It was good to see record spending on infrastructure, health and education in the Federal Budget.
The almost doubling of money for programs like the Building Better Regions is great news for our community. This program is funding job-creating projects like the upgrade of Oakes Oval and the new Lismore Regional Art Gallery.
I am also very happy that we are investing almost $70 million in the Stronger Communities Program that provide smaller grants that deliver real benefits to communities like ours.
The Government is also injecting an additional record $18.6 billion into education. This is a 137 per cent increase since we were elected 2013.
Our needs-based funding model means our local schools will do better than most.
As well as providing record funding for health services, the Government is guaranteeing the future of Bulk Billing and Medicare. We are setting up a dedicated fund which will protect these vital services for generations to come.
We have also fully funded the NDIS.
To get the budget back into surplus in four years so we don’t slug our children with debt, we are imposing a $6.2 billion levy on the five big banks.
We are also further toughening our crackdown on multi-national companies which are avoiding paying tax. This year we will recover about $4 billion from these companies.
The Government is also helping to get people off drugs and into work.
Under the drug testing trial for 5000 new people signing up for Newstart, those who test positive will be offered rehabilitation and given a Cashless Welfare Card to purchase essential items such as food and pay rent.
