Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pity the Minister for Regional Development and Local Government is not with us; otherwise, I would be referring the minister to program 1.1 of his department's PBS and asking the minister to explain where this funding, which is supposed to be for regional Australia, is being spent. Does the minister agree with his predecessor that regional Australia is all of Australia? Is the minister aware of the definition of 'regional Australia' used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics? Does his department use this definition when meeting the objectives listed under program 1.1? How did the minister's department come to define 'regional Australia' as it does; was it a ministerial decision? Will the minister confirm that the largest regional infrastructure project that Labor has funded is the $480 million investment in roads around Perth Airport? Last time I checked, Perth was a capital city. So does the minister consider Perth to be part of regional Australia?

I refer the minister to the Sydney Multicultural Arts and Sports Precinct that has just been funded under round 4 of the Regional Development Australia Fund. Does the minister consider Sydney to be part of regional Australia? I refer the minister to Melbourne's Western Indoor Sports Hub, the WISH project precinct, which has been funded under round 4 of the Regional Development Australia Fund. Does the minister consider Western Melbourne to be part of regional Australia?

I ask the minister to explain why the Gillard government has given preferential treatment to projects proposed in Western Sydney, allowing 20 projects to proceed to full application status in the RDA Fund, whereas every other region was only permitted to submit their top three projects. Will the minister justify for the benefit of the House why the Gillard government broke promises made to regional Australia when they formed government and why, in the last three years, they have reduced spending on regional Australia? How can the minister now defend Labor's Regional Development Australia Fund, which actually spends $90 million per year less than the regional fund it replaced, the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program?

I refer the minister to the objective of his department listed on page 36 of the portfolio budget statement:

… drives regional policy to improve social, economic and environmental outcomes for regional Australians.

I ask the minister: how does the government's carbon tax improve the social, economic and environmental outcomes for regional Australians? Does the minister agree that the Gillard government's carbon tax will drive up the cost of living for regional Australians without saving the environment? Minister, given regional Australia will suffer the greatest impact because most of our power generation, mining and manufacturing sectors reside in regional Australia, will you advise the House what actions your department will take to drive regional policy? Given Australians in regional New South Wales spent 25 per cent more on electricity than those in Sydney, and Australians in regional Victoria spent 30 per cent more than those in Melbourne—

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