From the CEO

A Budget with a half pike

Rebuild the road and they will come. How does a government bring down a Federal Budget for a population numb from body blows over so many years? In the late March Federal Budget there was a one-off payment of $250 for pensioners and concession card holders, tax cuts and bonuses for others, in a measure heralded to cost $5.6m. Treasurer Frydenberg revealed he would be halving the fuel excise for a few months, but then what?

A regional development package has been revealed as well, targeting a bunch of regional centres includes massive investment into infrastructure projects in the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and the Pilbara area of WA. These sectors cover telecommunications, road, rail and regional health. The commitments total more than $21bn over the medium term. Simon Birmingham, the Liberal government finance minister, described the government’s budget management was allowing for the delivery of a dividend back to taxpayers. But, he said, “it seeks to apply those dividends in a careful, cautious, responsible way to set Australia up for the future.” The deficit for 2021-22 is expected to be $79.8bn, with total deficits across the fouryear forward estimates totalling $224.7bn. For Science, nothing much. EV and other renewables research and incentives, not much at all. Manufacturing? The instant asset write off (or temporary full expensing to use the technical term) has already been extended to June 2023 so there was not a need for the budget to consider this unless they can see value in continuing this past June 2023. We have certainly seen an immense increase in investment in technology over the past few years as a result of this scheme which has led to business growth and jobs. Why not make it permanent? “They don’t have a plan that goes beyond the May election,” said Jim Chalmers, Labor’s Shadow Treasurer. “It is the most short-sighted budget in memory – it has a shelf life of about six or seven weeks.” But when the deficit is already plumbing the depths of the mine, the bright sparks in the wall are hard to find. Some of the investment has been in assisting SMEs and businesses. How do we get from here to there? Recent natural disasters have torn our nation’s roads and rail lines apart with damage from floods, storm surges and more floods. You don’t need to be on the ground to understand what this does to transport routes. This year’s budget saw the allocation of an extra $17.9bn to priority rail and road projects across Australia, which is a blessing which the Australian Flexible Pavement Association has welcomed. “We are pleased to see that the government shares our view that recent natural disasters and indeed the pandemic have highlighted how crucial the roadways that connect us are,” said Carlos Rial, CEO of AfPA. He added that industry needs to reinforce the challenge of the nation’s declining road conditions. “The Federal Government supporting increased maintenance funding in partnership with States and Local Government will also support sustainability and the circular economy.” Speaking of getting there from here, there was some healthy new rail funding and an increased focus on level crossing safety. This was amongst some of the more positive notes included in the late March Federal Budget by the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Shipping and freight security is so important, especially in these pandemicriddled, economically trying times. If you don’t get the goods to their destination, nobody gets anything. One of the more positive notes to take from the budget was a renewed commitment to education and training, particularly skills development through new apprenticeships assistance. • $954m over five years from 202122 to introduce a new Australian

Apprenticeships Incentive Scheme from 1 July 2022, providing support to employers and apprentices in priority occupations • $365.3m to extend the Boosting

Apprenticeship Commencements and Completing Apprenticeship wage subsidies by 3 months to 30 June 2022, to further support employers taking on and retaining new apprentices • $2.8m in 2022-23 to increase apprenticeships In-Training Support by an additional 2,500 places for young

Australians aged 15-20 years. With so many industry sectors having skill shortages and crying out for assistance, hopefully these initiatives will help address some of these issues.