adam crouch mP member for terrigal
This year’s 2024–25 NSW State Budget has been delivered by the NSW Treasurer and sadly, it is a bad one. This Budget fails NSW and confirms that the Government will collect more revenue than any government in the history of our state but it doesn’t offer a cent for new cost of living support. There are cuts to schools, hospitals, frontline services and infrastructure.
Unfortunately, the people who will suffer are families and seniors. For families, we are seeing no additional cost–of–living relief when school supplies and household costs are continuing to skyrocket. Our children’s futures are going to be impacted as well, with a total lack of funding for school upgrades in the Terrigal Electorates, and only $1.4 million for school upgrades to three Central Coast schools.
We will receive only two public childcare centres as compared to the Hunter, which will receive 14 and Illawarra–Shoalhaven, which will receive 10. We have been simply left behind, and it’s not right. The Central Coast is a young, fast–growing region and we need strong voices in government who are prepared to do the work to help our region grow.
Public school education, cut by $149 million in the Budget is down right across the Central Coast. For my seat of Terrigal, there has been a collective $500,000 cut across the allocated funding under the Resource Allocation Funding. Funding has gone backwards at all schools in my electorate except one, which will receive an extra $3,000.
Seniors will miss out too, with the Budget failing to provide funding for the massively successful Regional Seniors Travel Card, which was utilised by over 40,000 seniors on the Central Coast providing massive cost–of–living relief to some of our most vulnerable.
Land tax thresholds will be increased for the 2024 land tax year, meaning more mum and dad investors and self–supporting seniors will hurt their pocket in the name of revenue raising – $1.5 billion in fact.
Infrastructure spending is suffering too, with little funding spread across the Central Coast for major congestion busting upgrades, such as the upgrade of the Central Coast Highway from Wamberal to Bateau Bay, which received no new funding.
This Budget is bad, and that means it is bad news for the Central Coast. It is by far and away the worst Budget for the people of my electorate, with a complete abandonment of responsibility to act on the cost–of–living crisis.
With skyrocketing house prices, rent and a complete lack of cost–of–living support, everyone will suffer. As Member for Terrigal, I will continue to call out the local Government MPs who have to date not lifted a finger to help the people of the Central Coast and are unwilling to own up to their mistakes. The 2025–26 NSW Budget must be better, for the sake of our region and NSW.
Contact Adam
Always available to meet with you to discuss your concerns.
Shop 3 Fountain Plaza, 148–158 The Entrance Road,
Erina, NSW Australia 2250
(02) 4365 1906 | terrigal@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Adam Crouch MP adamcrouchmp