Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I am sorry that the minister is so sensitive about these matters. Perhaps when he makes criticism of regional organisations and accuses community groups of being rorters he ought to also be a bit more sensitive. The reality is that the Labor Party have demonstrated that they have no interest in people who live in regional communities. Projects will not be assessed on their merits. The only projects that are being funded are those that are in key Labor marginal seats. Is it any coincidence, therefore, that we suddenly get these announcements in the seat of Gippsland, where previously there was no interest?

The people of Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley contribute a great deal to Victoria and to our nation. Yet just today the Victorian Auditor-General released a report showing that the regional road network in Victoria has deteriorated under the Bracks and the Brumby state Labor governments. Labor is refocusing its road expenditure away from regional areas and into the cities. A classic example is the road funding in the seat of Gippsland, where the Labor Party have slashed the funding committed by the previous government to the Princes Highway upgrade. That is what Labor think of people who live in regional Australia. They have no interest when there is no election being held in the area, just some passing comments.

The reality is that Labor are not able to address the issues of regional Australia because they do not care. They have been told that their policies will not lower fuel prices in regional Australia but they have no solution. The Prime Minister admitted that he had no plan to lower fuel prices in regional areas. He has no plan to meet the extra costs— (Time expired)

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