Coulton’s Catch Up - Monday 20 January, 2025

Coulton's Catch-Up

• Another chance to boost connectivity on Back Country properties

• NBN upgrades

• New grants available for aged care providers

• Disappointment follows funding announcement, by Dubbo airport benefits

Another chance to boost on farm connectivity

The Labor Government has announced it will open a third round of the On Farm Connectivity Program later this year.

While I welcome this investment into the ag-tech grants program, I hope the application process for this next round will be improved to make it fairer for all farmers after the debacle of Round 2. Applications for Round 2 were open for less than a week before the $18 million in funding was exhausted, meaning many farmers in the Parkes electorate missed out.

The program provides rebates of up to 50 per cent for eligible equipment and technology for farmers to aid with monitoring livestock, improving efficiency in water use and improving soil quality through smart farming. For more information about the On Farm Connectivity Program, visit: www.infrastructure.gov.au/ofcp

NBN upgrade

Last week NBN CO announced it will upgrade the remaining Fibre to the Node network across Australia, benefitting about 622,000 homes and businesses with more than half located in regional Australia.

More than 95 per cent of these homes and businesses will have the option to upgrade to nbn full fibre via nbn Fibre to the Premises, which is faster and more reliable than Fibre to the Node.

Faster broadband speeds will enable more people and devices to be online at the same time with minimal disruptions, meaning smoother streaming, faster downloads and uploads, and stronger connections.

While details about specific locations are yet to be announced, I’m hoping towns across the Parkes electorate will benefit from this upgrade. To register for updates to find out if your home or business is eligible, visit: www.nbnco.com.au/check

Grants to support transition to new aged care act

A new grant opportunity is available for providers of Home Care Packages (HCP) and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) to assist with the required changes they’ll need to make to meet the obligations under the Australian Government’s new Aged Care Act 2024.

As part of the aged care reform, the Support at Home (SaH) program will replace the HCP program from 1 July 2025. HCP providers will require changes to their IT systems to meet new obligations for claiming payments for services delivered and reporting under the SaH program and the Aged Care Act 2024.

CHSP providers will also require changes to their IT systems to meet the new reporting obligations.

I encourage providers in the Parkes electorate to apply for one-off funding of $10,000 to upgrade their IT systems.

Grants information

Win for Dubbo, disappointment for other communities

I’m pleased that Dubbo Regional Council has been awarded $14.6 million under Round 2 of the Federal Government’s Growing Regions Program to upgrade the runway at Dubbo Regional Airport.

This project will upgrade and strengthen the main runway, associated taxiways and aprons to support the operation of large air tankers and emergency services, ensuring the airport remains a reliable gateway to the region.

However, I'm disappointed this was the only project in the Parkes electorate to receive funding under Round 2 of the Growing Regions Program when we have so many worthwhile projects that desperately need funding.

It’s also interesting that Round 2 has been announced before Round 1 recipients are yet to even sign a contract, let alone receive a cent of the funding that was promised to them back in May last year.

Those five projects – the Brewarrina PCYC Youth Hub and Indoor Sports Centre, Moree Artesian Aquatic Centre Redevelopment, Wiradjuri Cultural Tourism Centre and Keeping Place, Gunida Gunyah Community Cultural Hub, and Narrabri Shire Tourism and Cultural Precinct – cannot start until a contract has been signed.

It’s extremely frustrating for those communities which have been waiting for eight months to see these important projects get underway. I’m worried the continued delays are just a way for the Labor Government to avoid parting with this money altogether before the federal election, further starving our regions of funding.