It is budget day in NSW and in the Hunter we will be listening intently to see if Treasurer Dominic Perrottet commits funding for the delivery of regionally significant infrastructure projects promised during this year's state election campaign.
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Substantial commitments were made during the campaign and the chamber, and community, hopes money will be allocated to advance the planning, design and construction of these projects.
The commitments made include: $780 million for the John Hunter Hospital redevelopment; $266 million to fully fund the Muswellbrook bypass; $205 million on top of a previously committed $70 million to duplicate Nelson Bay Road from Williamtown to Bobs Farm; $188 million for the Fingal Bay Link Road; $25 million indoor sports stadium at Hillsborough; and, $7 million for a Nelson Bay TAFE campus.
Following the government's $11 million commitment to Astra Aerolab, further funding for the Newcastle Airport runway upgrade would also be advantageous for our region, to ensure the growth of that asset as a true global gateway for trade and tourism.
With Defence set to make a significant investment in runway maintenance in 2020, the airport has a unique opportunity to 'value-add' to that process by simultaneously upgrading the runway, to allow the airport to take longer-range, greater-capacity aircraft.
An announcement on the anticipated declaration of Williamtown as the state's third Special Activation Precinct would also be welcome.
With the NSW Business Chamber, we have advocated for the creation of an independent Infrastructure Coordination Authority to improve the delivery of state significant projects, along with a new Government Procurement Framework that provides a stronger focus on opportunities for SMEs and a commitment to invest 30 per cent of the proceeds of asset recycling into regional NSW.
Beyond infrastructure, the chamber is looking for measures from the Budget that will boost business confidence and create economic opportunity by encouraging businesses to invest, grow and employ.
One of these is payroll tax, which continues to be a barrier to job creation for SMEs. The government committed during its last term to increasing the payroll tax threshold from $750,000 to $1 million by 2021. With business confidence dwindling, we are asking for that rollout to be accelerated for regional businesses to help create jobs.
We would like to see the government extend and simplify access to the Jobs Action Plan rebate, which provides businesses that pay payroll tax with rebates for hiring new staff.
