Cash for pandas and ketamine: The budget items that probably won’t make the news
Within the several hundred pages of the budget are spending commitments for a host of items you probably won’t hear about – like giant pandas.
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Coverage of the federal budget understandably focuses on the big-ticket items, from billions for housing or education to new health initiatives and cost-of-living relief.
But across the several hundred pages that comprise the government’s financial blueprint for the coming year and beyond are some intriguing commitments.
They might not set the world on fire in a budgetary sense or generate headlines because of their broad impact, but to the communities benefiting from them, they represent news worth celebrating.
These are just some of those measures:
– $3.8 million over five years – plus an additional $3.8 million between 2029-30 and 2033-34) to support Adelaide Zoo’s Giant Panda Program.
– $8.6 million to extend support for the Revive Live initiative supporting Australia’s music scene, benefiting venues and festival proponents.
– $900,000 to boost mosquito control efforts in the Torres Strait Protected Zone.
– $1.4 million over two years to study the prevalence of the illicit tobacco trade in South East Asia and the Pacific.
– $4 million for grants for individual cultural, business and research exchange trips.
– $3.6 million over two years to digitise audio and video collections held by Indigenous community radio and television outlets.
– An additional $3 million over three years for a Maugean skates breeding program.
– A portion of the $1.8 billion spend over five years on new Pharamaceutical Benefit Scheme medications towards esketamine – a nasal spray ketamine for treatment-resident mental health disorders.
– $13.6 million for the St George Illawarra Dragons high performance sporting facility.
– $10 million for independent multicultural media outlets.
– An unknown spend for the continued decommissioning of the Northern Endeavour Oil Rig. The figure is considered commercial in confidence.
– $1.6 million over two years for mental health services for Australians impacted by the Hamas-Israel war.
– $75 million over four years to address the impacts of illegal fishing in Australia’s northern waters.
– $2.2 million towards a Chinese Australia Historical Museum in Melbourne and a Golden Dragon Museum in Bendigo.
– $10 million in community grants for hosting Australia Day celebrations.
– A $570 million loan to help Papua New Guinea address its 2024 government budget shortfall.
– $20 million to upgrade Leichardt Oval in Sydney.
– $15 million towards the upgrade and construction of bike paths across the country.
– $3.1 million towards the construction of an opal museum and tourist attraction in Lightning Ridge.
– A $600,000 contribution towards a new Cyclone Tracy memorial in Darwin.
– $11 million over two years to bolster fruit fly management.
Originally published as Cash for pandas and ketamine: The budget items that probably won’t make the news
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