A predictable response to tough economic times with a few bright spots and uncertainty over the impact of public service job cuts is how Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay sums up this year’s state budget.
He said the local electorate had virtually maintained last year’s level of funding, with several major infrastructure projects receiving ongoing incremental support.
He welcomed doubling the first home buyers’ grant to $15,000, allocations for more police and nurses, increased maintenance for schools and increased assistance measures to help households meet rising energy costs.
Mr Torbay said he was particularly concerned about the level of public service job cuts planned for the region, particularly TAFE teachers and staff who had not been quarantined in the same way as police, nurses and teachers; and also cuts to spending in agriculture.
“We have been assured that middle and senior management jobs in Sydney will be the first to go, but lack of information has made many public servants in our region extremely concerned,” he said. “It’s an issue on which we have to be extremely vigilant and my office phones have been running hot since the cuts were first canvassed.”
The MP welcomed funding to remove asbestos from police housing, an issue of great concern over recent years.
“The government has also allocated $210 million to assist an estimated 940,000 households meet their spiraling energy bills,” he said.
