Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

They did, and many others besides. As well as guaranteed record funding for Medicare and hospitals, the government will boost financial security for older people on the Central Coast and across Australia, helping those who want to be able to work longer and giving them more choice in their care. We'll also protect people from Labor's unfair retirement tax. Elizabeth at Gosford welcomed the tax changes and said it gave flexibility to individuals and families. But it was Patricia who said it pretty well. She said: 'I appreciate a government which is focused on a good healthy growing economy by not putting us in more debt and working towards reducing our debt.' Patricia said, quite rightly: 'People seem to forget when we have a Labor government—they enjoy all the things offered but with no thought to the consequences of overspending. One can't run a successful household or business budget by spending more than one has and not planning for the future.'

Finally, we've heard from businesses and their representatives, such as Rod Dever, President of the Gosford/Erina and Coastal Chamber of Commerce. Rod said today that the chamber is supportive of the budget and many of the financial opportunities it presents for the taxpayers and businesses alike in our region. One of the opportunities presented is the $20,000 instant asset write-off, which is continuing for another year to help small business invest in new equipment. Well over 1,000 local businesses in my electorate of Robertson have already benefited from this popular measure.

The budget also builds on our significant previous infrastructure investment on the Central Coast, which includes $10 million to help deliver Gosford's long-awaited world-class Regional Performing Arts and Conference Centre. The council has recently confirmed that the former Broadwater Hotel on Mann Street is the preferred site. This is great news. Together with funding from the New South Wales government and council and the support of our arts community, it will be a fantastic cultural venue, of which we can all be proud. We're also delivering $7 million towards a new regional library and learning and development centre in Gosford, and a landmark Central Coast Medical School and Health and Medical Research Institute—an $85 million project with the New South Wales government and the University of Newcastle.

The Somersby industrial estate, Banjo's Skate Park and the Terrigal Trojans clubhouse were all confirmed in the budget, along with roads funding for the Central Coast Council through the Roads to Recovery program and our election commitments, including the upgrade of Oceano Street at Copacabana. We are on track with our commitment to continuous mobile coverage on trains and a New South Wales business case to investigate faster rail for commuters, and I will have more to say about this exciting project soon. (Time expired)

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