Tamworth and Gunnedah have scored in the NSW budget

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey handed down the first Labor budget since 2010, on Tuesday, September 19, with many in the New England region eagerly eyeing their slice of the economic pie.

For Tamworth, there is $6 million set aside for water security, which means the region can go ahead with a water purification plant that recycles water for reuse in the abattoirs.

And an upgrade of one of the country music capital's main arterial roads, Goonoo Goonoo Road, is expected to reach its potential after some doubt the state-federal-funded project would get the green light.

There is $26.2m for the Tamworth-based national Chickpea Breeding Program, which will have this prime New England agricultural land producing the tasty legume in bountiful proportions.

Gunnedah will get $53m to upgrade the hospital but lucked out on the additional amount needed to implement the full masterplan as promised by the previous state government in 2022. The government has allocated $10.5 million to the hospital development over the next 12 months.

And $5.6m for a new Gunnedah Koala Sanctuary is expected to keep Australia's national marsupial safe in their natural homes high among the Eucalypt trees.

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In a bid to raise the education standards of NSW children, a total of $2.5m has been put towards an early childhood centre at the Gunnedah TAFE.

There is $1.3m set aside for the Keep on Track program run by Centacare to connect young people back to education and employment opportunities.

And $26.2 million will go towards upgrading and building new quality homes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people via the Aboriginal Housing Office.

Following the devastating floods of 2021 and 2022, many regional councils in NSW will also benefit from a $390m kitty for emergency road repairs.

But across the state, there are a variety of winners and losers, with teachers' pay increases and the wage cap removal for essential service workers, versus Active Kids and Senior Travel Card recipients receiving a hit to the hip pocket.

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