SunshineCoastRegionalReport2ndQtr2004

FEATURE ARTICLE
KEY OUTCOMES OF THE 2004/2005
QUEENSLAND BUDGET

•     $1.4 million is provided for the Triple R program, which will provide repainting, reticulation and re-roofing for 27 local
      schools, including reticulation works for Bli Bli and Coolum and repainting at Caboolture and Eumundi State Schools;

•     $74 million will be invested in 29,000 training places in the region. Of this, $5.56 million will be for manufacturing industry
      related training as part of the Making Queensland’s Future – A Manufacturing Development Plan initiative;

•     $2.81 million (including an Australian Government contribution of $703,000) is provided for the development of a new TAFE
      campus at Tewantin to deliver training in arts and environmental studies, interior design, language, retail, travel, interpretive
      tourism and business administration;

•     $172,000 for Police Beat Shopfronts at Kawana and Buderim, an estimated $317,000 for a new Neighbourhood Police Beat at
      Burpengary and $1.14 million for police facilities, including a new station at Pomona and land for facilities at Sippy Downs;

•     $7.84 million will be used to purchase land and begin construction of a new courthouse adjacent to the police station and
      hospital in Caloundra;

•     $6.5 million for improvements to the Landsborough to Maleny Road;

•     $5.16 million as part of total funding of $37 million to improve the D’Aguilar Highway between Caboolture and Kilcoy to
      reconfigure the Highway as a two lane bypass of Caboolture between the Bruce Highway and Old Gympie Road;

•     $1 million as part of total Government funding of $80 million to widen Caloundra Road to four lanes between Bruce Highway
      and Pierce Avenue;

•     $500,000 as part of total Government funding of $77 million to widen Maroochydore Road to four lanes between the Bruce
      Highway and Kunda Park, and $500,000 as part of total Government funding of $56 million to build a two lane link between
      Caloundra Road and Creekside Boulevard at Mooloolaba;

•     $500,000 for the Mooloolaba Boat Harbour Dredging Strategy;

•     ENERGEX will spend $8.3 million for a modular substation and feeders in the Tewantin area to commence a broader
      reinforcement project in the Tewantin/North Coast area;

•     The Queensland Events Regional Events Program will be bolstered with an extra $1.4 million a year expanding the program to
      $2.4 million a year for the next two years and including two new innovative schemes;

•     $2.7 million for the Fire Ant Eradication Campaign across South East Queensland;

•     $937,000 for fisheries research, including improving our understanding of factors affecting fish stocks and the survival of
      released fish;

•     $41,000 for improved fire management and pest and weed management;

•     $1.3 million to improve visitor amenities and facilities in parks and natural areas throughout the region. This includes
      approximately $477,000 for the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk in the Blackall Range;

•     North Coast region will receive around $7.37 million to create an estimated 1,131 jobs in 2004-05 through the Government’s
      Breaking the Unemployment Cycle initiative. This includes $3.39 million allocated to community employment programs and
      $3.98 million for apprenticeship and traineeship incentives to provide jobs in crucial, skills-shortage industries and the public
      sector;

•     The potential of the region to take advantage of industrial growth opportunities will be enhanced by the Government’s $21.6
      million investment in industrial estate development in Caloundra, Yandina, Narangba and Coolum;


©0, Sunshine Coast Regional Economy, Second Quarter 2004                                                                            -5-