Nationals Member for Myall Lakes, Stephen Bromhead, has welcomed the 2022-23 NSW Budget which is prioritising healthcare in the region.
The budget highlights for the Myall Lakes include:
• $20 million to begin work on the Forster-Tuncurry Hospital
• $100 million for Stage 2 of Manning Base Hospital
• $9.3 million for upgrades to MidCoast Council’s road network
• $1.2 million for electrical upgrades at Whitbread Industrial Estate
Mr Bromhead said that high quality health care facilities and safer roads are essential in ensuring the health and wellbeing of our community now and into the future.
“The Hunter New England Local Health District, in collaboration with Health Infrastructure, is currently working towards fulfilling the NSW Government’s commitment for the provision of a public hospital in the Forster-Tuncurry locality and today’s budget includes $20 million to begin work on the Forster-Tuncurry Hospital. This will ensure people living in and around the Great Lakes will have their health care needs met closer to home.” Mr Bromhead said.
“The NSW Nationals in government have a strong track record of delivering for the Myall Lakes community, including $100 million for Stage 2 of the Manning Base Hospital redevelopment to complement the $40 million upgrade already delivered by this government as part of Stage 1.”
Meanwhile, more than $9.3 million has been committed to help improve the state of the council-run roads in the Myall Lakes.
“Roads are another incredibly important element within our region, particularly considering poor conditions which were made worse by heavy rainfall earlier this year. The NSW Nationals in government have previously provided more than $100 million to MidCoast Council for road upgrades. Another $9.3 million within this 2022-23 budget will help to improve safety and ensure the Myall Lakes is an even better place to call home” Mr Bromhead said.
Other highlights from the 2022-23 NSW Budget include;
• Continuation of the Regional Seniors Travel Card which provides $250 towards fuel, taxi travel from regional providers, or NSW TrainLink pre-booked tickets for aged pensioners living in regional NSW
• More than $149 million to reduce costs for regional patients including an expansion of the Isolated Patients Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme (IPTASS)
• $33 billion investment in health and recruiting more than 10,000 full-time equivalent staff to hospitals, NSW Ambulance and health services across the State
• $16.5 billion over 10 years to break the barriers to opportunity for women and help give our children the best start in life including by investing in affordable and accessible childcare and creating a universal year of pre-kindergarten in the year before school
• More than $7.2 billion in cost-of-living measures, including the Premier’s Back to School program and new Energy Bill Bust
• $2.8 billion to help more families find a place to call home, including $728.6 million for tax reform to help people own their first home
• $1.2 billion to establish the Transmission Acceleration Facility, which will unlock massive investments in our electricity system and build our renewable energy zones—the power stations of the future
For more information, please go to: https://www.budget.nsw.gov.au/budget-papers/regional-nsw
