In his budget speech Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said “We are building a better NSW where every community, no matter its postcode, can thrive”.
However, the Minns Government’s 2025–26 New South Wales Budget, handed down today, has already come under fire for failing to deliver, or simply re-announcing funding already in place, for regional communities, while the majority of headline announcements were city-centric.
Despite pre-budget announcements on efforts to improve services and support for people experiencing domestic, family, and sexual violence, the budget papers revealed just $272.7 million for support services plus $49.4 million for a new trauma-informed court hub to improve the experience of victim-survivors giving evidence remotely.
Women’s Shelter Armidale has expressed deep disappointment, saying today’s budget offers no new investment despite growing need and rising rates of violence.
“For far too long, services like ours have carried the weight of a growing epidemic of violence,” said Penny Lamaro, CEO for Women’s Shelter Armidale.
“We are working at three times the capacity we are funded for, and it’s not sustainable. The community, already struggling under a cost-of-living crisis, is being left to make up the shortfall where government won’t.”
The much cherished local service just last week opened a new youth centre in Armidale, Trackside, which has no operating funding at all, and have previously raised the untenable situation in Walcha where the absence of any SDV service – or police overnight – results in people suffering more abuse for longer.
The only read additional funding in the budget is investing in the criminal justice system – and most of that is in Sydney.
“But the reality is that many victim-survivors either can’t or won’t engage with the justice system. Safe housing, trauma recovery, financial support – these are the foundations of real safety,” she said.
“Without urgent investment in health, housing, education, and community based services, we are not building safer communities – we are building bigger prisons.”
On first pass, it appears that the only additional funding for crisis accomodation in the budget was $20m for a centre in Sydney.
“Once again, regional communities like ours have been forgotten. In the New England region, we are averaging five domestic violence incidents a day – more than double the state average.”
“Our shelter is full, and we are turning away more people than we can help.”
“What will it take to get the funding we need?”
Others likely to be disappointed are state MPs Brendan Moylan and Kevin Anderson, with their wish lists largely ignored.
Moylan called for more roads funding, with the New England Highway still a mess a month after a short closure to the Pacific Highway during flooding trashed the alleged national highway.
“The NSW Government is forking out millions of dollars into road infrastructure in western Sydney, yet our hard-working Northern Tablelands residents are being treated like second-class citizens,” he said.
“It is not good enough.”
“If the roads in Western Sydney were this much of a mess, I guarantee they would have already been fixed.”
Anderson was focused on infrastructure, list a number of local project he wanted to see funded, including the Goonoo Goonoo Road duplication, upgrades and new fire stations, UNE Tamworth and the Tamworth Industrial Water Recycling plant.
“Our economy has been growing steadily thanks to strong investment in public and private infrastructure,” Mr Anderson said.
“Projects like the new Tamworth Mental Health Unit, Gunnedah Hospital, Gunnedah Saleyards and Koala Park, and the Tamworth Skywalk are well underway, keeping the local economy moving.
“It’s important to keep planning for the future and that’s why I have a long list of projects that I want to see funded.”
However none of the region’s roads, and only a couple of the infrastructure projects on Mr Anderson’s list, were specifically named in the budget statements. The biggest win was $3m for the Tamworth Advanced Water Treatment Plant.
The local commitments that were noted in the budget papers are predominantly continuing existing projects. They include:
- Coninuing funding for the Moree and Glen Innes hospital upgrades already underway, and Gunnedah Hospital was mentioned as receiving some operational funding.
- Ongoing work on preschools at Toomelah, Warialda and Hillvue; continuing upgrades to a small number of local primary schools, and upgrades to Tamworth High School.
- Continue planning for the Goonoo Goonoo Road duplication and continuation of the Newell Highway Heavy Duty Pavement Program
- Funding to continue the Keep on Track Program for a further two years in Moree, Narrabri, Armidale and Tamworth.
- Continued funding for environmental infrastructure in the Northern Basin rivers.
- Continued funding for the Moree Special Activation Precinct.
There have been some broader gains that may benefit the region, including the record $1.2 billion investment to overhaul the state’s child protection system. This includes $797.6 million to maintain existing out-of-home care placements, $191.5 million to recruit more than 200 new caseworkers and a 20% increase to the Foster Care Allowance, the first major rise in two decades.
These measures are linked to further investments to Closing the Gap for Aboriginal communities across the state, $210.2 million for the Aboriginal Housing Office to deliver social and affordable housing in NSW, and $200.9 million to support the First Steps Program to expand early childhood care and education for Aboriginal communities to ensure they have access to high quality, affordable, and culturally safe early education.
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