y more should be done for our regional g infrastructure THE Australian Federal Budget was released last week and promised support for all Australians who are struggling, however regional MPs have criticised it for its lack of support for the regions. Indi MP Dr Helen Haines, in her submission to the federal treasurer which was drafted in consultation with nine local governments in the electorate, requested a Commonwealth
BY SAMUEL O’BRIEN sobrien@ nemedia.com.au
contribution for the Mansfield Emergency Services Precinct and other key infrastructure among other proposals. However, funding in these areas was lacking, with the independent member criticising the lack of new money for
regional development. In particular, money for the Growing the Regions Fund (previously known as the Building Better Regions Fund) was not included in this budget. This fund allows for key infrastructure projects in the North East to receive federal funding and received money in October of 2022. “The Growing the Regions Fund is the main place we go for infrastructure
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“The guidelines [for the Growing the Regions Fund] have just been released and expressions of interest will open in July,” she said. “I’m encouraging all my local shires to start preparing to put these shovel-ready projects for funding. However the application process will not be complete until next year, meaning that all successful applications will not receive money until 2024.
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funding,” Dr Haines said. “We did not see an additional cent put into that in this budget. “I’m really disappointed in that.” Dr Haines explained that, since the Labor party took power last year, regional infrastructure funding was under review and new guidelines were written up, effectively halting this kind of investment by the federal government.
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“I’m really disappointed in that,” Dr Haines said. “This is a long time to wait to get investment rolling out in the regions on these major infrastructure projects.” Federally, the cornerstone of the budget was extensive investment in relieving costof-living pressures, raising income support payments as well as lowering energy and doctors’ bills. ■ Continued page 5
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