Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Page for raising this matter of public importance today because it provides a fantastic opportunity to update the House and those opposite on how the Albanese Labor government is backing in my regional communities. Here's just a sampling of the projects this Labor government is rolling out in partnership with my communities.

We have the stage 2 upgrade of the Barwon Heads Road, with more than $190 million in federal funding to transform this road into a four-lane highway that links our fast-growing communities with Geelong. There's a duplication of the rail line between South Geelong and Waurn Ponds, an almost $1 billion project that is reshaping how local travel between south-western Victoria and Melbourne is taking place. We are delivering a $40 million indoor pool for the North Bellarine Aquatic Centre, and construction of the Surf Coast aquatic and health centre in Torquay is now underway. It's worth pointing out that our government invested more than $2.7 million to top up the upgrades to Grubb Road in Ocean Grove after it was left underfunded by the former Liberal government.

We are also delivering upgrades to Murradoc Road in St Leonards. Then there are new sporting facilities including a new pavilion for the Barwon Heads Football Netball Club, women's change rooms for the Torquay Football Netball Club, new clubrooms for the Portarlington Football Netball Club, new lighting for night games and training at the Queenscliff Football Netball Club, new netball courts for the Bannockburn Football Netball Club and a $1 million commitment to upgrade the courts at the Burdoo Reserve for the Grovedale Football Netball Club if elected.

There is more. We are also undertaking upgrades for local roads, the Esplanade Beach Road and Fischer Street in Torquay and Sugar Gum Drive in Waurn Ponds have all been upgraded as part of Albanese government's expanded Black Spot Program and the Roads to Recovery Program. Under the Albanese government, Black Spot Program funding will reach $150 million per year while funding for the Roads to Recovery Program will progressively rise to $1 billion per year, and at least $200 million is also available each year under the new Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program to address current and emerging priorities in road infrastructure.

We are boosting environmental protections and protecting the Karaaf wetlands in Torquay, backing in local farmers on the Bellarine through the On Farm Connectivity Program and delivering a water reclamation plant alongside Barwon Water and the state government in Portarlington because the Albanese Labor government knows just how important water security is to local agriculture.

Unlike those opposite, the Albanese Labor government understands that a thriving region needs access to quality health care. We recognise that no-one should have to travel long distances or wait hours in emergency departments to see a doctor, and that is why a re-elected Albanese government will fund a Medicare urgent care clinic in Torquay. Open seven days a week, fully bulk-billed, it will be free in providing urgent care when and where locals need it. It will mean fewer hospital visits, less pressure on families and better access to care close to home. All you need to access care is a Medicare card, not your credit card.

Whether it is through a new tax cut for every taxpayer, more energy bill relief, free TAFE, groundbreaking funding for our nation's public schools, cheaper medicines or practical measures to ease financial pressures while keeping inflation down, the Albanese government is working hard to back in people across the nation and in our regions. It is why we are backing in apprentices with the $10,000 subsidy. It is why, if re-elected, we will deliver HECS debt relief of, on average, $5,500 per person. This will help our young people to live and work in regions just like mine and prosper. The Albanese Labor government is getting on with the job of delivering a better future for all Australians, helping to build economic opportunity and thriving regional communities.

See this speech in context