State Budget 2018: What Gold Coasters need to know about the state budget
BILLIONS will be spent on Gold Coast roads, tourism, health and schools in this year’s state budget as Deputy Premier and Treasurer Jackie Trad reveals Here’s what the Coast is getting this year.
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THE Gold Coast is to ride a new tourism wave after the Commonwealth Games on the back of State Budget initiatives aimed at attracting more direct flights and new tourist projects.
Treasurer Jackie Trad today announced a record $180 million tourism spend as Queensland prepares to host up to 24 million domestic and international visitors in the coming year.
“It is a $25 billion industry to our economy. It is critical,” Ms Trad told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
“The Commonwealth Games legacy is a $2.6 billion legacy of upgraded transport infrastructure, sporting and community facilities.
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FULL TEXT OF TREASURER JACKIE TRAD’S SPEECH
“This Budget commits $94.6 million to keeping on growing our tourism industry.”
Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones predicts the Coast will benefit more than most other regions from the $48.6 million Attracting Tourism Fund and the $46 million Regional Tourism Infrastructure and Experience Development Program.
The funding is aimed at smaller tourism operators gaining help from the Government to develop a business plan to launch their products.
The Government is encouraging eco-tourism projects in the hinterland which give tourists a unique experience.
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Lamington National Park is to receive $8.4 million of road and disaster relief funding along with $713,000 in infrastructure revitalisation. Springbrook gets an $800,000 upgrade.
“This investment is a game changer for Queensland’s tourism industry,” Ms Jones told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
“We’re focused on partnering with operators to deliver new tourism infrastructure for Queensland.”
The Government aims to build on partnering with airlines to get more flights to the Coast.
“We’ve got the runs on the board — we’ve secured more than two million additional airline seats into Queensland since February 2015, injecting an estimated $1.7 billion in additional overnight visitor expenditure into the Queensland economy,” Ms Jones said.
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The key Budget expenditure for the Coast includes:
* $680 million for infrastructure, creating an estimated 2300 jobs.
* Almost $1.5 million for health, with upgrades planned at Robina Hospital.
* Almost $82 million for education, with the focus on providing more classrooms in the city’s fast-growing north.
* $50 million for Screen Queensland including $20 million additional funding across two years to attract major screen productions.
The Budget papers outline the start of an almost $1 billion spend for the upgrade to the Pacific Motorway.
About $70 million in 2018-19 will be spent on widening to three lanes the 5.7km section between Mudgeeraba and Varsity Lakes.
The Government will spend $25 million over three years to upgrade the Oxenford interchange.
The State will fund $366.5 million across five years for the Eight Mile Plains to Daisy Hill upgrade on the M1 and $515 million for the same period to improve the section from Varsity Lakes to Tugun.
Light rail stage 3A from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads is to receive $2 million to help progress its business case.
Coast heavy rail is to benefit from a $733 million spend north of the line for the Cross River Rail project which will see a 10.2km rail line from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills ease congestion into Brisbane city.
The Budget papers also address the closing down of Commonwealth Games organising body GOLDOC, which is due to finish up on December 31.
“Given the Games has now passed, engagement can now be measured by the number of tickets sold — over 1.2 million, 98 per cent of all tickets — social media engagement — over 1.5 million followers — and spectator experience with the Games — 92 per cent of spectators stated their overall experience was good or very good,” the Budget papers said.
Work had begun on converting the former Athletes Village into a mixed use residential, retail and commercial development.
About $3 million from a $29.4 million total spend will be outlayed in the next 12 months to develop the 9ha Health and Knowledge Precinct within the Parklands area.
Gaven MP Meaghan Scanlon said Coast tourism operators have a chance to cash in following today’s State Budget with the government tipping more funds into grants for regional attractions.
The Assistant Tourism Industry Development Minister said attracting new direct flights and partnering with operators to provide grants for new tourism infrastructure was a priority for the government.
“Securing new direct flights into Gold Coast Airport is an important part of our strategy to grow tourism on the Coast,” she said.
“Following the great exposure the Coast has received during the Commonwealth Games, funding for new flights is crucial to ensuring we continue to attract more visitors to the Coast.
“We’re also looking closely at eco-tourism options that will allow us to show off the Coast’s beaches and hinterland in new ways.”
In her speech Treasurer Jackie Trad described Labor’s fourth budget as “no surprises – no excuses” with the priority on jobs as the Government embarked on its biggest capital works program since the 2011 flood recovery.
The $3 billion increase in infrastructure projects will support 38,000 jobs this year alone, she said.
The economy had grown by 7.2 per cent in real terms since the December quarter of 2014 and employment growth was forecast to strengthen to 2.75 per cent over the year to the June quarter 2018.
“Today, I can announce that we expect a surplus of $1.512 billion in 2017-18 — more than three times the size of the mid-year fiscal and economic review forecast,” Ms Trad said.
Economic growth is tipped to accelerate from 2.5 per cent in 2016-17 to three per cent in 2018-19.
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