Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Gippsland for raising this important issue and providing an opportunity for us to debate it. It is an issue that I've been explaining to a lot of the constituents within my electorate, particularly about the impact that this cut will have on their operations and my ability to support them as their local member. Of course, these are the sorts of projects that don't fit neatly within other funding opportunities from the federal government. These are the things that will slip through the cracks without this dedicated funding. It has enabled many local projects and initiatives in my electorate that simply would not otherwise have been possible. Community organisations have been able to enhance their services and infrastructure to the benefit of our community and the lives of local Redland residents.

The Stronger Communities Program provided a guarantee of funding that was specifically earmarked for each community, whether that be the community that I represent or the community that you represent, Deputy Speaker. Each community that those of us here represent has an earmarked allocation. It is incredibly fair. The government's decision to end this program removes this guarantee, and it will have a real impact on the capacity of local community and sporting organisations across Australia.

I'll give you some examples of some of the projects that were funded through this program within my electorate. We were able to secure $17,000 for the Volunteer Marine Rescue Victoria Point. They were able to use that funding to replace ageing touch screens for their GPS navigation devices on their primary vessel. These are all volunteers who are working hard to assist locals when they become caught in issues within Moreton Bay. They've been able to use that funding that they wouldn't have otherwise received.

I was out at the Cage Youth Foundation at Redland Bay the other day, and they used a $10,000 grant through this program to purchase new social enterprise equipment. They run a social enterprise. They undertake a whole heap of mowing, graffiti removal and other services across the electorate, and they use that to support disengaged youth. They were able to purchase a brand new mower off the back of that.

Out at North Stradbroke Island, the rugby league club was able to purchase shade sails for the main oval there. Point Lookout Surf Life Saving Club received $20,000 for the replacement of a four-wheel drive patrol vehicle. On Wednesday evening last week, I was out at Redlands College and saw the Special Olympics Redlands branch basketballers, who had been kitted out with new singlets, new basketballs and new training equipment through a $3,900 grant. These are the sorts of smaller grants that simply aren't available through any other mechanism. Yes, we have volunteer grants, as the previous speaker spoke about, but that's a fraction of what was invested through Stronger Communities. I'm deeply concerned that projects like this will not be funded within my electorate and across Australia due to these cuts.

I recently signed a joint letter to the minister, alongside 24 local community organisations, to express our community's concern regarding the scrapping of the Stronger Communities Program and the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program and changes to the eligibility conditions of the Growing Regions Program which will exclude projects within the Redlands. All of these funding streams have been critical in securing much-needed investment in the Redlands. I strongly encourage the Labor government to reconsider its approach to these programs and to ensure our community can continue to benefit from an equitable share of investment. I think it's important. That's all we're asking for. This wasn't a huge amount of money in the scheme of the federal government's expenditure, but these smaller funds were a way that we could directly assist these community and sporting groups.

I'll touch on the Growing Regions Program, which we also mentioned was of deep concern to us. Under the previous government, through the Building Better Regions Fund, we were able to secure North Stradbroke Island and the Southern Moreton Bay Islands in my electorate as eligible areas for that program. Under the Growing Regions program, those islands have now been excluded. It's an absurd situation where Surfers Paradise can now claim regional funding while projects on the Moreton Bay islands, which are considered to be in the fourth percentile of the SEIFA index on social disadvantage, are unable to access this investment. That's just another reason why we are more reliant on the Stronger Communities Program for me to be able to direct or help to influence the direction of that fund to better support the disadvantaged areas of my electorate.

We strongly encourage the government to reconsider the decisions being made to cut funding to the Stronger Communities Program and the other programs I've mentioned to enable projects on our Bay islands and on the Redlands mainland to continue to receive our fair share of investment.

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