Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes the Government recently published Informing Regional Investment: State of Australia's Regions 2024 which provides evidence and insights on contemporary topics of interest across Australia's diverse regions;

(2) considers the 2024 report focuses on contemporary and pressing issues as identified at the local level, including:

(a) ensuring regional workforces are positioned to meet the needs of today and tomorrow;

(b) promoting the economic aspirations, cultures and languages of First Nations people;

(c) supporting places with amenity, services and economic opportunities;

(d) collaboratively addressing issues like housing availability and affordability and access to quality early childhood education and care;

(e) preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters; and

(f) responding to challenges and opportunities as we transition to a net zero emissions future; and

(3) commends the current Government for their ongoing commitment to advance the lives of regional Australia.

I'm really honoured to move this private member's motion today on the state of Australia's regions, because where I live, on the New South Wales South Coast, we know how important regional Australia is. Our regions are the backbone of our nation. I want to thank the member for Hunter in advance for seconding this motion, because he knows how important regional Australia is, and I thank all speakers who will speak on this motion.

Of course, the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government and the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories know how important our regions are. That's why the Australian government recently launched a new report to inform how we can together best develop sustainable regions. The State of Australia's regions 2024 report plays an important part in supporting our regions to respond to challenges and harness opportunities. We know that more and more people are moving to our regions, and we must take advantage of the shifts underway to benefit our regions as they grow. The report takes a look at key issues and opportunities, and I want to go through some of these now. First of all, ensuring our regional workforces are positioned to meet the needs of today and tomorrow is why, when we came to government, we put a focus on jobs and skills. We held a jobs summit and we have put people at the forefront of regional growth with the employment white paper; fee-free TAFE, which is bringing more local tradies to TAFE and apprenticeships; regional university hubs—and I want to send a shout out to our very own Country Universities Centre at Ulladulla; and a new migration strategy. And of course our tax cuts, to be delivered from 1 July, will overwhelmingly support regional Australians, with 87 per cent of people in my electorate of Gilmore set to receive a bigger tax cut.

Targeted investments in regional infrastructure are vital. That's why I'm ecstatic we recently marked the start of major construction on the Jervis Bay flyover, with $100 million in federal funding by the Albanese Labor government. There's $752 million in federal funding for the Milton Ulladulla bypass and $97 million for the Nowra bypass. We're investing in better regional services. Our federal Medicare Urgent Care Clinic at Batemans Bay is open and in its first two months saw 1,900 patients, all bulk billed. Our headspace at Kiama is making pleasing progress. We've tripled the Medicare bulk-billing incentives for seniors, concession card holders and students, and, pleasingly, we've already seen bulk-billing rates increase by 4.3 per cent on the South Coast. We've made medicines cheaper, and in Gilmore that's already saved people $1.3 million in medicine costs. We've made child care cheaper, benefiting around 4,800 families in Gilmore.

My electorate has been pummelled by natural disasters, but we're getting on with improving assistance in disasters. We announced the natural disaster Infrastructure Betterment Fund, which sees additional federal funding to assist our local councils, and I'm pleased road such as Jamberoo Mountain Road, Wallaby Hill Road, Illaroo Road and North Head Drive at Moruya have all benefited. Just a few weeks ago I helped to officially open the upgraded Artie Smith Oval, another Bushfire Local Economic Recovery project with federal funding. The composite bushfire-proof power poles at South Durras are now up and working—another election commitment delivered. The list goes on: the Bawley Point microgrid, which is another great project, has been switched on and helps protect the electricity supply to Bawley Point.

Just last week, I was proud to stand with the member for South Coast and the New South Wales minister for planning when an increase to the South Coast Build-to-Rent project was announced. We have comprehensive plans in place to increase affordable and social housing supply through our National Housing Accord, and our Housing Australia Future Fund is open for expressions of interest.

My region, like all regions, has challenges. How we respond and start to tackle these challenges to set us up for the future is what I am passionate about. That's why I welcome the Informing Regional Investment: State of Australia's Regions 2024, which helps provide a framework for the better policies we're implementing to help our regions—in my region and right across Australia.

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