Document
Index
Budget Paper 2
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Document
Index |
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Expense ($m)
Explanation
The Government will extend the Federal Road Safety Black Spot Programme for two further years from 2000-01. The Programme has helped to reduce the road toll with consequent economic benefits, and will continue to contribute significantly to safety and efficiency objectives. This includes measured reductions in casualty crashes and associated social and economic costs.
Further Information
Outputs under this programme include addressing black spots by providing traffic lights and roundabouts in priority areas. Other spin-offs include heightened awareness of road safety generally, realignment of State and Territory activities to the Commonwealth priority of targeted, high safety-impact programmes, and encouragement of benchmarking and exchange of best practice among the States and Territories.
The two year extension of the Black Spot Programme fulfils the 1998 election commitment in Transport – Driving Forward.
Expense ($m)
Explanation
The Government will provide increased funding of $195 million for specific road projects as part of the National Highway and Roads of National Importance Programmes to contribute to the upgrading of significant corridors and the elimination of transport bottlenecks. The National Highway and Roads of National Importance Programmes provide funding for roads linking Australia, including roads linking regional areas of Australia.
Further Information
In accordance with its 1998 election commitment in Transport – Driving Forward, funding is provided for the following projects:
Expense ($m)
Explanation
The Government will extend the Tasmanian Freight Equalization Scheme (TFES) in response to the TFES Review Authority’s June 1998 advisory opinion on rates of assistance. The TFES assists in alleviating Tasmania’s comparative interstate transport cost disadvantage of shipping eligible non-bulk goods across Bass Strait. The extended scheme provides assistance to shippers based upon the cost incurred shipping goods to or from Tasmania and the cost of a similar transport task on the mainland road network.
Further Information
Assistance will be reviewed annually to ensure it continues to reflect the current freight cost disadvantage for shippers and is sensitive to cost savings as waterfront and shipping reforms are passed on to shippers in the form of lower freight rates.
This measure implements the 1998 election commitment made in A Stronger Tasmania.
Expense ($m)
Explanation
The Government will increase funding for services to the Indian Ocean Territories so that the inhabitants of Christmas and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands will continue to enjoy services which are comparable to those available to mainland Australians.
Further Information
The increased funding will ensure, for example, that air services to the Indian Ocean Territories are maintained.
Expense ($m)
Explanation
The Government will fund priority integrated regional flood mitigation projects, including the construction of new infrastructure, such as levees, and repair or upgrading of existing infrastructure. Projects to be supported include levees, channel improvement works, retarding basins, upgrading and replacement of existing flood structures, flood warning systems, protection levees for key infrastructure, and voluntary purchase of homes. States and Territories are expected to make matching contributions through partnership agreements. Local Government will also make a contribution.
Further Information
The programme will complement natural disaster activities of Emergency Management Australia, the National Disaster Relief Arrangements, and the National Landcare Programme.
This initiative combines the Government’s two election commitments outlined in Regional Australia: Investing in our Future and Primed for Growth.
Expense ($m)
Explanation
The Government will provide direct support to local government to encourage adoption and transfer of best practice skills and project experience with the objectives of increasing the efficiency with which they regulate business activities and deliver services. This will include sharing of economic advice to assess the merits of investment projects, information technology support to improve billing systems, initiatives to reduce red tape and business compliance costs through planning reforms, increasing quality of life through cultural, environmental and community projects, and access to capital markets.
Further Information
Grants will be provided to individual councils and also where two or more local governments propose a co-operative project. All grants will be contingent on additional funding from other sources.
Expense ($m)
Explanation
The Government will contribute to the Rockhampton City Council upgrade of Rockhampton Airport’s runway from 1980 metres to 2680 metres. This will enable the airport to take heavily-laden B767 as well as B747 and larger military freight aircraft. The measure will assist the Capricornia region of Queensland to better position itself in the lucrative tourism and defence exercise markets.
Further Information
This initiative is consistent with the Government’s liberalised aviation policy objective to encourage passenger and freight services to secondary gateways such as Rockhampton, and is in accordance with the Government’s commitment.
Expense ($m)
Explanation
This funding supplements the $2 million in 1999-2000 provided in the 1998-99 Budget to ease the introduction of location specific pricing for tower services at regional and general aviation airports. This measure will support transport access and safety in regional Australia. The subsidy will be funded by an increase in excise and customs duty on aviation turbine fuel and aviation gasoline.
See also the revenue measure in Part II titled Funding for Airservices (location specific pricing) subsidy.
Expense ($m)
Explanation
The Government will fund the States and Territories to upgrade bridges on the National Highway System in order to support an increase in mass limits for heavy road freight vehicles (from 42.5 tonnes to 45.5 tonnes for the most common type of long distance truck). The increase in mass limits was recommended by the National Road Transport Commission.
This measure implements the election commitment in Transport – Driving Forward to allocate $20 million (including $18 million of new money) to a bridge upgrading programme to support increased mass limits.
Expense ($m)
Explanation
The Government will support maritime safety and continue funding for the coastal radio network from 2000-01.
Further Information
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority currently provides coastal radio communication facilities to all vessels under the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) conventions through contractual arrangements with Telstra. This arrangement is to cease from 1 July 2000 following the introduction of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), although radio coverage of non-SOLAS vessels, including recreational and small commercial vessels, will continue past the introduction of GMDSS.
Expense ($m)
Explanation
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has been operating with a shortfall of industry contributions. An increase in the rate of excise and customs duty on aviation fuel will be introduced to address this shortfall (a description of the revenue measure can be found in Civil Aviation Safety Authority cost recovery in Part II of this budget paper). The effect of this measure is an increase in revenue of $8.6 million per annum. The measure will be indexed to the CPI.
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