The Sunshine Coast Business Council (SCBC) has welcomed what it has deemed a ‘growth’ budget from the Queensland Government which addressed the key industries driving growth on the Coast such as tourism, education and health and will see approximately $1.499 billion allocated to the Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay regions for infrastructure improvements throughout the 2015-2016 financial year.
SCBC Chair Sandy Zubrinich said it was encouraging to see $113.1 million set aside for duplicating the Bruce Highway from Cooroy Southern Interchange to Sankey’s Road and a further $6 million pledged to an interchange on the Bruce Highway at Boundary Road; however, more needed to be done to upgrade the stretch of road.
“The Bruce Highway is a vital piece of infrastructure for the Sunshine Coast and will continue to play a key role in the economic prosperity of the region as well as make it safer to drive between the Coast and Brisbane,” Ms Zubrinich said.
“With tens of thousands of tourists, goods and workers travelling along the highway on any given day, it’s crucial that plans are put in place to upgrade the full length of the highway, rather than just particular sections.”
“The need for an upgrade is currently more apparent than ever before, with the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast set to bring crowds of sports-lovers and tourists to Queensland’s south-east coast.”
“It was good to see tourism get a boost and we hope that a good slice of those funds will find their way to the Sunshine Coast given it is such an important industry for this region.”
Ms Zubrinich said she supported the 25 per cent payroll tax rebate put in place up to 2018 for businesses employing apprentices and trainees, particularly given the current high rates of youth unemployment being experienced on the Sunshine Coast.
“Youth unemployment in the region is currently sitting at 13.4 per cent, so it’s great to see the state government providing incentives for business operators to bring new workers on board.”
“Ideally, I would like to have seen more job creation incentives introduced for small businesses that do not meet the payroll tax threshold, but the current reforms are a step in the right direction.”
“We hope that small businesses are beginning to get more confident in the general economy and will start to increase employment opportunities going forward.”
Ms Zubrinich welcomed the $47.2 million allocated to the safe start-up of the Sunshine Coast Public University Hospital; the $16.2 million directed towards new school facilities; the expansion of the Advance Queensland plan from $50 million to $180 million; and the $128.3 million pledged to foster tourism growth across the state over four years.
She said SCBC was also particularly happy to see the focus on vocational education and training; however, expected the $34m allocated to restoring TAFE was unlikely to be sufficient when applied state-wide.
“The real test of success will come with the implementation of the various initiatives promised,” Ms Zubrinich said.
“We have seen routing and poor implementation of similar initiatives in the past which has meant the intended stimulus has not flowed through. This budget needs to be expertly implemented.”
“Queenslanders made it very clear at the last election they would not stand for broken promises, so now is the time for Labor to prove they can follow through and act in the best interests of the state.”