Bathurst has received a double dose of bad news from the 2013-14 Budget with next to no investment in regional areas and the slashing of funding for universities, according to Western Research Institute CEO Dr Andrew Johnson.
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Dr Johnson said he thought Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan had delivered a responsible budget.
He praised the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and boosted funding for schools, but said regional areas and universities were two big losers.
Given the focus on the amount of debt the government has accrued and the struggle to get back to surplus, it was widely expected that there would be a lot of belt tightening, but Dr Johnson said he was disappointed that most of the focus had been on the major cities.
"If you look at the Budget papers, the focus of infrastructure spending in NSW is in Sydney. There is almost no new spending in the Central West, other than a little bit for a road in Parkes, but important projects like the Bells Line of Road are still being overlooked," Dr Johnson said. "Overall I thought it was a good budget, but it was still too focused on revenue."
Dr Johnson said any success that Charles Sturt University enjoys has a flow-on effect for the city.
"Regional development and universities go hand in hand when you look at Bathurst," he said.
"In terms of regional development, CSU contributes significantly to the Central West, in terms of employment, students and human capital, and they are going to be impacted by the cuts to universities."
The government had already announced prior to Tuesday night's budget that they would be redirecting funding from universities to help fund reforms recommended by the Gonski report.
"The introduction of an efficiency dividend and cuts to other aspects of tertiary education are expected to total more than $2 billion," he said.
"The funding cuts are going to make it very difficult for them to plan and also to achieve the government's target of having 40 per cent of the population with degrees."
“CSU is really pushing for a medical school in Orange and Wagga and that is laudable and would be a massive boost for the region.”
Dr Johnson said he thinks it is important to be keeping an eye on government debt but he doesn’t feel Australia is too badly placed compared to other economies.
“I think debt is something that should always be in our focus,” Dr Johnson said.
“Australia is at the lower end of the scale in terms of debt. We are pretty close to the Scandinavian and European countries but much better than Japan and Italy.
“The economy is shaky and I thought there could have been more talk of confidence, but overall I think it is in pretty good shape.”