The Treasurer has a challenge as he hands down the state budget: how to ensure today's budget pressures and demands do not come at the expense of the long-term investments needed to secure the future.
This matters because the Hunter is central to some of the state's biggest opportunities and challenges. We are powering the economy of today while undertaking one of the largest economic and industrial transformations in NSW history. Energy security, industrial sovereignty, defence, trade competitiveness and housing are increasingly delivered through the Hunter.
That is why this NSW budget is an important test. It will tell us whether the government understands the role the Hunter will play in the future prosperity of NSW, and whether it is prepared to partner in delivering it. There is encouraging progress. Recent announcements on schools, stormwater infrastructure and more than 100 additional bus services across the Hunter are essential investments.
The Committee for the Hunter recently partnered with Transport for NSW on a transport workshop. This brought together cross-sector leadership around a set of priorities: public transport, freight and logistics, airport connectivity and High Speed Rail. There was firm agreement across stakeholders on what needs to be done. The Hunter doesn't have an ideas problem. The challenge is delivery.
Take Newcastle Airport. The runway is built and international terminal open. The next step is targeted funding to secure international routes, growing tourism, trade, defence and investment opportunities for the region and state. At Broadmeadow, the business case for a new entertainment and events centre has been completed. High Speed Rail development is progressing. Broadmeadow will be the most significant city-shaping precinct in Australia. The question is whether the government is committed to that vision and ready to take the next steps.
We know the role the Port of Newcastle can play in NSW's industrial and global future. Priorities such as the Lower Hunter Freight Corridor have been discussed for years. This plan needs to become a committed project. The recent failure to secure federal funding for master planning at the John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct should not allow this opportunity to drift. It remains a state-owned asset with the potential to become a nationally significant health, research and innovation precinct.
In the Upper Hunter, councils and communities have already done the hard work. They have developed plans, identified priorities and built support around projects that will create jobs, diversify local economies and improve quality of life. The Future Jobs and Investment Authority was designed to support them to manage disruption. Alongside it sits stockpiled funding yet to reach communities. The next step is getting that funding out the door so councils can start delivering the projects.
This challenge becomes more crucial as the new Greater Newcastle and Central Coast Regional Plan is released. Housing will sit at the centre of that plan, but this lens produces a different set of priorities to those generated through productivity, economic development and equity. Access to strategic employment and service precincts, international gateways, transport disadvantage and region-shaping investments will need stronger advocacy.
The separation of the Upper and Lower Hunter into different planning schemes means we must work harder to maintain a coherent regional perspective. That is why the Committee for the Hunter will lead the development of Plan Hunter with our members - a practical delivery framework to align priorities, sequence actions, improve coordination and drive accountability across the region's biggest opportunities.
Not another vision document. Not another round of discussion on challenges we already understand. Not another layer of governance. A mechanism to drive accountability for delivery.
That is what the Hunter is looking for from this state budget. More than a collection of ad hoc pre-election announcements. Evidence that the NSW government understands our story, shares our long-term ambition, and is prepared to commit to delivering it.
