The 2022 – 2023 Federal Budget outlined some hefty spending in regional Australia, but South Australia was certainly not a major recipient. While there are a range of short-term cash injections, incentives and subsidies that are a positive boost, we did find the lack of significant regional infrastructure investments disappointing.
An additional $17.9b has been committed to road, rail and community infrastructure projects across Australia. Of that, however, very little of that flows to regional South Australia – with most ($2.3b of the total $2.8b) committed to the final stages of the North-South Corridor in metropolitan areas.
Further, the Budget promised investment of $7.1b to transform regions “primed for growth”, but none of that is coming to South Australia – NSW, WA, Qld and NT are sharing those dollars as it has been decided that they are the nation’s “export frontiers and poised for major growth at a scale that will boost our national prosperity”.
The South Australian Business Chamber has felt a lack of game-changing infrastructure investments in South Australian regions over multiple subsequent budgets. What is needed is the full duplication of the Augusta Highway, a key piece of infrastructure required to solve existing road safely issues, improve freight logistics, and stimulate long-term growth in the Upper Eyre Peninsula, Upper Spencer Gulf and Southern Flinders Ranges.
The national $2b Regional Accelerator Program is of interest, with Federal Senator Simon Birmingham confirming that there is a slice of this pie for South Australia. We will be watching for further details on the $84m to deploy microgrids in regional communities. On behalf of our regional members and the broader regional business community, we will continue to share more information as it becomes available.
The South Australian Business Chamber Corporate Member Ben Fee, Chief Executive of Regional Development Australia Murraylands and Riverland, says that the fundamental issue is that recent budgets have funded a complex mix of isolated initiatives.
“The three priorities for the Murraylands and Riverland region are workforce, accommodation and regional infrastructure, with roads and communications as priority infrastructure. Without these, business expansion is limited, seeing us ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ rather that adding to the collective pie.
“Housing is a fundamental regional issue impacting business growth, and we are not immune to that in the Murraylands and Riverland. While we recognise that providing funding and assistance for first-home buyers is good, insufficient stock is available. This will further drive up housing costs, interest rates and the cost of living. To resolve this, we need incentives over the long term to increase the workforce, reliably source materials, ensure effective supply chains, and open planning. These will encourage further industry investment and expansion in the regions.
“In terms of skills, we have found that Budget initiatives have tended to be inflexible and not designed to facilitate people to move along and between skills pathways. It will be interesting to see if Workforce Australia provides some solutions.
“Special mentions from us include the $600m for agricultural innovation and biosecurity – of interest are funds to control Japanese encephalitis, carbon credit tax changes and the Regional Drought Resilience Plans. The Regional Accelerator Stream of the Supply Chain Resilience – these could be important catalysts for regional innovation and structural reform.
“Regions need budgets with purposeful and coordinated investments that create the right settings to attract people and allow our businesses and communities to comfortably expand.”
