Budgets deliver little new

BY BRUCE RUSSELL

Despite the publicity hype, both the State and Federal budgets last week delivered little in terms of new project funding for the Kimberley.

The Federal budget made a passing reference to providing an indigenous secondary education hostel in Kununurra.

There has been an allocation of $7.4 million to Aboriginal Hostels to establish a new secondary student hostel in Kununurra to provide accommodation for up to 40 indigenous students who relocate from their homes in the Kimberley region to continue their education.

General spending on education, health and indigenous services will obviously benefit the region, but to what specific amount is hard to estimate.

The State Budget included for the Kimberley:

* $30.8 million of road improvements, including $15.8 million on the Broome Bypass;

* $23 million to be spent on the replacement of the Fitzroy Crossing District High School;

* $22.3 million for the continued development of Stage I of the Broome Regional Resource Centre and $15.9 million for various developments at Kununurra, Wyndham, Fitzroy Crossing and Derby.

* $15.4 million to be spent on replacing the Derby Police station and construction of the Kimberley District Police Complex;

* $10.9 million for the upgrade of the Wyndham water supply;

* $9.8 million for upgrades to the Broome Regional Prison and to finalise replacement planning;

* $9.8 million to begin planning for construction of the Kimberley Prison and Work Camp;

* $4 million for Stage II of the Broome Residential College;

* $3.5 million to be spent on volunteer fire and emergency collocation in Derby and Kununurra; and

* $2.9 million on irrigation works on the Ord River.

There was no mention of proposed spending on infrastructure for Ord Stage II, begging the question: does the State Government expect a private developer to provide the quality of infrastructure necessary for the project and the future of the region?