Despite a $160M allocation for the Central Coast, Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch has slammed the State Budget handed down on September 19 as the worst the region has ever seen.
Crouch claims there is no new money for health, education or road infrastructure.
“This is a budget that punishes the people of the Central Coast, slashing and means testing Active Kids vouchers, axing the Regional Seniors Travel Card and providing no vision for the future of our region,” he said.
Crouch said the Budget Summary for the Central Coast included projects that had already been funded and completed under the former Liberal-National Government.
“This summary paper for the Central Coast includes $200M for the re-development of Wyong Hospital, which was entirely funded and completed by the former Liberal-National government and opened by former Premier Dominic Perrottet in October 2022,” he said.
Crouch said a glaring omission was funding for a-new TAFE in the centre of Gosford, put forward as part of the former Liberal-National Government’s education vision for the Central Coast.
“This budget was the biggest opportunity the State Government to build on the former Liberal-National Government’s vision for Gosford as a regional education hub, and they have failed,” he said.
He said negotiations between TAFE NSW and Central Coast Council on acquisition of the former Gosford Council chambers site were now at risk.
“(This is) despite TAFE wanting to proceed with this as quickly as possible for the 3,000 students who attend the current out-of-date and unsuitable TAFE site,” Crouch said.
He said he would continue to hold the Minns Government and the Central Coast Labor MPs to account for the Budget’s “massive shortcomings”.
Crouch said under the previous Liberal-National government, the Central Coast received record-breaking amounts of funding for major investment projects, including $500M for the re-development of Gosford and Wyong Hospitals, $11M in cost-of-living support for Central Coast seniors through the Regional Seniors Travel Card, and more than $17M in funding for local projects through the Stronger Country Communities Program.
He said Budget commitments which had previously been announced and/or funded by the former State Government included: $97M for the upgrade on the Pacific Hwy through Wyong Town Centre ($84M announced by the former State and Federal governments in 2022); $58.8M for the Mandalong Rd upgrade (announced by the former State and Federal Government in 2022); and $29.5M to improve traffic flow and safety on the Tumbi Rd intersection on Central Coast Hwy (funded as part of the former Government’s $387M commitment to upgrade the road).
Crouch said local grants which had previously been funded under the former government included: $5M for Peat Island Cultural Tourism Precinct Activation; $1.3M for Halekulani Oval Amenities Renewal; $650,000 for Darkinjung Mangrove Mountain Cultural Tourism Park; and $306,177 for Saratoga Sailing Club Security, Equity, Accessibility and Safety Project.
CCN – Verified source: Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch