Pat Conaghan (Cowper, 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 of how the Morrison-McCormack government's plan for jobs and critical investment in infrastructure is supporting regional Australia's recovery from the COVID-19 recession?

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

I thank the member for his question and acknowledge his advocacy for that Mid North Coast area of New South Wales that he represents so proudly and so fiercely. They're good people, in Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie. They have worked very hard through COVID. Their small businesses were looked after last night. Those in work and those not in work on the Mid North Coast will be looked after in the future. This budget is one for infrastructure. It is one for the regions. The government is making a record investment of $110 billion of infrastructure, $36 billion of which is in the regions—$110 billion extending to every single corner of this nation.

We know that the benefits of infrastructure investment flow beyond the project itself—into accommodation services, into cafes, into restaurants, into every small business. And we're looking after them. We're looking after workers with tax cuts. It's why we invest in transformational projects. Investment in infrastructure is an investment in small business. It's an investment in our communities. It's an investment in people. It's an investment in the here and now. It's an investment in the future. In total, the Coffs Harbour Bypass is being delivered through a $1.46 billion investment by this government, being allocated more than $490.6 million in additional funding under the budget announced last night. The project is expected to support 12,000 direct and indirect jobs in addition to the 100,000 jobs right across the nation being delivered through the $110 billion record amount of investment that we're putting into infrastructure.

These projects are job creators. They're backed by this budget. They will deliver benefits to not just the Mid North Coast, not just the electorate of Cowper but indeed right across this nation, making sure people get to where they need to be sooner and more safely. Our regions are responsible for 40 per cent of economic output and two-thirds of our exports. And I tell you what, in the electorate of the member for Cowper they lead the way, too. They lead the way in small business. They lead the way in production, and they love doing it.

That's why we place economic recovery in the heart of our regions. Our regions have been hit hard. They've been hit by bushfires. They've been hit by drought. They've been hit by COVID. But they're coming through. They're leading the way, as you would expect. We've got $200 million for an additional round—round 5—of the Building Better Regions Fund. It's made such a difference, right throughout our regions—such a difference for small business, such a difference for those local councils—and $100 million is dedicated to tourism related infrastructure; I know how hard our tourism industry has been hit. We're going to get through it. The regions are going to lead the way. The Mid North Coast area that the member for Cowper represents will also lead the way.