Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to raise my objection to the Albanese government's terrible decision to abandon the very successful Stronger Communities Program. This program was designed to deliver social benefits across Australia through funding of grassroots projects right across Australia. The program provided equal funding across each electorate, irrespective of the political affiliation of the local member. Each electorate had an available pool of $150,000 for local not-for-profit groups to apply for grants of between $2,500 and $20,000.

Since being established by the coalition in 2015, the program has helped fund over 15,000 local community based projects. This includes plenty of worthy projects in my electorate of Durack that were assisted by the program, from the Mid West through to the Kimberley. Projects in Durack included funding for groups like the Broome Basketball Association; the Derby Speedway Club, an excellent club; and an organisation called Feed the Little Children, which is based in Broome. Such groups, particularly in regional Australia, recognise these grants as an invaluable contribution to their work in supporting their local communities.

Since coming to government, we've seen that Minister King has failed to grasp the importance of this program. Round 8 of the program was left in limbo for nine long months but finally opened for applications in February of this year, with a closing date of 16 May. It is an indictment of the government that the minister could not deliver this program on time. Honestly, what are they doing, and what sort of show is she running? Applications closed almost a year after the election. Remember, this is a program the regional development department was very experienced in delivering. Multiple programs have been delivered since 2015, so they can't say it was some new, innovative program they had no experience in running. They have rolled out previous rounds before. What was going on?

We've seen Labor members, in this debate, talk about how wonderful the program is, and it's great to hear how they have appreciated the program. During the last sitting, the member for McEwen stood up and spoke of the 'powerful impact' that the Stronger Communities Program was having on community groups in his electorate. I'm so pleased to hear him say that. In his speech, he acknowledged how the program enabled local organisations to make a meaningful difference within the community. I'm glad that some members opposite—and I'm sure we'll hear from a few more members in this debate—appreciate the success of the program, but it is a real shame that they've not been able to have adequately argued for its continuation within the Labor Party party room. In the May budget, no money has been allocated for a 2023-24 round, and no money has been allocated for a 2024-25 round. This is a disgrace, and it's a real letdown for so many community groups right across Australia because it seems that the Labor leadership has little interest in supporting community organisations.

Unfortunately, there is now no small-scale grant program that offers Commonwealth assistance to grassroots organisations. This is shameful. I appreciate that we are living through a cost-of-living crisis and acknowledge the need for spending restraint during the inflationary environment that we are in, but it is important to note that the minimal cost of this very successful program—just $22.7 million—was allocated for round 8 of the program. I, for one, believe that the $365 million that was allocated by this government to hold the referendum on Saturday could have been used much more effectively. The same amount of money could have funded another 16 rounds of the same scale—supporting many worthy thousands of local clubs and groups. Without the ability to access Commonwealth grants, many community organisations—including sporting groups—will have no option but to increase fees to parents and children to participate in sports. Given we're living through a crisis with respect to the cost of living, that's the last thing parents need at the moment.

It is important to understand that this is not the only initiative being scrapped by this government. In fact, this is just one of the many successful programs abandoned by the Labor government. In their first budget, Labor cut more than $10 billion in regional and community programs. They abolished the Community Development Grants Program, the Energy Security and Regional Development Plan, the Regional Accelerator Program, the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, and the Building Better Regions Fund. This so-called 90-day roads infrastructure review is nowhere to be seen. (Time expired)

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