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

I rise today to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2024-2025 and related bills. Whilst I won't oppose these bills, which ensure that the government's programs are funded, I must express my deep disappointment with this year's budget. The central promise made by the Prime Minister at the last election was that if you voted for him and the Labor Party, you would be better off. Life would be cheaper; life would be better. However, as we all know, the opposite has occurred, and the cost of living has gone through the roof, impacting every Australian household. Housing is up 12 per cent. Rents are up 12 per cent as well. Insurance is up 26 per cent. In many parts of my electorate it's up significantly more than that 26 per cent. Electricity is up 18 per cent, and gas is up 25 per cent.

Of course, the dozen interest rate rises that have occurred under this Labor government have amounted to severe mortgage stress for so many Australian families. Despite promising cheaper mortgages, the typical Australian household with a mortgage is more than $35,000 worse off. The budget provided the government with the perfect opportunity to outline a plan to get homegrown inflation under control, which will in time enable the Reserve Bank to reduce interest rates. Unfortunately, the government is now doubling down on their big spending agenda and failing energy and migration policies. It's not just the Liberal Party that is raising significant concerns with this year's budget. Steve Hamilton, a renowned economist, described it as 'reckless' and 'the most irresponsible budget in recent memory'. This budget means higher inflation for longer. A worrying sign today sees an increase in CPI to 6.4 per cent, up from 5.4 per cent last month.

I recently caught up with a team at Foodbank in Geraldton. Incredibly, Foodbank are now servicing dual-income families because they can no longer afford their groceries. How shameful for a country as rich as Australia that we now have the working poor. Sadly, more and more dual-income families are walking through the doors of Foodbank looking for help.

Despite this $315 billion of extra spending, the regions are still being left behind. Given the limited amount of time I have to speak in this debate tonight, I will swiftly remind the House that there has been a two-year funding drought for regional infrastructure after Labor abolished the Building Better Regions Fund and cancelled grants to the successful applicants under round 6. In October '22 Labor announced the Building Better Regions Fund would be substituted by the Growing Regions Program, which sounded pretty good at the time. As to what could be expected with this funding drought, many applications were made under the new program. In fact, there were 440 applications initially assessed as worthy by the regional development department and a parliamentary panel which was handpicked by the minister for infrastructure. Incredibly, 90 per cent of regional projects were rejected despite the government confirming the program underspent $93.4 million or 31 per cent of the provided funding. So not only did Labor bin nine out of 10 applications but only two-thirds of the funding promised for the Growing Regions Program's first round was actually spent.

I want to take the opportunity to congratulate the Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley for their successful application for funding towards an extension of the runway at the East Kimberley Regional Airport, a very worthy project. I note the previous government, when we were in government, had also provided them with important infrastructure funding also for their airport.

I would also like to congratulate the Midwest Community Living Association, who will receive funding towards the creation of an inclusive multipurpose opportunity hub in Geraldton which will support independent living and training for people with disabilities. I am particularly pleased for this organisation who provide such a critical service to those in need in the Midwest, so well done.

Unfortunately, there were many, many other worthy organisations and local communities that had their projects rejected. These included projects like the construction of the Newman youth and community hub, the Broome regional resource recovery park, the Lower Chittering community centre, and the new marine rescue facility in Port Hedland. This is just to name a few of the very worthy unsuccessful applicants from my electorate. Many of these projects could have been funded if the program had been delivered as promised or perhaps from other areas of government waste and spending like the $40 million the government has spent to advertise the revised tax cuts, or the wasteful $450 million spent on the failed Voice referendum. As we see once again, it's not about money; it's about priorities, and clearly regional Australia is not a priority for the Albanese Labor government.

I hope that those opposite understand the disappointment and anger of the applicants that have missed out, especially the ones that, after the expression of interest process, were then encouraged to spend more time and energy to complete a full application. Not only did the government choose to gut the program but they failed to deliver the funding announcements on time. Amazingly, the guidelines for the program stated:

If you are successful, you must commence your project no later than 15 May 2024.

Well, it's a little bit hard when the successful applicants were actually announced on 16 May. So they told you, 'You've got to have started spending the money and started the project by 15 May,' but they didn't tell anybody who was going to be successful until 16 May. Honestly, what sort of show is this mob running? The government's failures through the Growing Regions Program are simply indicative of a broader trend of neglect for regional infrastructure.

Also foreshadowed in the budget is the abolition of the Mobile Black Spot Program from 2026-27. People won't be surprised that this is a very successful program of the coalition. It funded somewhere in the vicinity of 1,500 new mobile phone towers in areas where the telcos tell us that it's not commercially viable for them to build the towers themselves. People will understand that in an electorate like Durack, the largest in our country, we were a major beneficiary, and I don't think anybody would hold that against the people of Durack, because there is such great need. But there is still great need, so I can tell you my constituents will be very disappointed to hear that in a few years that program will be gone. Not only will this have a drastic impact in case of emergencies, whether they're to do with health or with natural disaster, but there is also no escaping that mobile connectivity is so important to participating in the modern world, whether you live in Marble Bar, in Chittering or in Geraldton.

The Mobile Black Spot Program joins a long list of regional programs that have been abolished by the Albanese Labor government. These include, as I've said before, the Building Better Regions Fund and the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, which was so important during COVID and which kept local councils and local tradies afloat and enabled our local councils, of which I represent some 41, to get small low-hanging fruit projects done. For the last two years, all I've heard about is how important that Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program was, and it's a real shame that this government hasn't continued with that.

There were also community development grants and, of course, the wonderful Stronger Communities Program, which my friend here, the member for Hinkler, will know was such an important program because—and I know the Deputy Speaker will agree with me—it was a program that the local member could control together with a community committee. It made such a difference to identifying those important projects throughout the whole of the electorate, and it's a real shame. It's a shame on the Labor government for not continuing with that program.

But I did have some hope that in the budget we would see a return of the Stronger Communities Program, which, as I've said, has helped so many grassroots organisations in my electorate. I thought this was a very strong possibility because I have seen so many of my colleagues on the other side, time after time, spruiking how wonderful the Stronger Communities Program is when they would get up and talk about it in a 90-second statement or a three-minute constituency statement. So I had great hope and faith that we might have had a return to the Stronger Communities Program. Alas, that program was not re-funded.

In conclusion, despite the government's obvious failures, they have not provided funding in the budget for any new programs to support regional economic development. It's clear to me that only a change in government will lead to the prioritisation of regional infrastructure, particularly in Western Australia and particularly in regional and remote parts. Likewise, only a change in government will result in a return to sensible economic management. We will get inflation down, restore the Australian dream of homeownership and abandon Labor's reckless renewables-only strategy. The election will provide a clear choice for Australians, and it cannot come soon enough.

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