Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to get a question, the first question, indeed, in this parliament, from the shadow minister for regional development. I am particularly pleased to get a question about the Sustainable Regions Program. In this House we have had some debate about Regional Partnerships. Many of the members here, even those in regional areas, would not be aware that the previous government had a Sustainable Regions Program. The Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Northern Australia and I had a meeting with the new Regional Development Australia board, made up of the chairs of the executive of the old area consultative committees here in this parliament. It was a pretty interesting meeting because we discussed the Sustainable Regions Program. There were a number of sustainable regions. One of those was the North Coast of New South Wales.

For information on the North Coast of New South Wales I asked the former chair of the area consultative committees, ‘What electorates were in the North Coast region of New South Wales?’ We all know the North Coast begins at the Queensland border. You cross the Tweed and you hit the electorate of Richmond. But was Richmond included in the Sustainable Region for the North Coast of New South Wales? No! Why? Because after the 2004 election, when Labor won the electorate of Richmond with our outstanding candidate Justine Elliott, they excised it from the North Coast of New South Wales. The North Coast Sustainable Region consisted of Lyne, Cowper and Page but it excluded Richmond. Do not let me think that it was just discrimination against people who happen to vote Labor, because the honourable member’s question goes to the Darling Matilda Way region. The Darling Matilda Way begins at the Victorian border and goes—

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