Nelson Bay Road, John Hunter Hospital and the new Hillsborough basketball stadium have won funding commitments from the NSW government, but other key Hunter infrastructure projects again missed out on significant cash injections in Tuesday's budget.
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The government confirmed it would spend $93 billion over the next four years on infrastructure in NSW, announced a projected surplus of $802 million for 2018-19 and forecast average surpluses of $1.7 billion over the next four years.
Newcastle Basketball was allocated $13.4 million in 2019-20 to start work on its new indoor sports stadium off Hillsborough Road.
The government also released $37.3 million in the next financial year to start meeting its $275 million election commitment to duplicate Nelson Bay Road from Williamtown to Bobs Farm, a project which rated a mention in Treasurer Dominic Perrottet's budget speech to Parliament.
The budget also included $3.5 million to start planning the $780 million John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct, a redevelopment slated for completion in 2026.
John Hunter Children's Hospital will receive $2.8 million to start work on stages two and three of its neonatal intensive care unit.
The budget papers list the controversial Fingal Bay link road as a pre-election promise, but the project did not receive funding this financial year.
Mr Perrottet told a media conference in Sydney on Tuesday morning that the government was "absolutely committed" to its election promises and funding would flow to some of these projects in subsequent years.
Also lacking a significant funding commitment was the long-awaited Lower Hunter freight rail bypass from Fassifern to Hexham.
The past three budgets have allocated more than $10 million each year for the freight corridor, but only $2 million of that has been spent. Tuesday's budget set aside $19 million in 2019-20 for bypass "planning and preservation".
The government's spending pledges for 2019-20 did not include money to examine Newcastle light rail extensions or the proposed Broadmeadow sports and entertainment precinct.
Four more significant Hunter road projects received planning money.
The $266 million Muswellbrook bypass, a campaign promise, received $4 million; the M1 Pacific Motorway extension to Raymond Terrace received $5.99 million, adding to the $33 million already spent on planning; and Singleton bypass was allocated $2.7 million.
The Newcastle inner-city bypass from Rankin Park to Jesmond received $8.5 million in planning and "preconstruction" funding.
The Glendale transport interchange, a project the government has criticised as lacking a credible business case, was overlooked for funding, and there was no money for the proposed Newcastle Education Precinct.
The government announced before the election that it would plan significant upgrades for two Raymond Terrace high schools, Hunter River and Irrawang, but neither project received funding on Tuesday.
The budget contained no funding for Newcastle Airport's proposed terminal and runway expansion, but it allocated $20 million from the Snowy Hydro Legacy Fund to investigate business-friendly "special activation precincts" at Williamtown, Parkes and Wagga Wagga and establish a Regional Growth Development Corporation.
The government said on Tuesday that it would aim to "take the pressure off family budgets" by capping weekly Opal card fares at $50, offering interest-only loans for roof-top solar panels and funding a second $100 Active Kids voucher per child every year.
It appears to have reclassified the Hunter and Illawarra as "regions" again after including them in a budget brochure outlining regional spending commitments.
Both were regarded as metropolitan areas last year and were missing from the regional summary.