A new alliance of 50 Hunter union, community, environmental and faith organisations has called on the region's state MPs to use their power to secure more funding for the "short-changed" region.
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The Hunter Community Alliance, backed by the Hunter Jobs Alliance, has written a joint letter to the Hunter's eight Labor MPs calling on them to "provide greater support" for the region in the June state budget.
"Finally our region has the cabinet and caucus representation, has the government mechanism, has the funding sitting in the bank. We're calling on our MPs to have the will. Let's make it happen," alliance member Reverend Rob Hanks said.
The HCA letter seeks $10 million a year to establish a regional energy transition authority and $41 million to refurbish part of Tighes Hill TAFE campus as a "new industries" training centre with operational funding of $5 million a year.
HCA also calls on the government to deliver the stalled Royalties for Rejuvenation Fund and expand it significantly from $25 million a year to the greater of $150 million or 5 per cent of the government's mining royalties income, estimated at $4 billion in 2022-23.
Alliance member Teresa Hetherington, a home care worker and United Workers Union member, said it was time for the Hunter's four cabinet ministers and seven government lower house MPs to "use that voice".
"There has never been a stronger time for the Hunter region to assert itself in the cabinet," she said.
ACM reported last week that the government appeared to have made little progress on establishing a Hunter transition authority since holding a "round-table" in Cessnock in August.
Reverend Hanks said the Hunter had been "short-changed budget after budget, including in Labor's first budget last year".
I needed a microscope to find the funding
- Reverend Rob Hanks
"The transition needs funding to have good jobs, affordable energy and a safe climate. It's not all up to the feds," said Reverend Hanks, a Hunter Presbytery of the Uniting Church minister.
"We need the new TAFE training centre championed by Hunter Jobs Alliance. And I needed a microscope to find the funding for the Hunter transition authority in the last budget. Let's get real. We want our MPs to get the Treasurer and the Premier to deliver for our region."
Swansea MP Yasmin Catley is the Minister for the Hunter as well as the Minister for Police. Port Stephens MP Kate Washington (Family and Communities), Charlestown MP Jodie Harrison (Women, Seniors, Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault) and Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison (Regional Transport and Roads) are also in Premier Chris Minns' cabinet.
Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp, Cessnock MP Clayton Barr and Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery are the region's other Labor lower house representatives, while Cessnock's Emily Suvaal is a member of the Upper House.
The alliance's letter to the MPs calls on the Minns government to re-establish a Hunter council of social services as a peak organisation representing the community sector. Shaylie Pryer, of Community Disability Alliance Hunter, said the region's community sector was "stretched" and case workers were "overwhelmed".
"Every other region in NSW has a community peak that supports their community sector," she said.
"The Hunter needs this to support those facing disadvantage to be at the table when decisions are made."
Pete Coughlan, from the Hunter Renewal project, said the Royalties for Rejuvenation Fund had handed out $75 million in three years to four coal mining communities in NSW but only "minimal money" had come to the Hunter.
"With the upcoming increase in the coal royalties the state will receive, we think the royalties program should be expanded to receive a minimum of $150 million a year, which builds on the start we have," he said.
The government axed the Resources for Regions fund, targeted at mining areas, in last year's budget, replacing it with the $350 million Regional Development Trust open to all regional councils.
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
