Victorian 2011-12 Budget

Victorian 2011-12 Budget (299 KB)

Today the Victorian Treasurer, Kim Wells, released the 2011-12 Budget. General government sector revenue is expected to increase by $2 billion in 2011-12 to $47.4 billion. The Treasurer said the budget was focused on stabilising debt while spending $5.1 billion to deliver the Government's election promises and making $2 billion in government cuts. The Government promised surpluses of at least $100 million a year, with a surplus of $140 million in 2011-12 and an average surplus of $164 million over the forward estimates. Net debt is projected to increase as a proportion of Gross State Product from 2.6 per cent in 2009-10 and then to remain stable at 5.9 per cent between 2012-13 and 2014-15.

 

The budget maintains an operating surplus and a significant  infrastructure program and does not raise taxes on business.

 

The Government’s key spending initiatives are outlined below.

 

Rebuilding in Flood-Affected Areas

• $122 million over two years in repairs to arterial roads

• $49 million in 2011-12 to re-open national and regional parks, and replace damaged assets

• $34 million in 2011-12 to repair public land assets and ecological habitats

• $20 million to repair Victoria’s flood-damaged regional rail network

• $17 million to repair the flood-damaged Wilsons Promontory National Park

• $3.4 million in 2011-12 to offset the costs of responding to water inundation in the lower Loddon floodplain

• $1.7 million to repair the water-damaged groundwater monitoring bore network

The budget also outlines several measures designed to build Victoria’s preparedness for natural disasters, including:

• $13 million over four years for Victorian State Emergency Service (SES) staff to fill leadership roles in incident management teams and improve SES capacity to discharge its lead agency responsibilities during major events

• $9.6 million to support SES volunteers and SES operational costs

• $9.3 million over four years for the SES to implement a new training model

• $1.4 million for the Bushfire Response Planning Unit

• $6 million in capital funding for the SES in 2011-12 to buy new mobile command and control vehicles, and to replace critical emergency response assets, including communications equipment

 

Infrastructure

The Government has outlined several major infrastructure spending commitments in the 2011-12 financial year, including:

Public Transport

• $222 million for seven new trains

• $100 million towards the Rail Network Fund over four years for an ongoing maintenance and renewal program

• $10 million over two years for the South West passing loop on the Warrnambool train line

• $8 million over four years to restore W-class trams and to introduce restored trams to selected tram routes

Level Crossings

• $47 million over four years to improve regional level crossings (including Warragul) and upgrade up to 75 level crossings

• $17 million to remove metropolitan level crossings. This will include pre-construction works at Mitcham and Rooks Roads, and accelerated project development at Springvale Road.

Roads

• $160 million over four years for country roads and bridges

• $20 million for planning and early works for the Dingley bypass between Warrigal and Westall Roads (to link new residential growth areas to employment hubs and provide an east-west route for motorists and freight operators)

• $50 million for the Koo Wee Rup bypass, a new single carriageway road to reduce travel times between the Princes Highway and South Gippsland Highway

• $23 million to increase maintenance funding for arterial roads

• $50 million for the Western Highway duplication between Burrumbeet and Beaufort, and $93 million for the next stage of the M80 upgrade (Edgars Road to Plenty Road), as part of Nation Building projects

• $2.5 million to start work on the $38 million Ballarat Western Link Road which will provide a key transport connection to the region

• $21 million over two years to fund local road infrastructure and traffic improvement projects

• $15 million over three years for new overtaking lanes on the Princes Highway west of Colac

• $8 million over two years for Omeo Highway sealing

• $6.7 million over three years for rural overtaking lanes, including the Melbourne-Lancefield Road, and Hyland and Strzelecki Highways

• $5 million to start planning for the duplication of Princes Highway West from Winchelsea to Colac

 

Health

The Government will make a significant investment of more than $13 billion in 2011-12 to improve Victoria’s health system including mental health services, ambulance services, aged care services and dental health services. The major investments include:

• 340 new ambulance staff

• Halving of ambulance membership fees

• $735 million on hospitals in Frankston, Ballarat and Bendigo

• 800 new hospital beds

• $90 million waiting list and emergency department reform package to be funded over four years

• $55 million to upgrade vital medical equipment and hospital infrastructure across Victoria’s health services

Mental Health

• $10 million over four years for the new Mental Illness Research Fund

• $12 million over four years to expand psychiatric disability rehabilitation and support services;

• $27 million over four years to expand specialist clinical community mental health services

• $6 million over four years for support for Headspace youth services facilities

• $3.5 million over three years for enhancement and redevelopment of community-based mental health infrastructure

Rural Health

• $259 million to upgrade regional health services, including $67 million for country hospital upgrades at Ballan, Echuca, Kerang, Mildura and Warragul Hospitals, to be funded from the Government’s new Country Hospitals Fund

• $56 million for the establishment of the Rural Capital Support Fund to enable rural and regional health services to maintain and expand high quality services

• $12 million over four years to attract and retain medical professionals in rural areas

• $16 million to upgrade and build rural ambulance stations in Victoria

 

Education

In 2011-12, the Government will invest $11 billion to improve Victoria’s education system, skills and early childhood development.

• $24 million will be provided over five years to the end of 2015 for 100 maths and science specialists in government primary schools

• $5 million for 400 teaching scholarships for science graduates

• $240 million over five years to help lift non-government school funding levels

• $124 million over four years to continue the employment of 256 Primary Welfare Officers and employ 150 new Primary Welfare Officers

• $100 million school maintenance fund

• $208 million school capital works

• $103 million to reintroduce TAFE concession fee places for young people aged between 15 and 24 years who are undertaking diploma and advanced diploma courses

• $35 million for TAFE upgrades

 

Law and Order

The Government anticipates spending $2.1 billion on public safety and crime reduction in the 2011-12 financial year. The key investments include:

• $602 million to fund 1700 extra front-line police by 2014, one year ahead of the government's election promise

• $212 million over four years to deploy 940 protective services officers to patrol all metropolitan railway stations and four major regional railway stations (Ballarat, Bendigo, Traralgon and Geelong)

• $30 million in capital funding over three years

• $66 million over four years for 108 new prison beds

• $25 million over four years to establish the Public Infrastructure Safety Fund and the Community Safety Fund

 

Environment

• $31 million over four years to secure 65 park ranger positions in regional Victoria

• $20 million over four years in environment management grants for community groups

• $17 million over four years to manage weeds and pests on public land

• $12 million over four years for additional Landcare coordinators

• $9.5 million over four years for beaches and foreshore management around Port Phillip Bay

• $50 million over four years to create an integrated water projects fund;

• $40 million over four years for rebates to encourage households and small businesses to use water-efficient products

• $5 million over two years for rebates to encourage low income households to use energy-efficient appliances

• $5 million over two years to develop an accreditation program for small businesses which act sustainably