Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development. Will the Deputy Prime Minister inform the House how the Morrison-McCormack government's stable and certain budget guarantees the delivery of essential services for the development of regional Australia, particularly in my electorate of Page, and is the Deputy Prime Minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Page for his question. Stable, certain budget delivery—that's what we're about, including the $841 million that's being spent on the Building Better Regions Fund. We're injecting $6 million for the stage 2 upgrade of facilities at Crozier and Oakes ovals in Lismore. This is going to help create the Lismore Regional Sports Hub, which will attract events such as professional football and cricket to the area. That could well have the potential to attract more than 20,000 visitors to Lismore, making sure that the New South Wales North Coast has the highly qualified and professional sports events that it deserves, so that locals can see the very best elite sportspeople in action in male and female events. It could attract all sorts of events. These have the potential to bring $2.3 million of economic activity to the small businesses in Lismore. Construction is well underway. It is creating jobs for 21 people in the construction phase. Certainly this has helped.

It leads into the fact that we've had 36 unbroken months of jobs growth in this nation. That happens because of the Liberal-Nationals government creating opportunities and making sure that we've got the economic environment right for small businesses to back themselves. It's not government that creates jobs—unless of course it's in the public service, and that's what happens when those opposite put too much emphasis on bureaucracy. We help businesses back themselves and invest in their futures and make sure that they hire people. That's what we do. That's what we will continue to do. We've had three years of unbroken jobs growth.

Barry Cooper, from the Lismore and far North Coast junior cricket club, said that the upgrade, at Crozier and Oakes ovals, 'will see more people getting involved in all sports. It will allow our area to attract bigger championships. This will see motels booked out and people spending more money at our local businesses. This will also help more youth get involved in sport.'

There are 830 of these terrific grassroots projects being delivered through the Building Better Regions Fund. It's designed to create jobs, drive economic activity and improve infrastructure, right across rural, regional, country and coastal Australia, and certainly remote areas too. Of course, I've been asked about the alternative. Under Labor, when Labor had delivery of the Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Packages, investing in regional areas, they also looked at electorates such as Watson and McMahon, which we know are not regional. This is why the national—

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You funded a project in Abbotsford!

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I hear the member for Ballarat. No wonder you're singing out—the National Audit Office came out and condemned what you did, member for Ballarat, when you were in charge of the program. The regions missed out— (Time expired)