This year’s Queensland State Budget, delivered on Tuesday, will see an additional $200 million for public works and the return of vital funding for Indigenous communities.
Local councils have warmly welcomed a $200 million boost to funding for the highly successful Works for Queensland program to create more jobs across the State, part of a Budget that provides a total of $400 million in new investment for local governments.
The Local Government Association of Queensland said the continuation of the Works for Queensland program would create thousands of jobs across local communities and kick-start hundreds of infrastructure projects.
LGAQ chief executive Greg Hallam said the move was especially pleasing because it topped the list of Budget proposals the LGAQ submitted to Treasurer Curtis Pitt several weeks ago.
“That rights an historical wrong,’’ he said.
“All up, this is a Budget that is well-considered and well-targeted to helping those regional communities that need it most.’’
The 2017 State Budget also contained a raft of good news for Queensland’s indigenous communities, with one of the big-ticket items being the restoration of State Government Financial Aid (SGFA) to levels before program funding was lashed by the previous Newman government.
The Budget contained additional SGFA funding of $3.4 million in 2017-18, with the program gaining indexed funding in subsequent years.
The extra funding is expected to greatly assist indigenous local governments meet the cost of delivering key services to their communities.
It represents a win for the vigorous lobbying campaign waged by the LGAQ and indigenous councils since the cuts in 2012.
The Budget also provided $120 million over four years to upgrade vital water, wastewater and solid waste infrastructure in indigenous communities.
To see LGAQ’s full analysis of the 2017 Queensland State Budget go here.