Seaford to get $170m rail line
A go-ahead for the $170 million Seaford rail line will be a key boost for South Australia in the Federal Budget as Treasurer Wayne Swan unveils big-spending programs.
Southern commuters have been calling for years for faster, and more efficient, public transport for new growth areas. The latest move will extend the Noarlunga line by a further 7km to the Seaford shopping centre.
Another long-awaited proposal will be the decision to introduce 18 weeks paid parental leave from January, 2011, at a cost of $260 million a year.
Under the scheme, a primary carer will be paid at the adult federal minimum wage which is $543.78 a week while high-income earners – more than $150,000 a year – will not be eligible.
The Advertiser also understands that funding of several hundred million dollars will be earmarked for a high-end medical facility at the new $1.7 billion Royal Adelaide Hospital. The facility – expected to focus on cancer research – is designed to become one of Australia’s best resourced medical research facilities.
New infrastructure spending will include up to $400 million to double the capacity of the Port Stanvac desalination plant to 100 gigalitres a year. Money will also be provided to bring forward the upgrading and eventual electrification of the Gawler rail line to 2012.
But the good news has been tempered by a warning SA will be hit by further cuts in GST revenue which will see the State Budget deficit hit $500 million.
Treasurer Kevin Foley said yesterday it would make it “very, very difficult” to deliver tax cuts in the June 4 Budget.
He warned that as a result of revenue losses of around $1 billion a year, the state would remain in deficit for at least four years.
He said the state would not cut back on any of its infrastructure spending.
The Seaford rail extension was at the top of the State Government’s wishlist for money from the Infrastructure Australia fund.
Construction of the line from Noarlunga to Seaford, which includes a bridge across the Onkaparinga River, is likely to start next year.
Onkaparinga mayor Lorraine Rosenberg said extending the Seaford line would be “bloody marvellous”. “It’s been a long time coming and there has been a lot of talk about it,” she said.
“Seaford is a good compromise in the short-term while extending it to Aldinga is a very long-term option.”
Noarlunga resident Ian Jenkins said it would be “a great idea”. “It will save many people driving to the current stop and then catching the train,” he said.
There has been increasing speculation since last week the state’s share of the infrastructure fund would be less than that of most other states. The size of the fund, originally standing at $20 billion, has shrunk to $8 billion and reports suggest the bulk will go to NSW, Victoria and Queensland. That was rejected yesterday by both Premier Mike Rann and Infrastructure Minister Patrick Conlon.
Mr Rann said commentators interstate had predicted “they would win submarines and other things”.
“I think I have a much better idea what’s in the Infrastructure Australia decision than people in Sydney and Melbourne,” he said. “You will just have to wait and see.”
Mr Conlon has been heavily involved in negotiations with the Commonwealth Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese on the funding.
He has also dismissed suggestions other states would win the lion’s share of the fund.
There was also a warning from economic forecasters Access Economics that massive government spending in the boom times meant the Federal Budget would be “deep in deficit” well after the global financial crisis had disappeared.
In a new report to be released today called Deficits as far as the eye can see, Access Economics director Chris Richardson says the revenue hole left by the end of the resources boom is worse than many people think.
Dr Richardson said structural weaknesses in Commonwealth revenues had been masked for years by the massive inflow of money from company profits and capital gains. This had allowed successive governments to hand out billions in so-called middle-class welfare, paid for by these rivers of gold.
