What did Lismore receive in yesterday's NSW Budget? That depends on your viewpoint.

Were there high expectations for 2024/25 following significant investment in our city in the past two years?

When you look at the North Coast page of the NSW Budget - Our Plan for Regional NSW, Lismore does not receive any further funding directly.

There was no new funding for the Resilient Homes Program or the Resilient Lands Program.

Confusingly, the document says "Continuation of: $485 million for the Resilient Homes Program - Northern Rivers to enable flood tolerance for existing houses including house raisings, repairs, retrofits, and voluntary buybacks."

It then says: $87.4 million for the Resilient Lands Program to identify flood-safe land suitable for redevelopment to help relocate Northern Rivers residents impacted by the 2022 floods."

The Lismore App understands that both amounts reflect what will be spent on the relevant programs in the coming 12 months and are not additional funding for each program, which will disappoint most of the community.

The Resilient Homes Program received an initial $700 million from the previous government, and a further $100 million when Treasurer Daniel Mookhey announced the establishment of a new $150 million Community Restoration Flood Fund in the 2023-24 Budget to support disaster-impacted communities in the Northern Rivers and Central West. The Northern Rivers allocation was $100 million.

Yesterday's budget papers in the Our Plan for Regional NSW had allocations in for 2024/25 for North Coast hospitals, including Port Macquarie, Tweed, Grafton and a small $2 million for Ballina.

In education, money will be spent on Lennox Head Primary School and Wollongbar Public School this financial year, with 1,594 education staff made permanent.

$926 million will be spent in 2024/25 on the Coffs Harbour Bypass construction.

$5.5 million was allocated to continue safety improvements on the Bruxner Highway and $1 million to commence planning for The Alphadale crossroads intersection on the Bruxner Highway. This is part of a $7.5 million election promise to build a roundabout at the notorious blackspot.

Lismore and the Northern Rivers will benefit from the broader state government announcements, like the $5.1 billion to deliver new public housing, which will prioritise at least half of the homes built for victim-survivors of family and domestic violence. The program will build 8,400 public homes.

$200.1 million will be spent on health worker accommodation across rural and regional areas of NSW. A significant issue for Lismore Base Hospital, which has been identified as a recipient.

$189 million for a bulk billing initiative with the aim of making a GP visit affordable.

$30.4 million to expand Community Mental Health Teams across targeted areas, including regional NSW.

$200 million in grants for councils to meet and beat their housing targets, including the delivery of new homes.

At first glance, it appears as though Lismore has not benefitted from the 2024/25 NSW Budget. There may be more details to be revealed in the coming days.

You can argue that we have had a large share of funding in the last two years because of the 2022 flood. Think of the significant funding to Lismore City Council to rebuild council assets, estimated to be $350 million in 2022. However, there is no doubt that the Lismore LGA will need a lot more funding in the future when the CSIRO flood mitigation scenarios are revealed.