Jim Turnour (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

He could not find time to be here—good point. The member for Cowper is here. I think he is on duty, but there is nobody left here from the National Party to listen to this matter of public importance that they have put forward. It is a shame. I see the member for Kennedy here representing rural and regional Australia. We just heard from the member for New England. The reality is that the National Party and the coalition have lost their way when it comes to rural and regional Australia. There is no doubt about that.

The real reason why the Labor Party is now representing rural and regional Australia is that it has put forward plans to tackle the major challenges. If we are looking at rural and regional Australia and the administration they look for, we see they want a government that is going to tackle the major infrastructure bottlenecks, whether they are in roads, rail or ports or whether they are local sporting facilities. That is what they are looking for from government. They are looking for a government that is going to tackle the skills crisis that is impacting on rural and regional Australia. That is what they are looking for from the Rudd government and that is what we are delivering. We are delivering an administration that is putting forward plans for the future to tackle bottlenecks and to tackle the skills crisis, and we have established funds within the recent budget to deal with those programs not only now but well into the future. That is what we are about—delivering not only for the cities in Australia but also for rural and regional Australia.

Today’s matter of public importance was put forward about the Regional Partnerships program and the National Party’s concern about the attacks on it. They come not only from the Labor Party but also from Independents such as the member for New England, whom we have heard from today, and many other people out in the community. The area consultative committee in my area was sick and tired of recommending projects under the Regional Partnerships program. The organisation, established to have an understanding of the local community, recommended projects that were not funded by the National Party minister at the time because they did not fit within the party’s pork-barrelling approach to the Regional Partnerships program.

I saw the member for Dawson here earlier, and it is great to have him as a member of this parliament. He, of course, replaced former parliamentary secretary De-Anne Kelly, the former member for Dawson, who had an absolutely appalling record. We have heard a number of times about the lead-up to the 2004 election. The appalling record of that parliamentary secretary—

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