Local government still chasing road funding boost
While Adelaide’s Santos Stadium received $20 million in Federal funding today, the Local Government Association is still chasing a similar amount for crucial road repairs.
The funding will see the sports facility made Paralympian friendly and become home to the new South Australian Sports Institute, currently located at Underdale.
Regional Australia Minister Catherine King was on hand at the announcement and said: “We’ll really see a much better integration between both able-bodied athletes and our fantastic Paralympians.”
The Local Government Association (LGA) said the $20 million was similar to the amount of top-up money needed for its crucial road repairs, which are now under threat.
“Fix potholes, put down roundabouts, and all other sorts of traffic management issues on local roads,” Wendy Campana from the LGA said.
Today the minister was quick to point out recent funding for roads, saying she had just signed off on $17 million of supplementary road funding for 2013-14 on Monday.
But a Commonwealth budget paper indicates nothing is certain beyond next year, despite King’s pledge of commitment to the Roads to Recovery budget.
And the LGA said the Roads to Recovery budget is a different program altogether.
“I think we got no commitment in terms of continuing the funding,” Ms Campana said.
