Budget addresses issues in the regions

MAY 9, 2018: The people of North Queensland will directly benefit from a raft of Budget measures announced last night to address issues relating to health, employment, aged care and support for young people.There are measures in this Budget to address everything from the need for more doctors to incentives to encourage job-seekers to take on seasonal work.We have communities that desperately need more doctors and rural nurses and last night the Liberal National Government announced $550 million under the Stronger Rural Health Strategy to deliver around 3,000 additional doctors, more than 3,000 additional nurses in rural general practice and hundreds of allied health professionals in the regions over 10 years.We have seniors who are in need of assistance so they can remain in their own homes, and an additional 14,000 high-level In Home Care Packages have been announced.The Government is also providing 13,500 new residential aged care places and 775 short-term restorative places which will be made available where they are most needed.Both parents and teachers should be heartened to see that the National School Chaplaincy Program will be renewed, and will have a strong focus on anti-bullying initiatives. Schools who participate in the program are eligible to receive $20,000 per annum to engage the services of a qualified school chaplain.There are further measures to provide jobs for young and old.We’re growing the number of apprenticeships by providing an estimated $1.5 billion through the Skilling Australians Fund to extend the programme.At the other end of the spectrum we are introducing measures to allow pensioners to earn more while still keeping their pension.Other initiatives will address the need for seasonal workers in the horticultural industry.We’ve got farmers in places like Bowen and the Burdekin who need seasonal workers, and the Government has announced a two-year trial of incentives aimed at increasing the number of jobseekers who take on such work.Incentives include the ability to earn up to $5000 per year without it affecting the social security income test, and other allowances for both jobseekers and employers.Another measure addresses our love of sport and the need for us to be more active.There are always sporting groups looking to improve their facilities and boost their participation numbers.We’ve announced a $230 million package of sports and physical activity initiatives and included in that is $29.7 million for the Sports Infrastructure Grants Program.  Sports clubs will be able to apply for grants of up to $500,000 for improvements to existing or ageing facilities.