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

without any additional funding, and projects that were promised with no funding partners and without any business cases. It's like an episode of Utopia. So many promises over those 10 years and nothing delivered. The only difference is, Utopia's funny; they are not.

In 12 months we have delivered more and we are laying the foundations for a better future for our communities across the country. In our very first budget, we delivered and committed a billion dollars to new regional programs. Unlike those opposite, we've spent time to make sure that the programs we're delivering will be delivered in a fair, transparent and accountable way. It will be a fair process done, not one with colour coded spreadsheets, because we know regional Australians deserve much more than an ad hoc grants round. They want real programs to deliver real outcomes.

We've already provided increased connectivity by properly funding the NBN and fixing mobile phone black spots, housing assistance through the regional first home buyers scheme, skills assistance through fee-free TAFE places and more university places, funds for increased disaster resilience and mitigation—and I note those laughing opposite about black-spot funds in natural disaster prone electorates. Shame on you! In our most recent budget, we continue to help regional Australians—

Opposition members interjecting—

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