Federal Budget 2020-21

The 2020-21 Federal Budget continues to build a strong regional Australia and includes several measures that respond to the unique way regions have been impacted by the events of 2020. This Budget ensures regions which are seeing strong population growth have the services and jobs they need, that regions in transition are supported to adapt to new circumstances and build resilience, and investments for all communities to make sure they continue to be great places to work and live.

Funding will flow directly to support stronger, more resilient regions through some of the following initiatives:

Community and Business Recovery and Development

· An additional $200 million to extend the successful Building Better Regions Fund (BBRF) for a fifth-round, including:

o   $100 million available across regional Australia for community priorities

o   $100 million dedicated for tourism infrastructure in regions significantly affected by the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry (MIW region is a focus area)

· $100 million to fund Regional Recovery Partnerships, which will coordinate investments in ten identified priority regions (MIW is priority region) with other levels of government to support recovery and growth

· $50 million for Tourism Recovery Funding - MIW regional receives $3.5 million of this

· An additional $28.1 million to extend the Stronger Communities Program, which provides grants of between $2,500 and $20,000 across the country to community organisations and local governments for small capital projects that deliver social benefits for local communities

· $5.7 million in a new Building Stronger, Resilient Regional Leaders initiative – note RDA MIW has commenced development of a proposal

· $41 million for a research and development program to continue the government’s regional decentralisation agenda, by funding research and development activities that will benefit regional industries

· $5 million for the Regional Australia Institute’s research program and promotion of regional living

Connectivity

· An additional $30.3 million for the Regional Connectivity Program to support telecommunications projects developed by local communities and providers to benefit regions. This will boost overall funding to $83 million, to support faster internet speeds outside the National Broadband Network fixed-line footprint.

· $4.5 billion for NBN Co to bring ultra-fast broadband to millions of families and businesses

· $37.1 million Strengthening Telecommunications Against Natural Disasters Package to prevent, mitigate and manage telecommunications outages during emergencies

Agriculture

· The Australian Government is providing $328.4 million over four years from 2020-21 to reform export systems and regulation and contribute to the goal of $100 billion in farmgate production by 2030. The suite of reforms is aimed at accelerating trade growth as agriculture recovers from drought, bushfires and COVID-19.

· $222.2 million for Digital Services to Take Farmers to Markets, which will modernise Australia’s agricultural export system

· $14.3 million for improving regulation, including targeted interventions for seafood and live animal exporters

· $10.9 million for Building a More Competitive Export Meat Industry to reform the export meat regulatory system

· $10 million for Harmonised and Streamlined Plant Export Regulation to simplify processes to support plant production export

· An additional $2 billion in loan funding to the Regional Investment Corporation in July 2020 for the 2020-21 financial year to double the farm and small business loan funds

· $16.3 million over two years from 2020-21 to create temporary incentives in the income support system to encourage recent school leavers to undertake seasonal horticultural work and help address the expected critical workforce shortages across the industry for the upcoming harvest season

Water

The government is building on its existing investment in water infrastructure projects with an additional $2 billion in funding for new projects through the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund. This more than doubles the funding to a total of $3.5 billion and will deliver increased water security, build resilience in our regions, deliver jobs and grow the countries critical agriculture sectors

Aviation

Following the sudden and drastic capacity cuts by airlines in the initial response to COVID-19, the Australian Government moved quickly to re-establish minimum levels of aviation connectivity.

· $165 million Domestic Aviation Network Support Program

· $198 million over two years from 2019-20 for the Regional Airline Network Support Program

· $100 million Regional Airlines Funding Assistance Program

· $66 million in 2020-21 for the Regional Airports Screening Infrastructure Program

Transport

· The government’s $110 billion transport infrastructure program will support local jobs and businesses at the time it is needed most. These investments will deliver the government’s economic plan for a stronger, more resilient Australia, meeting the national freight challenge and getting Australians home sooner and safer.

· $1.5 billion local roads and Community Infrastructure Program – as at 2 October, $495 million had already been allocated

·$20 million Bruce Highway Upgrade Strategy - Australian Government has committed $10 billion over 15 years toward Bruce Highway Upgrade Program

· $2 billion towards road safety initiatives, continuing efforts to reduce road trauma in Australia. This investment will deliver an estimated 3,000 kilometres of lifesaving road improvements and support around 9,000 jobs across the country. This additional investment builds on the $500 million we are already delivering for targeted road safety works.

·  An additional $1 billion over two years for local governments for the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, which builds on the initial $500 million announced in May 2020

Education, Training and Skills Development

Funding to support increased higher education access and attainment for regional Australians, and to support higher education providers in regional Australia grow their local economies including:

· $21 million over four years from 2020-21 (and $79.4 million over 10 years to 2030-31) to strengthen the Regional University Centres program by establishing a central support network, evaluation program and additional centres throughout regional Australia

· $48.8 million over four years from 2020-21 (and $195.4 million by 2030-31) to establish new partnerships between regional universities and other higher education providers or local industry to undertake innovation research projects

· The $1.2 billion Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy is a 50 per cent wage subsidy to all businesses who take on new apprentices from 5 October 2020 and will support 100,000 new apprentices and is available until 30 September 2021

· $2.8 billion Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy to help businesses keep apprentices and trainees employed

· $62.8 million to 30 June 2022 for the Local Jobs Program, which will be rolled out in 25 regions across Australia, including regional areas - currently trying to get Whitsundays region included with Townsville

· $30 million over three years from 2020-21 to the new School of Mines and Manufacturing at Central Queensland University with construction expected to create more than 300 jobs in the Gladstone and Rockhampton regions - linkages to MIW region possible via CQU

Health

· $50.3 million over four years from 2020-21 on the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program to build the rural training pipeline for allied health students and graduates to deliver health, aged care and disability services in rural communities

· $125 million from 2020-21 to 2024-25 for the Rural, Regional and Remote Clinical Trial Enabling Infrastructure Program to improve the health of Australians in rural, remote and regional areas through access to innovative clinical trials

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is critical to a modern Australian economy and to economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. It has an important role in many supply chains and adds significant value to all sectors. New initiatives in the 2020-21 budget include:

· $1.3 billion over four years from 2020-21 to establish the Modern Manufacturing Initiative

· $107.2 million over four years from 2020-21 for the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative

· $52.8 million over three years from 2020-21 for the expansion of the Manufacturing Modernisation Fund

· $200 million for Implementing Australia’s Fuel Storage Program which will be a competitive grant program to help industry to transition holding higher diesel stock levels – linkage to fuel storage infrastructure in Mackay

· $74.5 million for the Future Fuels Package with one of the measures enabling businesses to integrate new vehicle technologies using electricity, hydrogen or biofuels into their fleets

· $70.2 million over five years from 2020-21 for a grants program to boost Australia’s hydrogen industry through creation of a regional hydrogen export hub

· $50 million for the Carbon Capture, Use and Storage (CCUS) Development Fund. Deployment of CCUS has the potential to create not only jobs for regional Australian but also support innovative business opportunities in regional areas.

· $53.6 million over six years from 2020-21 to extend the Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund to support pilot studies for microgrids in regional and remote areas