Birrell not expecting generous regional spending in budget

By Max Stainkamph

Oct 24, 2022

Taking stock: Federal opposition leader Peter Dutton in Shepparton on Thursday visiting the Shepparton Showgrounds relief centre, flanked by City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali and Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell. Photo by Holly Daniel

Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell is worried the Goulburn Valley and regional Australia across the board will lose funding in Tuesday night’s federal budget.

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Mr Birrell said he wasn’t optimistic about the budget on October 25, which will be the first by the new Labor government which was sworn in in May.

It’s the second budget of the year, following the Coalition government’s released before the election.

Mr Birrell was concerned funding projects such as GV Health’s new medical school would have funding removed, while federal funding for FoodShare and the proposed Yarrawonga sports stadium was also unclear.

The potential removal of regional funding programs also had Mr Birrell “very disturbed” about what might be in the budget for regional Australia.

“We’re still waiting for decisions on previous spending commitments ... you come to Canberra and hope people want to help communities but when you see some of the decisions made you realise it’s more about politics,” he said.

“The feeling is Labor wants to announce cuts and their favourite area to do that is regional areas.

“We’ll have to wait and see how we go.”