More than $6.5 million for Warialda bypass
Warialda's long awaited bypass is now just around the corner, with nearly $6.5 million in funding now locked in from industry and all levels of government.
This is a great example of three levels of government working together as well as great contributions from private enterprises.
The 3.6 kilometre bypass will take heavy vehicles from the north of Warialda along a new route to the east of the township, over a new bridge on Warialda Creek and onto the Gwydir Highway. The route will also incorporate a new truck wash and effluent disposal point.
The Federal Government has pledged nearly $3 million to the project through its Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program, while the NSW Government pledged $3 million to the project from the Fixing Country Roads program. Also pitching in with about $500,000 is the Gwydir Shire Council, while private contributions contribute $25,000.
This bypass will allow heavy vehicle traffic to avoid the challenging pinch point at the corner of Stephen St and the Gwydir Highway in Warialda. Currently B-doubles have to cross the centreline of both roads, which slows down traffic and presents a significant hazard to traffic and pedestrians. Road trains can’t yet legally pass through the town at all – adding nearly 150km to the journey north.
The Roads and Maritime Service state this bypass will reduce costs by about $100,000 a week, money that can go into other parts of the community. This bypass will significantly improve the efficiency of the local freight industry, making local roads safer, and reducing the amount of livestock effluent in the centre of town.
Call for funding submissions for Local Drug Action Teams
The second round of applications is now open for local organisations in the Electorate of Parkes to join the Nationals Liberal Government’s Local Drug Action Team program.
Community groups across Australia are joining forces to deliver targeted local action to help tackle drug use and addiction.
We need to work together to fight the scourge of ice and other drugs which cause so much harm to individuals, families and our communities.
The program is an initiative under the National Liberal Government’s four year, $298 million investment to reduce the harms of ice, drugs and alcohol.
Local Drug Action Teams are a community driven program, that supports local organisations to work together to develop and deliver local solutions to tackle drug and alcohol issues. Each successful Local Drug Action Team will receive minimum initial funding of $10,000 to support the further development of their local plan for on the ground prevention activities.
Community teams can apply for funding of up to $40,000 per annum to support the prevention activities and priorities they have identified in response to local issues.
Applications are now open. They close on 14 July 2017.
Details about the program, community support material and application documentation is available on the Alcohol and Drug Foundation website at www.adf.org.au
Instant asset write-off extension is another step closer:
The Federal Government is legislating in Parliament to extend the heavily demanded instant asset write-off. It means our 3.2 million small businesses can continue to buy the new equipment they need with the tax benefit of writing it off immediately.
The Government has also redefined ‘small business’ to mean those with a turnover up to $10m now qualify for the program. As well, we’re cutting the corporate tax rate for small business to its lowest level in decades – benefiting businesses that employ more than half the Aussie workforce.
Across Australia small business operators are telling us how the $20,000 instant write-off programme is helping their businesses grow. This comes on top of our accelerated depreciation initiatives, allowing farmers to write off fencing and water reticulation assets in the first year and fodder storage over three years.
More detail on the Government’s initiatives is at https://www.business.gov.au/smallbusiness