Lawrence MLC: Building our future across the Cootamundra electorate
The Minns Labor Government is investing in regional communities to support them against the many challenges faced from natural disasters impacts to biosecurity threats to cost of living pressures.
The 2025-26 Budget includes measures to help with these challenges. Increased disaster funding totalling $4.2 billion of State and Federal Government money, extending our rebuild of essential services, boosting primary industry and investing in regional economic growth are all part of our plan to support our regions as we build a better New South Wales.
The Minns Labor Government has ended the wages cap and lifted frontline pay so we can rebuild the essential services people rely on.
Improving Health Services and Building Homes: The NSW Government is committed to ensuring no matter where you live in New South Wales, you have access to essential healthcare.
The NSW Government continues to deliver the $95million Temora Hospital Redevelopment and the $110 million Cowra Hospital Redevelopment.
This Budget also addresses the need for more housing for renters and buyers. $20.9million has been allocated for low cost loans for regional councils to deliver infrastructure and up to 56,000 new homes. $700,000 in new Aboriginal Housing works is in the pipeline as part of the Social Housing Accelerator Fund and 1.7million in social housing upgrades is progressing in Cootamundra.
Strengthening our Education System:
This Budget makes a historic investment in NSW children and young people.
Child protection funding will total $1.2billion for increasing foster carer allowances, better pay and training for case workers and 44 purpose built and upgraded homes for children with complex needs.
$2.1 billion over four years will fund new and upgraded schools in regional New South Wales, ensuring every child has access to quality education facilities.
Dedicated TAFE funding to upskill the next generation continues in this Budget, with investment occurring for the third consecutive year to $2.8 billion.
Improving Community Safety: The Government is committed to investing in measures to support community safety and wellbeing in regional and rural New South Wales.
The 2025-26 Budget provides additional investments to maintain emergency services capability to ensure they remain equipped to keep communities safe and respond to emergencies.
This includes $35.9 million for Fire and Rescue NSW to maintain critical fire, rescue and hazardous materials response services.
As part of the broader regional crime response, the Budget also includes $5.1 million in 2025-26 as part of the $20.8 million commitment for the NSW Police Force to deliver Youth Action Meetings.
These focus on young people who are persistent offenders, or who would benefit from early intervention and diversion. Youth Action Meeting Coordinators operate
across regional and rural communities, including in local Police Districts across all regions in New South Wales.
More than half a billion dollars has been committed to improve access to justice and expand victim support services.
This funding is 50 percent higher than when the Minns Labor Government took office.
Connecting Regional Communities: This Budget includes $2.8 billion over four years in road-safety funding, with a further $48 million to improve mobile coverage on major highways.
In the Cootamundra electorate, $19.9 million has been allocated through the Fix Country Bridges commitment and $8.428 million to assist local councils with funding to repair, maintain and seal priority local roads including 6.636million to upgrade Howards Road, Reefton.
Prioritising Agriculture and Biosecurity: Biosecurity is a vital safeguard for the livelihood of regional and rural communities across New South Wales.
The Government plays a central role fighting the threats posed by pests, diseases, weeds and contaminants to safeguard agricultural businesses.
The 2025-26 Budget invests:
• $100 million to sustain critical biosecurity functions to mitigate risks to communities, primary industries and the environment
• $41.2 million to enhance and modernise primary industries research and development capabilities at priority research stations across the State, building on an
existing $59.6 million to deliver upgrades to regional research facilities and emergency response sites
• $9.3 million to continue the Feral Pig and Pest Control Program targeting pigs and deer to protect the State’s agricultural productivity and mitigate environmental and
economic risks
• $1.4 million to support the preparedness and national response capabilities in the event of an outbreak of high pathogenicity avian influenza, bringing the total
allocation to $2.2 million, delivered in partnership with the Australian Government.
The Budget also invests $17.6 million for facility and asset upgrades, to address safety risks and enable delivery of key landholder and land management services, funded from the Local Land Services Future Fund. STEPHEN LAWRENCE MLC
WELCOME INCLUSIONS, CRITICAL OMISSIONS
The peak body for local government in NSW has acknowledged some positive announcements in today’s State Budget delivered by Treasurer Daniel Mookhey.
Mayor Phyllis Miller OAM, President of Local Government NSW (LGNSW) welcomed some measures that councils would support for their communities but said she was disappointed to see only a few benefits for the local government sector included in the Budget Papers.
“The financial sustainability of the local government sector in NSW continues to remain a significant challenge and it was disappointing that the Budget failed to address this,” Mayor Miller said.
“We look forward to the State Government working with us to encourage the Federal Government to return our Financial Assistance Grants back to 1 percent,” she said.
“Councils across the state face ongoing cost pressures, particularly from disaster recovery and resilience-building efforts, but also due to cost shifting from the NSW Government – compounded by insufficient grants from both state and federal governments."
However, Mayor Miller said the 2025-26 budget did include some significant positive announcements for the local government sector, including:
$4.2 billion in disaster relief across the forward estimates, with the government anticipating that this figure would increase in response to previous and potentially new natural disasters.
Welcome boosts for biosecurity measures, including to protect against pest animals and weeds.
This includes an additional $100 million to develop an improved detection, protection and response model.
A range of budgetary measures to promote housing development, which reflect recognition that emphasis on the planning system alone will not resolve the housing crisis.
A commitment of $6 million over two years to support Central Darling Shire Council’s transition back to elected representation and assist the council in achieving long-term financial stability.
$472.9 million for improving the Biodiversity Offset Scheme and associated measures.
Increased investment in rural and regional health (including dental) and mental health services.
While Mayor Miller welcomed these positive announcements, she also pointed to some disappointing funding gaps.
“An increase of 7 percent in Emergency Services Levy (ESL) council contributions from last year will be devastating," she said.
"While the cost of the increase to councils will be largely recovered through an increase in the rate peg for each council, it is still a cost to our community members that will have to be collected by councils.
“In addition, the government is yet to make a funding commitment to renew or replace the Safe and Secure Water Program (SSWP).
"This is a project that LGNSW has been advocating for a commitment of $1 billion over 4 years.
“Also, despite the Treasurer’s speech focussing on the need for housing across the state and setting out a guarantee for the development industry, there is no new guarantee for our communities as there is no new funding for public and social housing, and a conspicuous lack of investment in infrastructure betterment and resilience, that would help our communities better withstand future disasters.
“LGNSW will continue to advocate strongly for the sector to hold the State and Federal governments to account and ensure our councils and communities are strengthened and enhanced well into the future."
STATE GOVERNMENT NEGLECTS PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS
The 2025 state budget has failed to make the investment we need to fix the housing and homelessness crises in NSW.
“Ensuring everyone in NSW can access a suitable home should be the government’s top priority,” Homelessness NSW CEO Dominique Rowe said.
“The modest $20 million package to expand crisis and transitional housing will provide some temporary relief but still leaves homelessness services dramatically underfunded.
“This small investment does not make up for decades of neglect of social housing and homelessness services.
“Homelessness services around the state are funded to help only 58,000 people. Last year they managed to help 68,000 and were forced to turn away thousands more.
“In the face of skyrocketing costs of insurance, utilities, and wages, services are being squeezed from every angle, and the current level of funding does not come close to meeting the overwhelming need.”
HNSW said the government must show greater ambition to address the worsening housing and homelessness crisis in the state.
“The state’s worsening housing crisis is forcing more people to bed down on streets because they can’t afford the broken rental market,” Ms Rowe said.
“With over 65,000 households on the social housing waitlist and wait times up to 10 years, we need bold action that matches the scale of this crisis.
“Every person sleeping rough or struggling to pay the rent deserves better. We need sustained, substantial investment at the scale that matches the crisis we’re facing."
Homelessness NSW is calling for:
- Increase social housing stock from 4.7 percent to 10 percent
- Deliver a 30 percent increase in baseline funding for specialist homelessness services
HOMELESSNESS NSW
STATEMENT FROM DV NSW CEO DELIA DONOVAN
Despite ongoing calls from victim survivors, frontline servicess, advocates and peak bodies, this budget includes no new investment in the specialist services that are the first, and often only, lifeline in crisis.
Renewing existing contracts is not progress; it’s business as usual in the face of a growing domestic violence emergency – and the consequences will ripple through every system and every community in NSW. But it’s women and children who will ultimately pay the price of this inaction.