Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

It was nearly a decade which those opposite had to deal with regional doctor shortages, and what did they do? What did they deliver? Nothing. In fact when the now Leader of the Opposition was health minister, he froze Medicare rebates for six years, stripping more than $3.8 billion from the primary healthcare system, impacting regional Australia.

After nearly a decade that they had to deliver extra child care spaces in rural and regional Australia, what did they do? Nothing. In fact, it was widely reported that a bloke in the Liberal-National party suggested that working women using child care was 'outsourcing parenting'. After the nearly a decade that those opposite had to place Australia at the forefront of a global energy transition, they did nothing. To be fair, they did have 22 different energy policies that have never made it past an announcement. And now we have another one. It's only 12 weeks, and I'm waiting for the location of nuclear reactors for a nuclear policy that was announced only 670 days ago—so, according to the timeframes, we still have about eight years to go before we get anywhere. Apart from this load of nothing, the former government will be able to point to their record on sports rorts, carpark rorts and robodebt, or to a prime minister who swore himself into a further five ministerial portfolios—what a record!

When we came to government there was a lot to do, especially in regional Australia. We've made record investment in local roads across the country and we're progressively doubling Roads to Recovery to $1 billion a year. In the next five years the Albanese government will invest a total of $4.4 billion into the Roads to Recovery program. We are increasing road blackspot funding from $110 million to $150 million a year and rolling out our new $200 million Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program.

Local councils tell me this additional funding will be a game changer. But don't take my word for it; Councillor Tony Quinn, Mayor of Greater Hume Council, in the electorate of Farrer, wrote to me only yesterday to say thank you for the recent additional allocation under Roads to Recovery of $3,623,769 for his local government area, bringing their total funding to $11,388,908. Greater Hume Council has over 2,000 kilometres of road. Mayor Quinn said, 'This funding from the Australian government is vital to assist in maintaining this network, ensuring that it is safe, accessible and meets the needs of our growing community now and into the future.'

It's not just the good people of Holbrook and surrounds who will benefit. The shire president of Dardanup, in WA, Councillor Tyrrell Gardiner, in the electorate of Forrest, has written to the government to express his sincere gratitude for extra funding. The Shire of Dardanup will get $1,200,805 in additional funding, and Councillor Gardner said he is deeply, deeply appreciative of the Australian government's continued support for road construction and maintenance.

Our budget was absolutely focused on uplifting the regions, improving services to them and securing a future made right here in this country. The regions are front and centre of our $22.7 billion Future Made in Australia plan, a plan that leverages our world-class resources and ensures we can make more things right here in this country. It will grow regional economies and boost employment opportunities. We're investing $7 billion over the next decade to support critical minerals processing in Australia through the new critical minerals production tax incentives, which will stimulate regional jobs—something welcomed by the Nationals and Liberals in WA. What did they say? Libby Mettam, the leader of the WA Liberals, said, 'We will support this measure,' and the Leader of the Nationals in WA, Shane Love, said, 'It is essential not just for Western Australia and not just for Australia but for the Western world to pursue production tax incentives like this.'

We're continuing to respond to the urgent need to support our healthcare workforce with $116.2 million over five years to strengthen and support our health workforce, along with more rural GP training places. That's on top of incentives for doctors and nurses to work in our regions by waiving HECS fees. That's on top of the $3.5 billion incentive to triple the bulk-billing incentive. They are significant investments.

We know housing is critical to building communities and to attracting and retaining the workforces we need. For so many communities in our regions, including my own, housing numbers are already low due to natural disasters, which puts a strain on supply. That's why we have made the biggest investments in housing in over a decade, with $32 billion in housing initiatives—whether that be the $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator Fund, which allows the state and territory governments some flexibility to make sure they can get more homes on the ground for Australians, or the Housing Support Program, which supports local councils and state and territory governments to get the enabling infrastructure in to get more building underway. We've expanded eligibility policies for the regional first home buyers guarantee, and I'm pleased to say this has already supported more than 18,000 people into homeownership in our regions. Minister Catherine King recently announced 40 successful applicants from the Growing Regions Program, which includes—you won't believe it—childcare centres in Loxton, South Australia, in the electorate of Barker, and in Cloncurry, Queensland, in the electorate of Kennedy. We don't just talk about it; we actually deliver on it.

Building homes or childcare centres starts with the need to back vocational training and education, particularly our trades—and it's no secret that tradies are hard to come by at the moment. It's why we're delivering an additional 20,000 fee-free TAFE places in the construction sector, building on the 24,000 fee-free construction sector places already secure today. We've supported over 100,000 regional people into fee-free TAFE already. We've added an additional 300,000 places nationally through to 2026, so we will see that regional number continue to grow. It's part of our $4.1 billion investment over five years to boost vocational education. This has been welcomed by small-business owners because we will support them to bring on the staff that they need to provide the services that we all love. We want regional people to be able to build skills in their own backyard and to continue to work in their local communities. That's on top of delivering 20 additional regional study hubs so people don't have to move hours away from home to study, like so many of us in this chamber had to do and so many in my community had to do.

We're investing significant amounts of dollars into the clean energy transition. There is $600 million in the 2024-25 budget to bolster skills growth and development in clean energy, construction and manufacturing. Opportunities in these sectors, particularly in the net zero future, are something regional people speak about often. Landowners and businesses want to be on the front foot of this, and so do we. That's why we are working with communities and putting them at the centre of our successful transition. This includes $20.7 million to ensure best practice engagement with local communities and landholders as new renewables are installed across the country.

There is absolutely nothing worse than having decisions made for you from Canberra without consultation when something is changed. Those opposite can go away and talk to their communities about this, but so many renewable projects in our communities happened under those opposite with little consultation, with no guidelines and with no guardrails. They happened to communities. Now you're out there whipping up fear like this wasn't happening when you were in government. It's an absolute shame that you're putting politics before getting outcomes for regional landholders. So much of our nation's prosperity is generated in our regions, and we understand how strong our regions are in building a bigger, stronger future for Australia.

We also understand that the pressure has been huge on families across regional Australia, which is why we've been providing support, like access to quality services, including strengthening Medicare and putting in place cost-of-living measures. We know that there is more to do to deliver for regional Australia. We are delivering outcomes for regional Australia which are tangible and which give them benefits, because issuing press releases is not enough to keep regional Australians happy. Delivering for them, including service, is incredibly important.

See this speech in context