It may be one of the most contentious dates on the calendar but the Albanese Government has thrown its weight behind Australia Day after dedicating millions of dollars to celebrating the nation’s birthday next January.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers revealed the government would give $10m to the National Australia Day Council this financial year after releasing the Federal Budget on Tuesday night.

The funds were to be provided so the council could continue to provide community grants for Australia Day events across the country on January 26.

The Budget papers noted the council’s mission was to ensure ‘a shared celebration of Australia and Australians through promoting the meaning of and participation in Australia Day and the Australian of the Year Awards’.

It comes as Dr Chalmers doled out hundreds of millions of dollars to key tourism-related infrastructure projects around the nation.

The indisputable showpiece - and biggest expense - revolved around the Albanese government’s multi-billion-dollar deal to help fund the construction of a new Brisbane stadium in the lead up to the Queensland capital’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032.

‘The Australian Government is providing up to $3.4 billion for infrastructure investment to support the delivery of the Games,’ the Budget papers noted.

‘This includes up to $2.5 billion for Brisbane Arena, and up to $935.0 million for new and upgraded venue infrastructure across Queensland.

‘The Australian Government’s co-investment will support local jobs and create a lasting legacy by meeting local community needs for venue assets in the region.’

In the state’s far north, the government was also spending up big, outlaying $88m (rising to $225m over three years) on two signature projects, including ‘a major expansion to the Cairns Marine Precinct and a new Central Queensland University campus in the Cairns CBD’.

But not everything was being funded on a billion-dollar scale.

The Albanese government has also committed about $7million dollars over the next decade to help cover the cost of homing giant pandas Wang Wang at Funi at Adelaide Zoo.

‘The government will contribute $3.8 million over five years from 2024–25 (and an additional $3.8 million from 2029–30 to 2033–34) alongside the South Australian Government to support the Giant Pandas at Adelaide Zoo,’ the Budget papers noted.

In NSW, fans of shiny gemstones struck it rich with the federal government outlaying $3.1million in an attempt to turn the state’s regional mining town of Lightning Ridge into a global tourism hotspot.

‘The Australian Government is providing funding towards a new Australian Opal Centre as an international tourist attraction and world hub for opal-related knowledge, certification, education, training, research, heritage, arts and travel,’ the papers said.

In Sydney, the Budget noted Labor had spent $1.5m in the past year on upgrades to the city’s Qtopia museum, which was billed as ‘a dedicated space at the site of the former Darlinghurst Police Station, created as a centre for celebrating and educating on LGBTQIA+ history and culture’.

The Albanese government also revealed it would give the NSW government a further $13.6m this financial year to help build a St George Illawarra Dragons Community and High Performance Centre, which would ‘provide high performance and community sporting facilities for elite athlete pathways and community programs’.

The ‘National Tourism Icon Package’, which has been sold as ‘providing a catalyst for developing tourism within each region, creating jobs, and helping to diversify local economies’, was set to receive $3m.

The money has been provided to help with the construction of the Wangetti Trail in Queensland and upgrade to tourist facilities at Freycinet in Tasmania.

A further $3.5m was dedicated towards the establishment of ‘a permanent Queensland Holocaust Museum and Education Centre which will provide a facility to remember and teach the lessons of the Holocaust and allow for the collection and preservation of historic objects’.

In Victoria, $2.2m was dedicated to the redevelopment of the Museum of Chinese Australian History in Melbourne and Golden Dragon Museum in Bendigo, while another $3m would be used to ‘develop over 100 kilometres of mountain bike trails on the hills surrounding the town of Warburton’.

The Northern Territory and Western Australian were both going to be able to cash in as the federal government double-down on its investment in Indigenous tourism funding, increasing its allocation from $5.8m last financial year to $11.2m this time around.

‘The Australian Government is providing funding to co-invest with states on strategic projects that increase the supply of First Nations tourism experiences and create supply chain opportunities for First Nations tourism businesses,’ the Budget papers said.

‘This program uses the Indigenous Tourism Fund to leverage and co-invest in significant First Nations tourism projects that align with strategic priorities of states and deliver long-term benefits for the First Nations tourism sector in each jurisdiction.’

Perth was also set to reap $20m in funding towards the construction of an Aboriginal Cultural Centre.

‘The centre will be a place of cultural celebration and significance that will provide spaces for art, performance, education, research and community,’ the papers noted

Further south, the Albanese Government earmarked $7.4m in ‘funding towards the construction of a Marine Discovery Centre at Busselton’.

Meanwhile in South Australia, the Albanese government committed $12m over two years to funding the upgrade of the heritage-listed Port Augusta Wharf.

‘The Port Augusta Wharf Refurbishment will improve the load-rating of the wharf for pedestrians and light vehicles, provide easier access for boats and other watercraft, and boost recreation and tourism,’ the papers noted.

The government announced it would again dedicate $9.6m to ‘conserving and restoring the biodiversity of [Australia’s] world heritage sites’ as well as ‘executive officers and advisory committees who support the provision of advice to government on the protection of World Heritage sites’.

Tasmania would continue to receive the lion’s share of the funding under the provision, taking in $5.1m, followed by Queensland with $3.1m.

But the Budget didn’t just set aside money to attract tourists to the nation’s tourism hotspots - it also stumped up $6.3m to get rid of some unwanted visitors in Far North Queensland.

‘The Australian Government is providing funding to ensure a more concerted approach to yellow crazy ant eradication activities in Townsville and adjacent to the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area in Cairns,’ the papers said.