No investment for key projects

Last week the Federal Government released a budget that had mixed outcomes for the City of Logan.

We know that the past month, let alone the past two years, has been a tough one for our city and the cost-of-living relief provided through the budget will be greatly appreciated. 

However, when it comes to long-term funding for the delivery of vital infrastructure in the City of Logan the Federal Budget was lacking. 

Council put forward 12 priority projects valued at $300 million for consideration in a pre-budget submission with very clear reasons to justify the benefits to the city so it was disappointing to not see any investment in these key projects.

While this wasn’t the outcome we wanted for our city, Council will continue advocating to both levels of government to support our city’s rapidly growing population.

The budget confirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to the recently announced City Deals. It also provided a $1.12 billion investment in the Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail project. This is a 50:50 arrangement with the Queensland Government, who announced $1.12 billion in state funding for the project in February.

The timing of the Federal Budget coincided with the first of our own budget meetings as this council works towards handing down its third budget on June 20.

Last year was a historical moment handing down the City of Logan’s first $1billion Budget and it also set the wheels in motion for investing in the future of our city and its people.

Our budget will continue to build on the foundations of last year – investing in community and lifestyles of our city and its people now and into the future.

Many, many hours of discussion, debate and decision-making go into our budget each year and I’m grateful to my fellow councillors who are committed to delivering a responsible budget that will benefit our city for years to come.

One thing this city has always been good at is paving our own path and creating our own success. We will continue to move forward and do this, but we also won’t let other levels of governments forget about us.

We need to work together across all levels of government to make the City of Logan the best place it can be.