After almost a decade of disappointment on budget nights, Charles Sturt University is finally celebrating following the announcement of a medical school network across the Murray Darling Basin.

CSU and Western Sydney University will come together as part of the federal government’s network to establish a Joint Medical Program (JMP) designed to boost the number of medical practitioners training – and, ultimately, working – in the bush.

Crucially, the plan will see 30 medical Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) allocated to Charles Sturt University, a resounding victory in the university’s bid to establish a rural medical school.

This is just a first step but it is a landmark one. – and even CSU vice-chancellor Professor Andrew Vann could not hide his delight.

“Most importantly it will allow students in rural and regional Australia to train in the bush and develop the skills, knowledge and networks that will allow them to take up rural medical practice,” Professor Vann said on budget night.

CSU and Western Sydney University will now work to finalise the proposal to the federal government and to agree on building the necessary facilities to support the Joint Medical Program.

It's an exciting development, and one that makes good political and policy sense.

Tuesday night’s budget was clearly one designed to help a struggling government prepare to fight an election campaign, and the Joint Medical Program was just one of the many sweeteners sprinkled through the document.

Labor candidates eyeing rural and regional seats would have had their own medical school plans up their sleeve but they’ve now lost any advantage such a policy would have brought them.

At the same time, it’s hard to fault the logic of training more GPs in the bush.

Studies show that university graduates who train in regional centres are more likely to work in regional centres so a rural medical network in the obvious solution to rural doctor shortages.

Tuesday night was the culmination of a decade of lobbying by CSU and marks a significant moment in the university’s history.

CSU has every right to celebrate, and so does rural and regional NSW.