Transport and bushfire recovery dominate regional NSW budget spending

The NSW government will drop billions on the regions with much of it to go to transport and bushfire recovery projects.

Deputy NSW Premier John Barilaro. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Bushfire recovery and transportation funding dominate spending from the NSW government on regional areas of the state in this pandemic budget.

Spending on regional roads and rail is expected at $8.7bn, but that comes as the government has budgeted almost $14bn for transport projects in Sydney in the next four years,

Further spending on drought, which continues to affect large areas of NSW, is much reduced on the nearly $4.5bn already spent but is offset by spending on water security programs across the state. The government has set aside $4.5bn to cover the costs of the devastating fires, almost as much as has been spent on drought since 2015.

This comes as the budget faces one of the grimmest financial outlooks in years, with state debt ballooning and revenues slumping.

Almost $1.8bn from the $3bn Jobs and Infrastructure fund has been allocated to cover repairs and upgrades to regional bridges, expand healthcare and provide assistance to small businesses.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro spruiked regional communities at “the centre” of the 2020-21 budget, noting it was aimed at “bridging the city and bush divide” and ensuring regional, rural and remote residents of NSW had access to “the same world-class facilities and services”.

The state government has set aside $335m for the new intercity fleet of trains to run between Sydney, the central coast and Newcastle, the Blue Mountains and the south coast.

Some $185m has been set aside to fund upgrades in Parkes, including roads, sewers and water connections to promote the town as a hub for inland road and rail freight.