TONIGHT’S federal budget will be met with cautious optimism by some members of the central Victorian community. 

Pre-budget announcements have filled Bendigo District RSL sub-branch president Cliff Richards with optimism for improved support for younger veterans, and for veterans seeking reimbursement for medical expenses. 

“The government, I believe, has recognised there’s a huge issue here,” Mr Richards said. 

He said he was aware of veterans who had waited up to three years for claims to be processed.

La Trobe University Bendigo head of campus Robert Stephenson was hopeful the budget would include funding for the proposed Murray Darling Medical School.

The project – a partnership between La Trobe and Charles Sturt universities – was overlooked in the previous budget and has been met with opposition by the Australian Medical Students’ Association and Monash University.  

But Mr Stephenson believes the medical school would help address doctor shortages in rural areas.

“We think support for the Murray Darling Medical School should be a really high priority,” he said. 

For the past three years, City of Greater Bendigo chief executive officer Craig Niemann said indexation on the Financial Assistance Grant program for local governments had been frozen. 

“We want to see the index unfrozen,” he said. 

The city receives about $15 million from the program each year, Mr Niemann said. 

He said an increase of two per cent would give the city an extra $300,000 a year with which to provide services. 

Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie said the budget would be “focused on fairness.”

“I chair the education backbench committee for the government and am very pleased to see the government’s announcement of a needs-based education funding model, which, for regional schools, will see record levels of investment right across the board,” she said. 

She was also pleased by plans for a second education review by David Gonski, this time focusing on student learning outcomes. 

But Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters, of the Labor party, said people should “prepare for more cruel cuts and pain.”

“When it comes to the big ticket budget items, I think we will find that Bendigo and Central Victorian workers, businesses and their families will miss out again,” she said.

The budget will be released at about 7.30pm.