Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that the:

(a) Stronger Communities Programme delivered on the former Government's commitment to deliver social benefits in communities across Australia;

(b) programme provided grants of between $2,500 and $20,000 to community organisations and local governments for small scale projects; and

(c) programme helped fund over 15,000 community-based projects across Australia; and

(2) acknowledges that:

(a) the Government has failed to provide funding for future rounds of the programme, with no replacement for small-scale projects; and

(b) community groups, already struggling with the increased cost of living, will have no other option than to fundraise for projects that otherwise could have been funded under the programme.

This motion gives us a real insight into the Albanese government. The failure to provide a funding commitment, to provide funding certainty, for the Stronger Communities Program gives us a glimpse of what lies at the heart and the soul of this government. Ever since coming to office last year, the government has continued to cut programs in regional areas where the communities had a direct say in their local priorities. It's more of the same with the Stronger Communities Program. This is a government that thinks Canberra knows best. It thinks it knows best. It simply doesn't trust local communities to come up with local solutions and local priorities for the expenditure of taxpayers' money. At a time when communities, households, families are dealing with increased cost-of-living pressures, this government is taking away a funding program which helps the sporting clubs and community organisations fund small infrastructure initiatives that would otherwise be paid for by the hard work of volunteers—in other words paid for by the mums and dads who pay subscriptions or actually raise money for those clubs and organisations.

The hypocrisy of those opposite, particularly the ministers, is they come in here and talk about the wasted years of the coalition government. They lecture us about the supposed years where nothing was built and nothing was achieved. But then they go back to their electorates, and they're the first ones to turn up to cut the ribbons. They're the first ones to turn up to take credit for projects they had absolutely nothing to do with. The minister for infrastructure, who's the minister responsible for the Stronger Communities Program, is a repeat offender in this regard. She's traipsing around the country taking credit for road projects, bridge projects, community projects—things she had absolutely nothing to do with. All Minister King has delivered in the 18 months since gaining office is a 90-day review which has now taken 169 days. We still haven't seen the outcomes of her 90-day review 169 days later. If you see a grader, if you see a crane or if you see a bulldozer working anywhere on a major public infrastructure project in Australia today, I can assure you of one thing—Minister King had nothing to do with it. She's funded nothing and delivered nothing in her term as the infrastructure minister.

The Stronger Communities Program was so successful because it actually worked. It was fair. It provided an allocated amount of funding to every electorate in Australia—$150,000. Members formed a panel with local community groups, local communities were able to make their submissions, and they were able to leverage off that small amount of funding to deliver something practical and tangible in every electorate in Australia. There were 15,000 projects funded under the Stronger Communities Program. I would humbly argue, as a lower house member from a large regional seat, that the only fault with the program is we probably should have got a bit more, because the program was so oversubscribed that we had to turn back equally as many projects as we were able to actually fund.

What do Labor do? We have a highly successful, fairly allocated model of funding, and what do Labor do? They abolish it. You always have to be careful, with the modern Labor Party, to watch what they do, not listen to what they say. Minister King put out a press release earlier this year, and Minister King's press release said in relation to the Stronger Communities Program:

Every single community in Australia is unique, and the Albanese Government recognises that local governments, community organisations and that people who live in their region best understand their local priorities.

She loved the program so much she failed to deliver any ongoing funding for it. She loved it so much she abolished it, cut it—finished. It's gone. Those opposite will say that it will be the subject of future budget rounds. The member for Fowler asked the Treasurer a question on 2 August about the Stronger Communities Program, and this is what the Treasurer had to say:

The matter of future rounds of Stronger Communities will be the subject, no doubt, of future budget deliberations, but there was no allocation for Stronger Communities beyond round 8.

That is Treasury code for, 'It's gone—it's abolished.' Labor isn't funding those small community groups to obtain this funding going forward.

I say to those opposite, with all sincerity: stop taking credit for the previous government's infrastructure and communities program. It's much more fun as a government if you do something yourselves. It's much more fun to make good decisions and fund programs and then take all the credit you want for them. I also say to those opposite: this was a fair program with an allocated model of funding. Your electorates benefited just as much as ours did, and our communities deserve a fair go, and this government is not giving it to them. (Time expired)

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