A $3 billion acceleration fund will go towards creating projects and providing an additional 20,000 jobs in the New South Wales workforce.
The new Infrastructure and Job Acceleration Fund will be used for smaller, construction-ready projects around the state.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said infrastructure would provide a path to employment, and economic recovery, firing up the economy.
“This guaranteed pipeline of $100 billion will be our best chance supporting the hundreds of thousands of people who have already lost their jobs in NSW,” Berejiklian said.
“We are now not only guaranteeing our infrastructure pipeline, we will be looking for opportunities to fast-track projects to provide jobs as early as we can.
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In addition, the NSW Government will no longer proceed with the refurbishment of Stadium Australia and redirect $800 million towards the new fund.
The State Government said in a statement the rebuild was a sensible project backed by the people of NSW at last year’s election, but in the current health and economic climate it no longer makes sense.
The promised Parramatta Powerhouse museum will still be delivered through the infrastructure pipeline. This project is expected to create more than 110 construction jobs in Western Sydney, along with 2400 indirect jobs.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the fast-tracking of projects would support jobs across the entire state and the government was in the process of identifying them.
“The communities of NSW have been through an incredibly tough period with continued drought, horrific bushfires and now COVID-19 and the best path to recovery is creating jobs,” Barilaro said.
“An unprecedented crisis calls for an unprecedented recovery and redirecting funding from Stadium Australia to job-creating infrastructure builds is the right thing to do for the people of NSW.”
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the clear advice from the Reserve Bank of Australia was that governments should do everything they can to create jobs and stimulate the economy as we emerge from the shadow of COVID-19.
“With around 500,000 people out of work in NSW we are focused on creating as many jobs as possible to shorten the lines outside of Centrelink,” Perrottet said.
“NSW was an infrastructure led economy heading in to the pandemic, and now we will help drive the state forward by creating more jobs for the people who have been hit hardest with an infrastructure led recovery coming out.”