SA Budget 2009-2010

On Thursday 4 June, South Australian Treasurer Kevin Foley introduced the state’s 2009-10 Budget.

Below is a summary of some of the major announcements contained in the 2009-10 Budget.  For more information, please feel free to contact your Hawker Britton consultant.

Overview

Importantly, in the Budget’s wake Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s reconfirmed South Australia’s Triple-A credit rating.

A key Budget aim is supporting 14000 jobs with significant investments in capital works – South Australian public transport, water security, roads, schools and hospitals are all earmarked for funding increases.

Among the Budget’s highlights are:

  • $11.4 billion investment in key infrastructure in health, education, community safety, water security, sustainability, housing and transport across the next four years including $3.9 billion in 2009-10 alone;
  • Record spending on health – pushing through $4 billion for the first time in 2009-10;
  • Record spending on Government schools – $2.3 billion in Education and Children’s Services in 2009-10, or over $5,000 per child more than in 2001-02;
  • More than $155 million over four years for nearly 56,000 training places to address skills shortages and improve training for job seekers and encouraging people in the workforce to further their education;
  • Over $100 million in a new Government Radio Network to provide our emergency services with the latest communications to better protect our communities; and
  • More than $23 million over four years for additional support to disability services; and

$20 million for a Renewable Energy Fund to support the research, development and commercialisation of renewable energy technologies.

Capital works

Major capital works projects announced in the Budget include:

  • The 100 GL Adelaide desalination plant to secure the city’s water supply to support 2,000 construction and supply chain FTE jobs in 2009-10
  • $606 million for major hospital redevelopments supporting 760 construction and supply chain FTE jobs in both 2009-10 and 2010-11;
  • $683 million to transform South Road into a continuous non-stop route from the Southern Expressway to the Port River Expressway supporting 1,150 construction and supply chain FTE jobs in 2010-11; and
  • $267 million to continue work on the Northern Expressway to link the Gawler Bypass with Port Wakefield Road supporting a peak of 1,600 construction and supply chain FTE jobs in 2009-10.

Metropolitan Rail Network

The South Australian Government will spend $1.5billion over the next four years upgrading the metropolitan rail network.  This includes $585 million from the Federal Government to expand rail infrastructure and services to Seaford and to accelerate the upgrade of the Gawler line.

Significantly, South Australia is spending up to $84million on other new projects, including the purchase of new electric cars for the Seaford line.

Other issues relevant to public transport infrastructure in South Australia include:

  • A calling of tenders for re-sleepering the Marion to Brighton section of the Noarlunga line and the North Adelaide to Dry Creek section of the Gawler line;
  •  Federal funding to commence detailed preconstruction works, including geotechnical works and bridge design for the Seaford extension in June 2009.
  • An $8 million upgrade of Hallett Cove and Hallett Cove Beach stations with work scheduled for completion by the end of the year;
  • A $118 million dollar contract to provide 160 new Scania buses that will modernise and expand the Adelaide metro fleet;
  • And begun a tender process for a new state of the art ticketing system.

Health

The Budget also contained an increase in new health spending, with highlights including:

  • $114 million over four years for increased levels of health services, enabling care for an additional 10,000 people in their homes and admit a total of over 373,000 patients to public hospitals in 2009/10.
  • $17.7 million for new hi-tech hospital equipment;
  • $60.9 million to improve treatment in emergency departments and establishing Acute Medical Units at hospitals;
  •  $53.9 million towards improving indigenous health;
  •  $51 million over four years to fund 160 additional full-time nursing and midwifery positions;
  •  $40 million towards increasing sub-acute services, including home rehabilitation and a community pharmacy network; and
  • $6 million for 50 new SA Ambulance vehicles

Indigenous South Australians

The South Australian Government also made a series of announcements for Indigenous South Australians, which include:

  •  $124.1 million to be provided over four years for housing in indigenous communities to reduce overcrowding and homelessness;
  •  A share of $53.9 million over four years being provided to improve indigenous health outcomes;
  • $7.1 million over four years for improved government service delivery in remote communities;
  • $7.5 million in 2009-10 in partnership with the Commonwealth to provide additional accommodation on the APY Lands to house government staff providing essential services;
  • $4.5 million in 2009-10 in partnership with the Commonwealth to construct a court and administrative centre on the APY Lands to provide accommodation for specialist police officers and child protection workers recommended by the Mullighan Inquiry;
  • $5.2 million over four years to assist in generating employment opportunities for indigenous Australians; and
  • $900,000 over two years for the supply of electricity to remote off-grid Aboriginal communities in the APY Lands, Maralinga Tjarutja Lands and Yalata.

Regional Issues

Among Budget initiatives for South Australia’s regional communities are proposals to improve water security, including:

  • $28.2 million over five years for SA water to construct and upgrade water and wastewater supply infrastructure including:
  • The Middle River Water Supply System on Kangaroo Island to be augmented – $10 million over 3 years;
  • The Murray Bridge Waste Water Treatment Plant will be upgraded – $7.8 million over 5 years;
  • The Barossa Trunk Water Main will be improved – $6m over 5 years; and
  • The water storage capacity at Morgan will be boosted – $4.5 million over 3 years.
  • $21 million over 2008-09 and 2009-10 to construct environmental flow regulators in the Goolwa Channel to help protect the channel and associated wetlands from acidification caused by falling water levels; and
  • $8.2 million in 2009-2010 for River Murray Water Security measures; and
  • $3.1 million in relief from fees and levies for irrigators in the drought-affected River Murray Catchment Area.

Among other announcements for regional communities were:

  •  $100.6 million over four years to upgrade the SA Government Radio Network, which is used by all state emergency service organisations and other key agencies, to a fully digital system;
  •  $40 million over four years to improve and increase sub-acute care in the community. This includes the development of regional aged care teams; increasing rehabilitation services provided in people’s homes; increasing the number of beds available for people in country areas requiring rehabilitation, palliative care, geriatric evaluation and management; and expanding community-based psycho-geriatric care teams in country areas;
  • $23 million over four years to extend the successful rural road safety program to reduce the incidence and severity of crashes;
  • $16.0 million in 2008-09 to support natural resource management issues throughout SA.
  •  $15 million for the maintenance of national highways
  • $2.0 million in 2009-10 to install additional protection measures at level crossings at Gawler, Lyndoch, Bethany and at three locations in Tanunda;
  • $3.2 million over three years to extend the role of the Olympic Dam Taskforce, as part of the State’s commitment to the expansion of the Olympic Dam project.
  • $1.1 million over four years to establish a new community corrections centre at Gawler to meet growth

For further details on any of the above policy announcements, please contact your Hawker Britton consultant.