NSW Government Invests $35 Million In Regional Development

Today, the NSW Government announced the first $35 million funding allocation, from the $35 million Regional Development Trust which will support a package of initiatives to boost the long term resilience of regional NSW, with a focus on job creation and primary industry expansion.

Funded under the NSW Regional Development Trust these projects have been guided by the Regional Development Advisory Council and informed by a number of roundtables with rural communities hosted by the Minister for Regional New South Wales, Tara Moriarty, across the state.

This process has ensured the transparency and integrity of the investments.

The initiatives announced today align with the four focus areas of the Regional Development Trust:

• Sustainable regional industries, including emerging and job creating industries;

• Aboriginal economic development and enterprise;

• Community infrastructure and capacity building; and

• Improving regional service delivery.

The $35 million package is divided into two parts - $15 million and $10 million.

The $15 million to improve rural and remote airstrips includes:

• Effective remote and Western NSW airstrips that are accessible all-year-round will increase economic development opportunities, plus the delivery of health care and emergency services to reach communities that would otherwise be required to travel long distances to access similar services;

• The NSW Government has commenced an audit of remote and rural airstrips across 20 local government areas in Western NSW and will develop a rollout schedule based on priority and need, that will be completed by September this year;

• Following this, the NSW Government will commence the upgrades of airstrip and aerodrome related infrastructure and equipment improvements; and

• This investment will improve rural and remote communities’ access to critical services, businesses, essential workers and supplies particularly in the event of an emergency or natural disaster.

The $10 million Western NSW Workforce Activation Package to establish, expand or upgrade Western NSW childcare, includes:

• The Western NSW Workforce Activation Package will provide $10 million to establish, expand or upgrade early childhood and education care across three initial government areas of Bourke, Broken Hill and Cobar.

• Topics:

• Government
• Grants / Funding