GAWLER Mayor Karen Redman and Member for Spence Nick Champion have called on the State and Federal governments to fund the $27 million Northern Floodway project, after the Federal Budget was handed down last week.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg released the budget last Tuesday, which included a number of construction grant programs aimed at increasing jobs.

No individual projects in the Gawler region were given funding however, with local councils set to apply for funding programs to get local works underway.

Speaking to The Bunyip, both Ms Redman and Mr Champion lamented the $27 million Northern Floodway receiving zero funding.

The project was first proposed in the wake of the 2016 Gawler River flooding event which caused around $50 million in crop damage.

It would see the Gawler River cleared of debris, inlets dug into the northern side of the river and a separate spillway created to stop once-in-50-years flooding event.

The Gawler River Floodplain Management Authority (GRFMA) – a board consisting of representatives from Gawler, Adelaide Plains, Light Regional, Playford, Barossa and Adelaide Hills councils – has been advocating for the project since 2016 and has stood firm on its belief that the project should be entirely State and Federal government funded.

Ms Redman said the all three levels of government needed to come together so producers’ needs could be better understood.

“Flood mitigation is a major issue for this region and we need to talk about how we get that on the agenda,” she said.

“That’s certainly something, as governments, we need to talk more affectively about so we can get these projects on.

“It does come down to some pretty basic desires: managing flooding so that you don’t get the destruction while still protecting the environment.”

As reported in The Bunyip in September, Gawler River farmers were forced to rethink their planting plans after being told the river could flood later this month or in November.

Many growers are still financially recovering from the 2016 floods, but a funding agreement between government and the GRFMA is yet to be reached for the Northern Floodway

Mr Champion said the Northern Floodway would create local jobs and protect farmers.

“It would’ve protected growers and other existing jobs and created a series of construction jobs in and around the north,” he said.

“We’ll have to wait and see whether that fund can be accessed by the South Australian Government and the local councils concerned.

“That would have been a good project for the Government to announce, but sadly there’s really nothing, except for literally the main road of Hahndorf.”

Local politicians react to COVID-19 budget

GAWLER Mayor Karen Redman believes this year’s Federal Budget could be a winner for the town, while a local MP has slammed it for not funding any local projects.

The 2020/21 Federal Budget was handed down last Tuesday night, with Federal debt set to hit $966 billion by June 2024.

Taxpayers are set to receive a tax cut later this year, with a number of Federal Government programs aimed at creating jobs also announced.

Ms Redman said council would target funding programs aimed at completing local works and creating jobs.

“It just goes to show that each level of government is important, particularly through this COVID crisis,” she said.

“It is all about jobs. Youth unemployment continues to rise and unemployment in South Australia is still unacceptable.

“We know also women have been the big losers of the COVID crisis, so we need to think about how we support those people as well.”

The council is set to receive extra funding through the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure fund, although the amount is unknown.

Wage subsidies for apprentices and trainees were also announced last week, with Ms Redman hopeful the council and local businesses will take up the offer.

“We (Gawler Council) have a strong partnership with trainee programs that we have been quite successful with,” she said.

“We’d be interested in that particular program as it usually translates to youth employment in the area.”

The day after the budget was handed down, Labor leader Anthony Albanese released the opposition’s budget response, in which it promised to increase the childcare subsidy for parents.

Member for Spence Nick Champion said the north, and South Australia as a whole, had been overlooked in the budget.

“It’s not going to create the jobs we need to get over this recession,” he said. “For South Australians it’s a pretty grim budget.

“The Coalition have managed to rack up a trillion-dollar debt, and yet they have still not delivered anything for our state.”

During his budget speech last Tuesday treasurer Josh Fryedenberg said COVID-19 had caused “the most severe global economic crisis since the Great Depression”.

“Mr Speaker, there is no economic recovery without a jobs recovery,” he said. There is no budget recovery without a jobs recovery.

“This budget is all about jobs.”