Federal Budget 2018: South Australia to receive extra $500m in GST cash — but it may not last

SOUTH Australia will receive a further half-a-billion-dollar boost in GST cash next year, but risks watching the rivers of gold run dry with the release of a major review imminent.

• MAIN WRAP: A comprehensive rundown of the Federal Budget.
• FIVE-MINUTE GUIDE: The Federal Budget ... fast.
• CALCULATOR: What does the Federal Budget mean for you?
• INFRASTRUCTURE: The big ticket items explained.
• TREASURER’S SPEECH: What he said. What he really meant.

SOUTH Australia will receive a further half-a-billion-dollar boost in GST cash next year, but risks watching the rivers of gold run dry with the release of a major review imminent.

In a Budget that confirms a $1.8 billion infrastructure injection for the state that’s focused on delivering the “done-in-a-decade” plan for a non-stop South Rd, it has also been revealed SA’s share of the GST pie will boom from $6.37 billion this year to $6.89 billion.

In addition, there appears to have been a significant bring forward of spending on the Adelaide-based future shipbuilding program to spur rapid upgrades at the Osborne shipyards in readiness for a frigate program starting next year.

However, the Federal Budget hints at possible bad news on the horizon for SA as a long-awaited review into state funding is released next week.

The Productivity Commission review was triggered by vocal complaints that WA is short-changed by the current system, which gives SA up to 10.3 per cent of the GST pie despite having 7 per cent of the national population.

SA Treasurer Rob Lucas has warned his Budget will fall into deficit this financial year, but he expects a return to surplus in the first full year of a Liberal government in 2018-19.

He said about $270 million of the new GST was new money when compared with latest State Budget forecasts.

He said a growing national economy was spurring spending across Australia, leading to big returns for SA.

“The GST and national grants are obviously a critical part of the State Budget and will continue to be,” he said.

“Our position will remain the same. Horizontal fiscal equalisation was designed to ensure everyone had an equal opportunity.

“It is a complicated formula, but we support it and will continue to do so. “We’ll have to wait to see ... that the Federal Government decides.”

The emerging space industry receives a $300 million Federal Budget boost, with ongoing wrangling about how big a role SA will play in hosting a new national agency.

Senior SA Federal MP and Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said Australian-made ships and submarines were vital to national security, as well as being “front and centre of the Government’s plan for jobs”.

“A continuous naval shipbuilding program will modernise our fleet, support economic growth, maximise Australian industry involvement and secure thousands of jobs for decades to come,” he said.

In addition to previously announced cash for a South Rd upgrade between Regency Rd and Pym St, the Federal Budget includes money to finish the long-delayed Gawler rail electrification and duplication of the Joy Baluch Bridge at Port Augusta to boost passenger and freight services.

The Osborne Shipyard will receive a cash injection sooner than originally planned. Picture: David Mariuz/AAP

Another $1.2 billion is earmarked for future South Rd upgrades as the State Government decides how and when to deliver difficult projects just north and south of Anzac Hwy.

The timeline for releasing the money to SA is unclear from Budget papers, which insist provision for the funding “has already been included in the forward estimates”.

Construction of the Osborne South Shipyard will create up to 600 jobs. Already over 100 people are employed on the infrastructure build, increasing to 400 by next year.

The exact figure for new spending at Adelaide’s shipyards is hidden for “commercial in-confidence” reasons, but Budget papers reveal “the Government will provide an additional equity injection in 2018-19 ... to support the development of required infrastructure within the Osborne precinct in Adelaide”.

A secret funding allocation has also been made to finish a “detailed business case for a national facility to address Australia’s radioactive waste management”.

SA has been earmarked as a likely site for a low-level waste dump to permanently store medical equipment and other items.

It comes despite the rejection of former premier Jay Weatherill’s attempt to progress plans for a lucrative high-level waste dump in SA, which could have accepted used fuel rods from countries across the globe.

A cashless debit card trial in Ceduna will be extended for a further year, to June 30, 2019.

After major divisions between the two levels of government over health spending, this Budget promises $7.9 billion for public hospitals between 2020 and 2025, a $1.3 billion rise over the previous five years.

A total of $16.2 billion in federal cash will flow to SA schools over the next decade, as 62,000 local families also gain access to a new childcare subsidy that comes into force from July 2.