IS IT possible for the Burdekin College of TAFE to benefit from some of the One Billion Dollars announced in the new Federal Government’s first budget brought down last week?
The lack of services available through the local facility has been raised on numerous occasions in the hope that something may be done to resurrect the facility’s usage in this community as a whole—but there doesn’t seem to be much that can be done until the maintenance improvements that were raised before the last state election are carried out.
We doubt that much has done by the government along those lines since the election because any substantial spending of money would be highlighted by the relevant minister to gain political capital out of the project.
The Federal Treasurer announced the one-billion-dollar investment in fee-free TAFE and vocational education places in the budget, but how much of that money will go to regional areas?
Whatever happened to decentralisation? — Spreading the money around so that all areas of the state benefit, instead of all economic rewards being directed just to the south-east corner of the state?
The government is aiming to build one million new homes over five years from 2024—how many of those homes will be built in regional areas?
And how many government-controlled homes are there in cities and towns around the nation (including Home Hill) that are not being used as they deteriorate from lack of care from regular tenants?
Maybe state and federal governments should look at what they have now before they go ahead spending more money on wishful thinking.