A message from our Lord Mayor We understand that many Novocastrians have been impacted by COVID-19 and our community will likely be affected for some time to come. But collectively, we are a city that is resilient in times of crisis. Newcastle has a long history of dealing with economic adversity, which gives us the confidence to know that as a community we can get through this together. City of Newcastle’s COVID-19 Response Budget will see an additional $33.8 million invested into local infrastructure projects across the city, aimed at sustaining local economic growth and protecting as many jobs as possible. City of Newcastle is dedicated to protecting these local jobs by investing significantly in the infrastructure needs our local communities. Our proposed record works program of $116.3 million is estimated to sustain up to 700 local jobs and increase total economic output in the Newcastle Local Government Area by up to $275 million during the next twelve months.
City of Newcastle
Financial sustainability is one of the foundations of good government and this has been delivered over the last six years through prudent and progressive economic management.
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This foundation built by our team on Council over the last six years will allow us to support our community and local businesses through this uncertain time and has been at the forefront of our budget preparations. Sensible budget surpluses over this time has ensured that our City has the required financial contingency to address unforeseen events such as natural disasters or pandemics like COVID-19. We have used this year’s budget to lead the community from local government, significantly boosting our support initiatives to help our local people and businesses through this time of crisis. Importantly, our budget has been revised to include a second phase of our COVID-19 Economic and Community Resilience Package. The brave decisions by most of the elected Council have protected and expanded our services, while our increased investment into capital works has significantly stimulated the local economy. In fact, independent economic analysis shows that our investment in local infrastructure has sustained over 3,500 local jobs and increased economic output across Newcastle by more than $1.27 billion since 2015. Our COVID-19 Response Budget will see investment in our works program continue at a record rate, and will occur right across our city and throughout our suburbs.
