Why the Budget must target regional affordability and housing choice 06 May 2021 Maja Garaca Djurdjevic While the upcoming federal budget is expected to focus on job creation, an academic believes the opportunity exists for a “population and infrastructure reset” to relieve pressure on Australia’s largest cities. RMIT associate professor Andrew Butt has called on the government to recognise the COVID-born opportunities for regional planning and development ahead of the 11 May federal budget. In fact, Mr Butt believes that Australia’s largest cities are bursting at the seams and that now could be the perfect time to relieve this pressure. Advertisement