Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They said that decentralisation would not work. They told us that having a centre of excellence at Armidale with APVMA was not going to come through, but now we have the evidence coming in. We have 300 job applications for merely 50 positions. There are 131 applications coming from capital cities and 110 from Armidale and surrounding areas. Thirty-eight are from interstate and nine are from overseas. There are 79 applications for 19 scientific positions. This is clear evidence that people are willing to move to a regional city such as Armidale. They do see the future in decentralisation. And it is not only that; there are also 340 applications for 32 jobs in the Regional Investment Corporation, which the National Party, with the Liberals, is setting up in Orange. Whether it is Orange with the Regional Investment Corporation, Armidale with the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, whether it is Wagga with AgriFutures, the National Party believes in decentralisation and is seeing this through to create centres of excellence and a real reason for people to live in other places apart from Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. This is a vision that the Labor Party lacks. There is no vision from the Labor Party that actually talks of decentralisation. There is no policy for the Inland Rail from the Labor Party. There's no money on the table. They have no vision for dams. They are bereft of any reason for people in regional Australia to vote for them.