Honouring our commitments to regional Australia

The Albanese Government wants Australia’s regions to thrive and the Budget delivers investment in regional Australia that helps build a better future.

This Budget honours our election commitments and ensures our policies and expenditure are focused on productive investments in regional communities, delivered transparently and fairly.

TRANSPARENT, ACCOUNTABLE AND FAIRER INVESTMENT IN OUR REGIONS AND CITIES

The Albanese Government is committing $1 billion over three years to two new regional programs.

The Government is redesigning regional investments, including grant programs, to ensure projects that represent good value receive funding.

We want to ensure all applicants can have confidence in the process, following a decade of waste and rorts under the former Government.

Our regions deserve a Government that is committed to working with them to harness their opportunities.

The Growing Regions Program will deliver on the Government’s strategic priorities for regional Australia through an open, competitive grants process.

The regional Precincts and Partnerships Program will provide a strategic, nationally consistent mechanism for funding and coordinating projects that support the transformation of important locations across communities in regions, regional cities and rural Australia.

The Government will consult on the guidelines to ensure transparency, consistency of process, as well as a fairer distribution of funds.

The Government will also deliver election commitments in regional and rural communities through the Investing in Our Communities Program and Priority Community Infrastructure Program.

This Budget has also made provision for uncontracted Community Development Grants announced by the former Government, which can be contracted within six months. CDG recipients identified in the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2022 will also be offered the opportunity to proceed if they can be delivered in accordance with the Government’s new guidelines.

The Government is also delivering on its election commitments to the Cairns region by committing $150 million to expand the Cairns Marine Precinct, and $50 million to construct a new Central Queensland University campus in the Cairns CBD.

The Government is not proceeding with the Building Better Regions Fund Round 6.

City and Regional Deals

The Australian Government will honour existing City and Regional Deal commitments, including a contribution valued at $668 million for projects across South East Queensland. The Government will also provide $80 million to support projects in the Albury Wodonga region.

REGIONAL RESILIENCE AND OPPORTUNITY

Regional Australia plays an important part in Australia’s economy. Investing in a stronger, more resilient economy means investing in opportunities for business, skills, jobs and infrastructure that can deal with changing needs.

The Government is committing $672.7 million over seven years from 2022-23 and $1.9 billion in equity to implement a number of major enabling public infrastructure projects to harness competitive advantages while providing diverse and improved employment opportunities across the country.

The investment includes:

$1.5 billion in planned equity to build marine infrastructure at the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct near Darwin.
$440 million in planned equity to build new regional logistic hubs in Katherine, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek in Central Australia.
$565 million to invest in enabling infrastructure in the Pilbara to support emerging green industries and technologies.
$7.7 million to develop common-user infrastructure at the Port of Bundaberg in Queensland.
$100 million to support the Port of Newcastle and the Hunter region to become hydrogen-ready.

In addition, the Government is also investing $32 million to support collaborative planning with the Queensland Government for future water infrastructure in Queensland.

The Government is also providing $5 million for the Regional Australia Institute to bolster the Institute’s research and policy capacity in key regional priority areas, to extend activation and local impact initiatives that support regional areas, and to build new education programs.

LOCAL PROJECTS

The Budget also funds a number of commitments for community infrastructure in regional Australia.

In NSW, these projects include $10.5 million for the Muswellbrook Town Centre, and $9 million new sport and community facilities in West Dapto.

In Victoria, there are projects such as $15 million for the Macedon Ranges Regional Sports Precinct Stage 2 and $4.9 million for the Yarra Valley Trail Stage 2A.

The projects for Queensland include $22 million to deliver the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct in Townsville and $15 million to deliver a new aquatic centre at Boyne Tannum.

For South Australia there are projects including $10 million towards the next stage of City of Holdfast Bay's Jetty Road Masterplan and $6 million for City of Marion upgrades.

Included in the Tasmanian projects are $25 million to deliver a long-awaited upgrade of sporting facilities in Devonport and $12.5 million contribution to help a new tourism project in the State’s far north west.

For the ACT, included is a $20.75 million for a package of infrastructure investments including: $5 million for active travel projects, $10 million towards the new CIT campus in Woden, $5 million to upgrade Gorman House, and $750,000 for a business case to upgrade the University of Canberra's sporting facilities.

The Northern Territory projects include $80 million for the National Aboriginal Art Gallery in Alice Springs as part of the Central Australia Plan and $10 million to upgrade the existing Katherine pool to construct a new water park and water play area

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The Albanese Government is committed to investing in partnership with regional communities. We want our investments to be of value to people and the taxpayer, and to improve the liveability of the regions.

Responsible and deliverable programs and projects will help the regions grow

economies, build skills and opportunity, and improve connections between and within regions.

The Albanese Labor Government is committed to regional Australia. No one will be held back, no one left behind.