7 May 2024 The Allan Labor Government’s first Budget is dedicated to helping families in Narre Warren South.
Whether it’s helping with the cost of living, making sure our kids can be their best, record funding for our healthcare system or continuing to invest in more of the services families rely on – the Victorian Budget 2024/25 invests in our community.
With the current cost of living, covering supplies and extracurricular activities can be hard on families doing it tough. Uniforms, camps and excursions – it all adds up.
That’s why we are providing a one-off School Saving Bonus to help cover the costs. This $400 bonus will help make sure our kids have everything they need for the school day, supporting families with children at government schools and families at our non-government schools who need it most.
Dedicated to helping cover the cost of learning essentials and the extracurriculars that make school fun – we’ll work with schools to make it available for the start of the 2025 school year.
We’re also tripling our free Glasses for Kids program – making sure even more young Victorians can be their best in the classroom, and beyond. Having already helped 34,000 kids across our state – this investment will help 74,000 more, providing free vision screening and prescription glasses for students who need it.
And because we know that learning isn’t limited to the classroom, we’re investing $6 million to extend our Get Active Kids vouchers – providing up to $200 to help eligible families with the cost of sporting club registration, uniforms and equipment.
Further strengthening our future sporting star, we’re also providing funding to the Academy Movement, so local kids in Narre Warren South can play rugby at school.
With this Budget, we’re investing more that $1.8 billion to continue building the Education State – and building a better future for Victoria’s children.
Families should be able to count on having a great local school – no matter where they live. We promised to build 100 new schools by 2026. Already, we’ve opened 75 primary, secondary and specialist schools where they’re needed most, with a further nine on the way.
This year’s Budget invests $948 million to deliver the remaining 16 new schools – and deliver on our promise to Victorian families. That includes a brand-new primary school for Narre Warren South. The new Casey Central Primary School will support the needs of our growing community – and give every family confidence they can rely on a great local school.
This Budget also invests in upgrading schools across our state, including Lyndhurst Secondary College. This $13.6 million upgrade will modernise the school – delivering the great learning spaces kids and their hardworking teachers in Narre Warren South deserve.
But we’re not just building classrooms, we’re improving what happens inside them too. From extra help for teachers, to supporting more kids to finish their education – this year’s Budget provides targeted investment where it matters most.
Last year, our Free Kinder program saved around 140,000 families up to $2,500 in fees, helping with the cost of living and ensuring cost was not a barrier to participation. This year’s Budget continues this investment with an additional $129 million to continue delivering Free Kinder and the statewide rollout of Three-Year-Old Kinder.
When the Metro Tunnel opens next year, it will transform the way we move around our city and state. It will be the most transformational public transport project since the City Loop, more than 40 years ago. This year’s Budget invests more than $233 million, getting Metro Tunnel ready for passengers on Day One. Connecting the Cranbourne Pakenham line to Sunbury, it’ll mean better train services for families in Narre Warren South.
Community legal services do an incredible job, making sure Victorians can access the legal support they need. We’re supporting this important work with $28.8 million for community legal centres and specialist legal services – including South-East Monash Legal Service. Funding will support the service’s Sporting Change Program. This program partners with schools in Melbourne’s southeast, to teach young people about the justice system and support access to justice with a school lawyer integrated into the school wellbeing team.
We’ll continue to build on the success of our Solar Homes program – which has seen Victoria become the number one state for solar in Australia. This Budget invests $29.7 million to fund an extra 27,000 rebates for energy efficient hot water systems. Switching to a heat pump or solar hot water system saves the average household up to $400 on their power bills each and every year.
We know how important our frontline health care services are for patients and their families. Since we came to government, Victoria’s public hospitals now employ over 5,000 more doctors, and over 13,000 more nurses. During the pandemic, when our health system was stretched like never before, we acted decisively – providing record funding to bolster our health system.
Since the pandemic, the cost of running our health system has continued to increase - but every cent is worth it to keep Victorians healthy. That’s why we’re making the biggest multi-year investment in our health system in Victoria’s history. It’ll mean our hospitals have the long-term certainty they need over the coming years.
Each investment is an investment in the people of Narre Warren South.
Because this is a Budget – and a Government – dedicated to helping families.
Quotes attributable to Member for Narre Warren South Gary Maas:
“We know cost of living pressures are affecting families in Narre Warren South. The Allan Labor Government is helping families with the $400 School Saving Bonus, more Get Active Kids vouchers for kids’ sport, and more rebates for energy-saving hot water systems.”
“We’re investing in the projects and services Victorians need, including an upgrade to Lyndhurst Secondary College that will deliver world-class learning spaces for students and their hard-working teachers.”