ARTIO NSW also welcomes lifting of the payroll tax threshold and highway patrol boost
Announcements in the 2018-19 New South Wales budget should benefit road transport operators, according to the Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation (ARTIO).
ARTIO NSW secretary/treasurer Hugh McMaster says the NSW government will lift the payroll tax threshold from the current level of $750,000.
“The threshold, the point at which companies start paying payroll tax, will rise to $850,000 in 2018-19, $900,000 in 2019-20, $950,000 in 2020-21 and $1 million in 2021-22,” McMaster says.
“This Budget also commits to completing the sealing of the Silver City Highway north and south of Tibooburra as well as the Cobb Highway between Ivanhoe and Wilcannia through the injection of an additional $40m.
“Work is scheduled for completion in 2023.
“Once complete, the NSW state highway network will be totally sealed.”
Increased funding will also be allocated in accordance with the NSW Government’s Saving Lives on Country Roads Program.
“Funds under this program will be allocated to installation and upgrading of safety features on country roads to reduce run off road crashes, crashes on curves and head on crashes,” McMaster says.
“Increased funding will also enable an additional 50 Highway Patrol officers to be deployed in regional areas to support increased random breath testing, drug testing and enforcement of road laws.
The state government has also committed to a major road works program.
“New initiatives include funding for a new bridge over the Shoalhaven River at Nowra, construction of bypasses and Scone and Albion Park Rail as well as for the commencement of new bridges at Gunnedah, Barrington and on Main Road 92 near Braidwood,” McMaster notes.
“Fifty five million dollars has also been allocated for mental health initiatives under a new Mentally Healthy Workplaces in NSW Strategy 2022.
“Under this strategy, funds will be allocated to areas including manager training and recovery at work programs, research, a media campaign and online resources to raise awareness, as well as assessment and mentoring tools which aim to provide better support to businesses.”
Asset spending was at front of mind for Infrastructure Partnerships Australia (IPA), which described ‘asset recycling’, as the gift that keeps on giving.
“The NSW government has once again shown how to tackle the infrastructure backlog, and deliver record investment in new rail lines, roads, schools and hospitals, by consistently doing the hard work on reform and asset recycling,” IPA chief executive Adrian Dwyer says.
“NSW has struck the right infrastructure formula in this budget. A combination of asset recycling plus sustainable spending has delivered record infrastructure investment, stand out surpluses and strong triple-A credit rating.”
The NSW budget delivers large capital investments across the state, with $3 billion dedicated to the new Sydney Metro West, $8 billion for 40 new or upgraded hospitals, and $6 billion for 170 new or upgraded schools.
“NSW’s record after record infrastructure programme is no coincidence, it’s the product of smart fiscal management, sensible asset recycling, and solid project selection,” Dwyer says.
“NSW has only been able to deliver consistent record infrastructure investment and surpluses over the forwards because it has done the hard yards on reform.
“NSW has invested the political capital in reform, and is reaping the infrastructure rewards.
“This stuff is easy to say, but hard to do. The resource states like Western Australia and Queensland must now look to the NSW playbook on asset recycling because the results are so compelling, and the opportunities are too big to ignore.
“This record infrastructure investment, stapled to the largest surplus in the country, surpluses over the forwards and an enviable economic outlook proves that being against asset recycling is now simply untenable.”