Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to rise in the House and to speak on the coalition's $1 billion National Stronger Regions Fund on the basis that has driven improvements right across the country and has provided support to two very important projects in my electorate of Forde. The National Stronger Regions Fund has been an important initiative to boost the social and economic development in Australia's regions by funding priority infrastructure projects for local communities. In rounds 1 and 1, the program supported some 162 projects across the country.

In my electorate of Forde, I was recently joined by the Minister for Regional Development, Fiona Nash, to announce two very important National Stronger Regions Fund projects. The first was nearly $1 million in funding to establish the AEIOU Logan Autism Centre of Excellence. The project will establish an AEIOU centre at Griffith University in Logan to help service the unmet and vital need for early intervention and support services for children with autism. The centre will also facilitate research, education and training opportunities as well as a resource development for parents, schoolteachers, researchers and students in partnership with key stakeholders.

This National Stronger Regions Fund project will not only help address disadvantage; it will help remove barriers to productivity and help develop education services. This in the longer term, in conjunction with projects such as Logan Together, is designed and aimed at reducing the reliance of those communities in Logan on welfare and allowing those children, when they move into adulthood, to have the skills and abilities to enter the workforce and live out their full potential.

The second project is the construction of family recovery units at Logan House recovery centre. This project was also awarded around $1 million from the National Stronger Regions Fund. Once completed, these units will provide access to drug and alcohol rehabilitation services for parents with young children. As well as providing an economic benefit to my electorate, these projects provide a tremendous amount of support to areas of disadvantage within our region.

These projects would not have been possible without funding support from the National Stronger Regions Fund. I am very pleased that the coalition government will continue this program through the refocused Building Better Regions Fund. The focus on regional, rural and remote areas will ensure smaller councils will not have to compete with the major capital city councils for funding. Regional Australia allows our cities to exist: it supplies their water, food, gas and electricity. There is huge potential for economic growth in our regional areas, which is what the Building Better Regions Fund is designed to assist by providing investment in new opportunities for regional communities.

The coalition government continues to back our regional communities with programs such as the Building Better Regions Fund, and more broadly through our other regional funds. In my electorate of Forde I have seen that, not only through National Stronger Regions Fund but also programs such as the Bridges Renewal Program, the Roads to Recovery Program and blackspot road funding. Any number of those programs contribute to improving my electorate of Forde, and both Logan City and Gold Coast city councils have benefited significantly. I commend these programs and the ongoing stewardship of this coalition government to building stronger communities across our country.

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