2008-09 State budget: taking action for our suburbs and our regions

Babies and young families, business, growth suburbs and Victoria’s regions are the big winners in the 2008-09 State Budget, the Treasurer, John Lenders, said today.

Mr Lenders said the 2008-09 State Budget delivered on the Brumby Labor Government’s priorities of:

• Delivering key services in health and education to meet the demands of Victoria’s baby and population boom in growth suburbs and regions;
• Taking the pressure off working families across the State;
• Increasing Victoria’s business competitiveness;
• Taking action on preventative health;
• Investing to increase the capacity of Victoria’s transport networks;
• Positioning Victoria to seize on the climate of opportunities in a new climate change economy; and
• Deliver better services to our farmers.

“Victoria’s population is booming, with 73,737 births recorded last year – the highest since 1971,” Mr Lenders said.

“Our Government’s eight years of investment in liveability – in key services and infrastructure – have made Victoria a great place to live, work and raise a family.

“People are voting with their feet. Our population boom is creating new opportunities and new challenges.

“The 2008-09 State Budget is an action plan to maximise the opportunities and address the challenges of a growing population, while building on our investments in services and infrastructure for Victorian families.”

Key initiatives in the 2008-09 State Budget are:

• $179.2 million boost to maternity and child services, including 14 new maternity beds and 18 additional special care nursery cots at suburban hospitals; and improved early years care and education;
• $1.43 billion in tax cuts and reduced business costs, including cuts to stamp duty, land tax, payroll tax and WorkCover premiums – and $94 million to improve workforce skills;
• new assistance to first home buyers representing a 17 per cent saving – $2460 – on a median first home, including stamp duty cuts and new eligibility for stamp duty and first home buyers assistance;
• a record $1.8 billion investment in transport, delivering extra morning peak train services, station upgrades, significant road projects and new transport services in the regions;
• $815.6 million boost to education including funds to rebuild, renovate or extend 128 schools and an education reform program to lift standards for students;
• $702.9 million for hospitals to treat an extra 16,000 elective surgery patients, an extra 33,500 outpatient appointments and an extra 60,000 patients in emergency departments;
• $233.3 million for preventative health measures and cancer prevention and treatment;
• The $37.2 million Alcohol Action Plan to create safer streets and address excessive alcohol consumption;
• A $185.7 million boost to ambulance services, delivering two new rescue helicopters, station upgrades and extra services;
• $294.6 million for climate change initiatives to drive renewable energy and clean coal projects;
• $657 million for community protection, including new bomb robots for Victoria Police and a new prison facility at Ararat;
• $99.1 million to improve liveability in the suburbs and regions, including $51.9 million for the Transit Cities plan to improve the liveability of Broadmeadows, Dandenong and Geelong;
• A Fairer Victoria initiatives totalling more than $1 billion to address disadvantage; and
• $204.6 million to deliver better services for Victorian farmers.

Baby Boom Budget

Capacity for more than 2800 extra births every year will be delivered by the Brumby Labor Government’s 2008-09 State Budget $179.2 million boost to maternity and child health services.

Mr Lenders said the Brumby Labor Government was taking action to deliver better maternity and child health services to Victorian families, with the State experiencing a remarkable baby boom.

“This is a baby boom Budget,” Mr Lenders said. “Victoria’s population is booming, with 73,737 births recorded last year – the highest number of births since 1971.

“The Brumby Labor Government is taking action to help young Victorian families get the best possible start in life. Our State is growing – and in this baby boom Budget, we are growing our maternity services with it.”

The centrepiece of the Brumby Labor Government’s baby boom Budget is 14 new maternity beds and 18 extra nursery cots in Melbourne’s growth suburbs – Werribee, Frankston, Berwick and Epping – to help young families have their babies closer to home, family and friends.

Mr Lenders said the Brumby Labor Government was also delivering key initiatives to help young families with their newborns, including $42.7 million over three years to ensure all babies and young children receive check-ups and health support at key developmental stages up to the age of five.

“Our Government is also taking action to boost early childhood development with a $49.9million package to improve family day care, outside-school-hours care and kindergartens,” he said.

The funding includes $10.5 million over five years to deliver Transition Statements, enabling parents and schools to track children’s development and interests, as well as noting learning difficulties, disabilities or developmental delays to help plan individual support programs.

$1.43 billion in tax and WorkCover cuts

Mr Lenders said the $1.43 billion cut to taxes and business costs would also help Victoria’s families by making it easier to purchase a home and generate jobs growth across the State.

The tax cuts include a $422 million stamp duty cut, a $490 million land tax cut and a $170million payroll tax cut. WorkCover premiums have also been cut by $352 million.

“This is the biggest tax cut this decade and will help Victorian families own their own home and create new jobs in businesses across the State,” Mr Lenders said.

Help for First Home Buyers

Under changes to stamp duty and First Home Bonus criteria, first home buyers will now be able to claim the First Home Bonus and the lower rates of stamp duty.

For first home buyers this means an additional saving of $2460 on a median price first home.

For the first time in Victoria, the Brumby Labor Government will offer a $3000 incentive – above and beyond existing first home buyer assistance – for new homes in regional Victoria.

This brings the total assistance up to $15,000 for new home purchases in regional Victoria.

“The Brumby Labor Government is committed to growing Victoria’s regions and this grant will encourage many young families to buy a new home in regional Victoria,” Mr Lenders said

“Our Government’s investment in regional Victoria over the past eight years has made our great provincial cities and rural towns more attractive for young families. This new $3000 bonus will mean more young families will choose to live in regional and rural Victoria.”

Record investment in transport

To meet the needs of a growing population, the Brumby Labor Government will invest $1.8billion into the State’s transport network, including key public transport, road and freight projects.

“The Brumby Labor Government’s $794.1 million investment in public transport will give 5000 more people access to peak morning train services,” Mr Lenders said.

“Public transport patronage is up 20 per cent over the past two years and our Government is bringing forward investment in the public transport network – with this Budget delivering more than $429 million in projects above and beyond the $10.5 billion Meeting Our Transport Challenges 10 year plan.”

Mr Lenders said key road projects under the Brumby Labor Government’s $769.7 million roads package included $224 million to upgrade rural and regional roads, $85.3 million for outer metropolitan arterial road improvements and $46.6 million for road based congestion measures.

“Through our $769.7 million roads package, our Government is taking action to relieve congestion on our roads and to improve road safety,” Mr Lenders said.

The Budget also will invest $239.8 million into freight and port access projects across the state.

Lifting school standards

The centrepiece of the Brumby Labor Government’s $815.6 million State Budget boost for schools, kindergartens and childcare is a $71.4 million reform package to provide more targeted support to schools to help lift the performance of students and provide incentives for a high-achieving teacher workforce.

This investment is being coupled with $592.3 million to rebuild, renovate or extend 128 schools for the second tranche of the Victorian Schools Plan.

“Education is the Brumby Labor Government’s number-one priority, and our Government is taking action so all children get the best start in life no matter where they live,” Mr Lenders said.

Driving new technology and research to tackle cancer

The Brumby Labor Government’s new $150 million Cancer Action Plan, which will fast-track life-saving cancer treatment, aims to increase cancer survival rates for Victorians by a further 10 per cent by 2015.

Under the plan, the Brumby Labor Government will also provide $78.8 million for the Victorian Cancer Agency to link various cancer research projects in Victoria and to fast-track how that research can be turned around to deliver new life-saving treatment.
On top of the $150 million Cancer Action Plan, our Government is also delivering $25 million to the development of the Olivia Newton John Cancer Centre to bring together all facets of cancer care, research and training at the Austin Hospital.

“In addition to chemotherapy, radiotherapy and specialist outpatient services, the Centre will house the southern hemisphere’s first cancer Wellness Centre to cater for the psychological, spiritual and emotional needs of patients with cancer,” Mr Lenders said.

The Brumby Labor Government will also increase rates of cancer screening, important in detecting cancers early and increasing survivability rates.

Disciplined Economic Management

Mr Lenders said the Government’s record of disciplined economic management since 1999 made the initiatives in this year’s Budget possible.

Victoria is on track to record an operating surplus of $828 million for 2008-09 – and an average of $907 million over the next three years.

He said the Government had set a new surplus buffer of at least one per cent of revenue, instead of $100 million per year, to ensure the Government could invest in the infrastructure our growing State needs.

“The Brumby Labor Government is delivering a long term economic plan for the future of all Victorians,” Mr Lenders said.

“Today’s surplus is tomorrow’s infrastructure.

“By building infrastructure through our surplus we can continue to have historically low levels of debt and maintain our AAA credit rating.”

Mr Lenders said Victoria’s economy would continue to grow at 3.25 per cent in 2007-08 and three per cent in the following three years despite external challenges including:

• higher interest rates and inflationary pressures;
• international economic uncertainty stemming from the US sub-prime crisis including stock market volatility;
• the global challenge of climate change;
• a rising Australian dollar; and
• the challenge of providing services and infrastructure for the state’s growing population.

Net debt remains at low levels. It was 3.0 per cent in 1999 and will be 2.9 per cent in 2012, ensuring Victoria’s AAA credit rating would continue for years to come.