A farmer, small business owner, doctor and mental health advocate share how this year’s budget will impact Lithgow. 

Rachel Nicoll, the chair of the Hartley branch of NSW Farmers said she was ‘quietly positive’ about this year’s budget. Benefits for farmers were directly addressed by Treasurer Scott Morrison in his budget announcement. 

Ms Nicoll said some of the positives she gleaned from the budget were the investment into strategic state road corridors, biosecurity and pest control, the extension of the $20,000 instant asset right off and the $51 million investment into placing further trade councillors in Asia. 

“Technology is a huge one, with the federal government committing funding to improved GPS services,” Ms Nicoll said. 

“But I really haven’t seen the issue of rural connectivity and communications, and the black spot program be answered.

“Infrastructure must absolutely be a priority, like delivering on rural roads and those strategically important corridors, but telecommunications infrastructure is just as important.” 

The establishment of a network of rural medical schools in the Murray Darling region, allowing students to complete their entire degree in the bush, was a centerpiece of the government’s Stronger Rural Health Strategy. 

Lithgow’s existing school of rural medicine, run by Notre Dame University, is not part of the network.

Head of the school Dr John Dearin said, in his own opinion, steps to increase the number of doctors in rural areas were a positive.

“The training and retention of rural doctors needs to be achieved without increasing the number of medical graduates over all because currently we  have a maldistribution of medical graduates,” he said.

The government has not announced an increase in commonwealth-supported medical places. 

“What we are doing in Lithgow is successful. And we still want to be on the map.”

The president of the Lithgow District Chamber of Commerce, Angela O’Connor, said the 2018/19 budget had been ‘received well’ by the business community. 

Positives she mentioned were the continuation of the $20,000 instant asset write-off for small businesses, as well as tax cuts and more flexibility for pensioners, which could increase opportunities for spending. 

“Pensioners are being given a small break in that they can earn slightly more before their pension is affected, in turn giving them more spending power – in a town where the population is ageing this has the potential for a huge flow on effect benefiting our small businesses,” she said. 

“Perhaps in future budgets relief for child care would be welcomed for small businesses, particularly family run businesses,” she said. 

Alex Ferguson, the executive director of Lifeline Central West, which provides phone counselling and face-to-face outreach services in Lithgow, said the organisation will directly benefit from this year’s budget. 

Lifeline Australia will receive an extra $6 million a year in federal funding for the next three years, plus a “balloon” payment of almost $16 million in the fourth year.

Mr Ferguson said the money would go towards updating Lifeline’s telephone system, as well as training volunteers. 

“I personally think it’s quite excellent in terms of the work we are in,” he said.

“Governments are very quick to hang their hat on hard infrastructure, but it’s also their job to produce outcomes in soft infrastructure, like medicine, health, and mental health, and I think the budget has gone along way to ticking off on that.”

Read more: Budget 2018/19 – what’s in it for you at a glance