Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

We on this side of the House have communities' back because we are delivering transparency and integrity when it comes to funding. We won't waste regional dollars on inner-city swimming pools. I don't know where those opposite—those regional champions—were when our regional dollars went to the North Sydney pool. Where was the outrage?

We on this side of the House are helping our regions to recover, to rebuild and to grow. We've committed $1 billion in regional funding programs, which will have clear application criteria and transparent assessment processes. We've increased jobs with our $1.9 billion Powering the Regions Fund. We've prioritised access to Commonwealth supported university places for regional Australians. We're delivering 180,000 fee-free TAFE places in 2023 alone and we're wiping the HELP debt of nurse practitioners and GPs who practise in our rural and remote communities. We're investing $1 billion over five years for disaster risk reduction and resilience. We're delivering $656 million in our better connectivity plan for the regions. We've introduced our $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, dealing with the housing crisis in the regions left by those opposite. We'll establish the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund because the lesson learnt from the pandemic is that we need to build more things here. Do you know what? That will strengthen our regional communities. Perhaps you should get on board and vote for it. The Albanese government will continue to clean up the mess from those opposite, will implement funding and will deliver it to those who need it when they need it.

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