Further to talking points for LGAQ members sent last night, key points of interest to Queensland local government in the 2018-19 Federal Budget include the following:
- Continuation of key funding programs at current levels, including:
- Financial Assistance Grants (FA Grants) ($1.229 billion nationally for 2018-19, plus $1.2 billion brought forward to 2017-18). Queensland’s remaining allocation for 2018-19 will be $241.4 million
- Roads to Recovery Program ($364.5 million nationally, $85.8 million for Queensland)
- Bridges Renewal Program ($85 million nationally, $23.4 million for Queensland)
- Black Spots Program (roads) ($85 million nationally, $17.6 million for Queensland)
- Continuation of the Building Better Regions Fund with $200 million allocated for a third round
- A $3.5 billion Roads of Strategic Importance initiative, $1.5 billion of which are earmarked for Northern Australia – while welcome, it is unclear at this stage to what extent councils can access this funding to address first and last mile priorities
- A $1 billion Urban Congestion Fund – this will be in addition to funding to expand the M1 motorway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, upgrades to the Bruce Highway, and $390 million for the Sunshine Coast rail line duplication
- Skills and Training: an extra $50 million a year towards an already provisioned $250 million Skilling Australian Fund, which will fund apprentices and trainees for the future economy
- No new funding for remote indigenous housing except for the Northern Territory
- No new funding for mobile black spots
- A freeze to the ABC’s annual funding indexation for three years from July 2019, amounting to $84 million – this has the potential to impact on regional broadcasting