Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that the:

(a) report, Regions at the Ready: Investing in Australia's Future, by the House of Representatives Select Committee on Regional Development and Decentralisation, and presented to the House on 28 June 2018, called on the Government to develop, by July 2020, a comprehensive Regional Australia White Paper, following a Green Paper public consultation process;

(b) Strategic Regional Growth Expert Panel's report Australia's Regions: Investing in Their Future, delivered to the Government on 29 March 2019, re-iterated the call for the Government to produce this Regional Australia White Paper by July 2020;

(c) Government refused to publicly release the Australia's Regions: Investing in Their Future report for over a year until forced to do so through a Senate order in July 2020;

(d) Government has made no commitment and no progress to developing such a White Paper and that therefore the Government still lacks any comprehensive strategy for the development of regional Australia;

(e) Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998 involves no requirement for the Government to systematically assess the impact of its policies and initiatives on regional Australia; and

(f) Charter of Budget Honesty Amendment (Rural and Regional Australia Statements) Bill 2021 would establish a requirement for the Treasurer to:

  (i) publicly release and table a rural and regional Australia statement, outlining key challenges and opportunities for rural and regional Australia, with each budget economic and fiscal outlook report and each mid-year economic and fiscal outlook report; and

  (ii) publish a national White Paper for rural and regional Australia within 24 months of the commencement of the Bill; and

(2) calls on the Government to immediately commence a process for a Regional Australia White Paper, which will:

(a) involve deep and broad public consultation through a Green Paper process;

(b) involve cross-parliamentary engagement with a view to securing broad parliamentary support;

(c) outline a long-term vision for rural and regional Australia to capture significant opportunities including, but not limited to, agriculture, tourism, renewable energy, manufacturing, health and social care, and education and training; and

(d) be completed, and released publicly, by no later than 1 July 2022.

Last night, we saw hefty levels of spending declared for regional Australia in glossy budget brochures: $15 billion over 10 years for rail and road projects, a quarter of a billion dollars dropped into the coffers of the Building Better Regions Fund, $130 million into the regional connectivity fund for NBN and mobile black spots, and $630 million to improve access to aged care in the regions—with no detail about how that will actually happen. The Treasurer might be denying it, but the government have the next election firmly in sight with this budget.

On face value, these announcements sound great. I've been calling for this level of investment in regional aged care, infrastructure and telecommunications since I was elected. The pent-up demand in my electorate of Indi is massive. It's crucial that we don't leave the regions behind as the economy starts to lift. We must have reliable connectivity. We must have great transport. We must have equitable health care. But if we spend big we have to spend smart. And I'm not convinced that the way the government is doling out cash gives us the best bang for our buck. I'm not convinced that there is any semblance of a plan or any measures or targets for success.

First up, we've got no strategy for regional Australia whatsoever. I sit on the Regional Australia Committee, as do many of my colleagues who'll be speaking on this motion in this chamber. That committee has been calling on this government to write a white paper for the regions for over half a decade now. In that time, not one federal government minister has lifted a pen to initiate one. A white paper would consult deeply. It would look objectively at opportunities for growth and prosperity in the regions and identify game-changing, long-term investments. Right now, all we seem to get are ministerial pet projects and slush funds that scattergun funding with no clear rhyme nor reason. Without a strategy, we're simply riding blind. We have no targets for what success looks like.

Second, we've got no integrity commission. I was gobsmacked to see zero dollars and zero staff given to the government's promised integrity commission last night. This government has all but abandoned its election commitment on integrity, at a time when billions of dollars in public funds are going out the door. This is simply unacceptable, and people in regional Australia find it simply unacceptable too. In the lead-up to the last election, the Building Better Regions Fund awarded 94 per cent of grants to coalition seats or marginal seats targeted by the coalition, and the Auditor-General is preparing to conduct a performance audit of the Building Better Regions Fund this year. I'll be watching that very closely, and I'll be watching this new $250 million very closely too before the next election.

Third, we have no way of tracking announcements and making sure they turn into real results on the ground. More than 85 per cent of the $700 million promised for regional aged care last night won't hit the ground until after the next election. Families whose loved ones are affected by aged-care shortages in towns of my electorate—towns like Bright, Euroa and Alexandra—don't care about big announcements. What they care about is delivery on the ground, more residential aged-care beds in their own towns, not having to drive hours down the road. They care about knowing that their loved ones will have skilled nurses and carers by their side. That's why I introduced the budget honesty bill last sitting. That bill would make sure everyday people could track announcements and see if the government gloss was turning into real results for their communities and towns.

Indi knows what undelivered election promises look like. Right before the last election, this government committed $64 million to a hero project outside Wodonga: the McKoy Street overpass. A year on, with no plans developed and no shovels in the ground, the government announced another $104 million in the October budget. Wodonga waited another six months only to learn on Monday that the government needs until 2022 before it even gets started. Announcements mean nothing unless they deliver. Later this week I'll launch a budget survey asking my constituents what they think of the budget and I'll be meeting with the Prime Minister and ministers to raise the concerns of the people of Indi. The glossies are nice, but our regions deserve and rightfully expect real results.

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Damian Drum (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a great opportunity to talk about regional development. Certainly the inquiry that was held that the member for Indi refers to was one that I had the honour of chairing at the end. It was also chaired by Dr McVeigh, now a minister, and Minister Darren Chester also had a role in it as well, but at the end it was left to me to present this report to the parliament. This committee has rolled over into the current parliament and is now chaired by Tony Pasin from South Australia, and the role that he is doing is very good. It's incredible.

Some of the big issues surrounding regional Australia and making sure that regional Australia gets its share of development funds are based solely on the concept that, if we just sit and look at the spend of government—not just the federal government but the spend of state governments as well—we see that the amount of money for infrastructure that is spent in the regions is absolutely dwarfed by the amount of money that is spent in the cities. For the member for Indi to come up and say she's going to be keeping an eye on making sure that not too much money gets spent in the regions—she just has to understand that the coalition tends to hold most of the seats in regional and rural Australia. If it weren't for funds like the Building Better Regions Fund then regional Australia would get even less. Here's a member representing a regional area, effectively holding the government to ransom saying, 'Make sure you don't give too much money to regional Australia.' This is really worrying.

The thing that we identified in the previous committee was the impact and the power of catalytic investments—investments that then lead to other investments. It's fine for governments to build a local town hall, but what's the town hall going to generate? What we saw throughout the previous inquiry were these projects that, once funded by government, then led to a whole string of private funding and then add-on projects that would all pile on. All of a sudden you could see where the benefits that started with some government support then led to a whole avalanche of private investment. We saw some of the power of the city deals. In particular, the best one that we got the opportunity to see was the one in Launceston, where we had university money and we had local government money mixed in with state government funding and then topped off with federal funding. That's the way to do a city deal where everybody gets involved, including the private sector. Again, these projects were all flushed out by the inquiry that produced Regions at the ready.

They were driven by the concept that in Australia we have more or less let the population live where they want to live, as we should in a First World country, but we've ended up with 40 per cent of our population in Australia living in two cities. This is not normal. This is not right. If we had an opportunity to plan better then we would have. With 40 per cent of our population living in two destinations, it's very difficult for any region based party such as the Nationals to make sure that they get their fair share of funding and make sure that the amenities, the facilities and the infrastructure that are available for the people who live in rural and regional Australia in some way match that which is given to the people who live in Melbourne and Sydney.

Recommendation 1 was predominantly about making sure that the federal government continues to invest, and increases its investment, in building enabling infrastructure, making sure that we connect those key services and amenities through coordinated regional plans. The work that Nola Marino has done in bringing the Regional Development Australia committees to another level of coordination and strategic project work has been incredibly consistent with recommendation 1. We have made sure that all of these strategic plans are, in fact, published and that there is this catalytic driver in amongst these plans that the RDAs are working through. The work that Nola Marino has been doing is really commendable. The first thing we had to do with the RDAs was take the politics out of them, because it was the politics that seeped into the Regional Development Australia committees that ruined them in the first place. The Regional Development Australia committees at the moment are continuing to do good work, and I commend the work that we've done in the last two parliaments. (Time expired)

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One thing I find amazing in a lot of these speeches on regional Australia is that it's almost as if those opposite haven't been the government for eight years. You would have thought that, with eight years to properly and strategically plan things like decentralisation and other much-announced initiatives, we would have seen a bit of action by now, but there's a heap of ways in which the government, those opposite, have failed regional Australia. It's been a failure of strategy, but also, I think—and we saw it last night in the budget—it's been a failure of imagination. There's been a failure to plan for the future of our regions, which is vital if we are going to have a sustainable growth trajectory and strong development of our regional areas to make Australia a truly great country. It's no great surprise that those opposite had to be dragged kicking and screaming by the Senate to even release their Australia's regions report, more than two years after they received it from the Select Committee on Regional Development and Decentralisation. They've been in government for eight years and had to be dragged kicking and screaming for two years to actually deliver it.

That could be because they've got no vision for the regions. That was shown today in question time when I asked the Deputy Prime Minister if it was true—and it certainly was—that only one per cent of the new infrastructure funds to be spent in the NT were to be spent over the forward estimates, over four years. So we've got eight years of neglect and now another four years where only one per cent of new infrastructure funds are going to be spent over the forward estimates. You can't run this country and neglect a sixth of the land mass. You can't pretend to stand up for regions when one per cent of the new infrastructure funding for the Northern Territory is going to be spent within the next four years.

So there's no vision in the budget. Australia's been saddled with a record debt by those opposite, the government. There's a great graph going around on social media at the moment. I recommend you have a look, because it puts paid to the absurdity that we heard from those opposite when we were last in government, when there was a global financial crisis.

What would have been great for regional Australia including the Northern Territory, besides having more than one per cent of new infrastructure spending over the forward estimates, would have been the realisation of the announcement, in the last federal election, of a bit over $200 million for Kakadu. We haven't seen it, and it would really have come in handy in the last 15 months, or since the last federal election, if we could have used those funds to make sure that Kakadu was good to go for this boom we're seeing in domestic tourism. We're going to have a great dry season. It would have been great if the promises made at the last federal election had been honoured.

In terms of social infrastructure, we had more announcements from those opposite—$5 million for a veterans wellbeing centre. And then, when the budget came last night, nothing—zip. Those opposite basically can't be trusted. If they rock into your electorate during an election campaign and make a commitment, it's not honoured. There is no honour. Regional Australians scratch their heads and go, 'They announce a lot and they've told us they're going to do things for us in the regions in terms of social infrastructure, which is badly missing, but we've been dudded on the NBN.' We say this quite a bit, but it's because it's true: there's always the photo op, always the announcement, but never the follow-up on the ground. That's disappointing to me as someone who represents people in regional Australia.

There are a number of things that could happen in the Top End in terms of social infrastructure. One of them is a youth hub that's badly needed. I will continue to put those ideas, as others have, to the federal government, and hope that they start doing something for regional areas in this country.

Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on the Strategic Regional Growth Expert Panel's report, Australia's regions: investing in their future. The Strategic Regional Growth Expert Panel delivered its final report to the government in late March 2019. This was in response to the House of Representatives Select Committee on Regional Development and Decentralisation's report Regions at the ready. The expert panel made six recommendations to support and promote economic development in regional communities. A core theme of the expert panel's report was the importance of listening to regional voices in policy decisions and ensuring local priorities are identified and acted upon through effective planning and cooperation among all tiers of government. Therein lies a problem when the state and local councils do not fall into line and we can't get our act together. The expert panel's recommendations are thoughtful and decisive in their scope and continue to inform the government's policy deliberations with regard to regional Australia.

Australia—and, indeed, the world—is a very different place now from how it was when this report first came out. That is obvious. We've had droughts in the regions, we've had floods in the regions, we've had devastating bushfires and now we've got the global pandemic. These events have had profound impacts on our regional communities and have changed our way of life. For instance, because we have no backpackers, no immigration and no seasonal workers from the Pacific islands, we are very short of labour to pick our crops. As a result, this government still awaits the findings of a number of inquiries that are underway at this very point in time, and is looking at issues affecting regional Australia now before committing to any particular course of action.

This government is committed to supporting regional communities and building even stronger regional economies. Last year's budget was the best budget that regional Australia has ever had, and this year's budget builds on that record. In 2021-22, the budget continues to build a strong regional Australia through the extension of community grant programs which create jobs and build stronger regional communities. Funding will flow direct to the regions through these initiatives.

There is $250 million in the sixth round of the successful Building Better Regions Fund, or BBRF. The first four rounds funded 995 projects. I'll repeat that: the BBRF has funded 995 projects in the regions. The Australian government has brought forward approximately 50 per cent of the 2021-22 financial assistance grants, commonly known as FAG. This cash injection of more than $1.3 billion will give councils vital support to assist with the combined impacts of drought, fire, floods and COVID-19.

Building on the success of the Regional Connectivity Program, we've made a further commitment of $84.8 million. There's an additional $22.7 million for round 7 of the Stronger Communities Program, which will give grants of $2½ thousand up to $20,000. This supports small community organisations and local government for small capital projects in the electorate. They are very important to those clubs and community projects. They're very thankful to receive small or large amounts from this fund.

The Australian government will provide $5.7 million in funding to establish the Rebuilding Regional Communities Program. This is in partnership with the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal. This consists of grants to sustain local organisations which support the process of recovery in the government's $110 billion rollout of infrastructure programs over the next 10 years from 2021-22. That's over a billion dollars on inland roads and rail et cetera. It will support local jobs and invest in major pillars of the nation's world-leading economic recovery while delivering on our plan to create generation-defining infrastructure projects, delivering water security for inland Australia and meeting our national— (Time expired)

Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand to support the motion moved by the member for Indi. Before I get into the substance of it, I just want to come to the point that the member for Flynn raised about the Building Better Regions Fund. It must be noted that 27 projects in the latest Building Better Regions Fund announcement went to just four seats held by the coalition. It won't surprise me, if we see the renaming of this scheme to either 'building better margins' or 'building better rorting' because certainly there are a lot of regional communities missing out.

The continual and unfettered disrespect shown by this government towards the vast majority of regional Australia, except perhaps in the seats they hold, is why I speak today. Not a day goes by when I'm not shocked and appalled by the government's blatant disregard for regional communities. Last night's budget demonstrated just how little this government really cares about the regions. They're talking big on infrastructure, for example, but the detail exposes a $3.3 billion cut. There's nothing really in this budget for the regions. There's certainly nothing in this budget for Tasmania. It talks about $322 million for roads in Tasmania, but, in reality, next year in 2021-22 only $4 million will be spent on roads by the federal government in Tasmania. That's an absolute disgrace; $226 million of the $322 million is on the never-never. It's not even in the forward estimates. It's an absolute con. This budget is a massive con job on the people of Tasmania.

Support for Tasmanian tourism has been cut, but that's form for this government. It talks a big game on the regions. It looks the part. It wears the cheque shirts, the boots and the big hats, but it doesn't actually deliver the services on the ground. In my electorate, I have seen the failures of this government take root, with small towns getting smaller and young Tasmanians leaving regional communities because there's no clear future for them. There's not enough jobs, not enough services and not enough opportunities for them to hold onto. They can't see a future in their regions, because Liberal governments are really not concerned about the regions. They're concerned about the big corporations, the big banks and the big multinationals. Banks are closing in the regions. ATMs are being ripped out of our towns. Government agencies are closing, with pensioners in the regions told to go online to get assistance. They're being ignored and neglected, and they're getting frustrated.

This is the government that refused to publicly release the Australia's regions: Investing in their futurereport until forced to do so. Why? Because there's no investment in Australia's regions. This is the government which made no commitment to developing a white paper or feasible strategy to advance regional Australia, as the member for Indi points out in her motion. We need to get serious about rebuilding our regions as places to live, to work, to raise a family and to retire with decent quality services and experiences. Regional Australians and regional Tasmanians are tired of being treated as afterthoughts. This is the government that just this week tried to recycle promises for Tasmanian roads and resell them as brand new. So not only is the $322 million funding announcement a mirage—because it's only $4 million next year—but the vast majority of the package was announced years ago; it' just been repackaged this year. It's not even new money. There's nothing for Tasmania in this budget. It's a reannounced mirage.

My electorate is a regional one, and much of it is rural at that. I'm proud to represent my constituents and their homes, for it's my home also. There is so much natural beauty, so many incredible destinations and such a strong community spirit that binds it all together. From Bay of Fires in the state's north-east all the way down to Maydena in the Derwent Valley, my electorate includes farms; fields; stunning coastlines and islands; national parks; places sacred to traditional owners; and heritage listed colonial towns. It's beautiful all the way through, but it has its challenges as a regional area, and we know what those challenges are. They're the lack of services, the centralisation of services into the cities and the lack of employment opportunities. They have so much to offer, and none of it would be possible without the work of the volunteers.

Before I close, I have to shout out the incredible work that the volunteers do. They are the glue that hold regional communities together, and, frankly, they are exploited by this government, because a lot of what they do should be done by paid staff.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. I give the call to the member for Grey.

Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, I'd like to thank the member for Indi for bringing this motion forward. It gives us an opportunity to talk about many good things in regional Australia. I was a bit surprised by her speech, though, when she talked about the lack of action. I vehemently disagree. In fact, I can remember being so envious of Indi when the Mobile Black Spot Program was first announced. Indi outscored virtually every other electorate in Australia, so it's not underserviced at all. It did have a different member then, but there you go.

I am the member for Grey, and I'd rate Grey as just about as regional as you get. My region—or regions—covers 92 per cent of South Australia, an area 10 per cent bigger than New South Wales. So I know about regions and I know about government investment in regions. I've lived in that region, if you like, for all of my 64 years, and I've never seen government investment in it like we're seeing at the moment.

I have heard a bit of a tale lately that the grants programs are rigged around marginal seats. The last time I looked, Grey was a bit over 13 per cent on a two-party preferred basis to the Liberal Party, and yet there is over a billion dollars of investment in our road network coming from the Commonwealth government at the moment. I wouldn't call that pork-barrelling into a regional electorate. I would say that is resisting the view that you don't get paid out unless you live in a marginal electorate. I've never seen works like this. We're building a new bridge in Port Augusta, a duplication on the main thoroughfare from Sydney to Perth. It's also the main thoroughfare from Adelaide to Darwin. We're building an overpass facility and dual lanes through Port Wakefield, which is a town to the south where the roads meet. We're starting the duplication of the Augusta Highway. We're doing a $100 million upgrade on the Eyre Highway. We've seen more than $50 million of work go into the Barrier Highway and more than that into the Horrocks Highway. So there are things happening right across Grey.

We've just seen in this budget an extension of the special local roads component for South Australian councils which actually recognises the fact that they got dudded in the national deal that was done over 20 years ago. It's been there for most of that time, but, every time it comes up, we have to argue for it again. It wasn't funded at the end of the Labor government, so it fell into disrepair for a couple of years, but we managed to get it back on the burner.

We're seeing investment in a whole lot of areas across Grey through things like the on-farm water grants, which are enabling farmers to get their production platforms in place and make them relative to today. We're seeing over 30 mobile phone towers go in under the Black Spot Program across Grey. These are fantastic outcomes. In the budget which has just been announced, we saw an actual growth in the on-farm water grants. There's more support for local shows—which have taken a bashing through the COVID virus; none of my local shows ran for 12 months—and it's warmly welcomed. The instant asset write-offs for all businesses right across Australia, but certainly in regional Australia and certainly in my part of the world, are making an enormous difference. We're seeing huge investment. You can barely buy a farm ute at the moment. It's really going off the scale in a big way. Those large contracts are bringing people into the regions. At the moment, there are no fewer than three wind farm constructions going up in Grey. These include battery storage, and solar cells to go with it. That doesn't happen on its own; it happens because the right levers are in place to make the investments incurred. These are good outcomes for regional Australia. I would say we are in as bright a spot as we've been for some time. We have high prices, we have very good commodity results on just about everything, and the government is backing the regions in to keep multiplying that effect and growing the value thereof.

I welcome your motion, as I say. I've been in this place for 13 years now, and there's never been a time when I've felt better about the government's treatment of people in the region. One of the things I've been hot about ever since I got here is the lack of doctors in the regions. We are as severely affected as any. As we saw in the budget, there is recognition of the fact that we need a different payment system for doctors that work in rural and regional areas, as opposed to those that work in the city. (Time expired)

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion and thank the member for Indi for bringing it to the chamber. Members of this place who have the joy of living in a regional community, as I do, know that whatever steps we take towards recovery must be focused on our regions. We also know that, for any recovery to be effective, it can't be based on how to win the next election or how to solve the next political problem. As I've consistently said since I was first elected, almost a year ago, we need a strategic, long-term plan to grow, support and transform our regions. As is pointed to in this motion, the only way to do that is to ensure that there is an amendment to the Charter of Budget Honesty that looks to the effect that the decisions that we make here have on our regions.

As we currently hurtle towards a trillion dollars in debt, there is no plan for long-term, structural change in our regions—no vision, no consultation and no plan. I invite any member of this place to come to my region and see firsthand the need for change and the need for support in our communities. Come and talk to us. It's not much to ask. Talk to the people that live there. Talk to our local councils. Talk to the state governments about how we can work together. Our communities know best how to grow and create sustainable industries in our regions. They want you to listen to them on how to build career paths for our children and grandchildren. They want to make sure that there are services available to us all.

I regularly travel right across the mighty Eden-Monaro. Our region spans some 42,000 square kilometres and contains 365 different towns and villages, one for every day of the year. In every town, on any day of the year that you were to show up, people would talk to you about the same issues that I will talk about today. One of the issues that is prevalent, from Dalmeny to Delegate, from Binalong to Bombala and from Murrumbateman to Michelago, is internet connectivity. Surely in 2021 we would be able to rely on a decent internet connection in our regional homes and businesses. But didn't you hear? The NBN is going to bring our regional towns and villages closer together to unlock their digital potential. At least that was the plan, until this government gutted the rollout and, in turn, gutted productivity in our regions.

It's easy to forget that these decisions and the lack of a long-term, strategic plan have a real impact on our communities. Just last week I was speaking with Mary from Wallagoot. Mary runs an international furniture business from her home, employing a mix of local staff and remote staff in Indonesia. She's suffered from serious and ongoing internet outages, with poor and patchy service, and she has even considered relocating her business out of the region, to Canberra, to make sure that she doesn't lose clientele due to long periods of being uncontactable.

The government has been all about announcements and flashy headlines, never about actually delivering for our regional communities. The Prime Minister and the Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts will proudly stand up and talk about the completed NBN rollout and how they've pushed so many more people to satellite or to fixed wireless, but what have they done in supporting our regional communities? I mean, Mary doesn't sound very supported to me. Why is it that internet connectivity in our regional towns and villages is not the main focus of our recovery?

Then we have to look at infrastructure. Why is it that the government has failed to list more than one highway in my electorate as a road of strategic importance? There's only one major highway that this government contributes ongoing funding to. Is it the Princes Highway, which was severed both north and south during our bushfire crisis and closed for seven weeks, seriously impacting tourism and freight? No. Is it the Snowy Mountains Highway, the only major link between the Bega Valley and inland New South Wales? No. Is it the Monaro Highway, linking Cooma, Jindabyne and Bombala to Queanbeyan? No. Is it the Kings Highway, which was also closed for months following the Black Summer bushfires, linking Batemans Bay, Braidwood and Queanbeyan? No. It's the Barton Highway. And we're still waiting I don't know how many years on for the duplication of the Barton Highway. I don't know what it is about this, but all these roads are strategically important for growth and investment in our regions. But this is to be expected when you do not have a strategic plan for regional Australia. It's time to get on with it because our regions deserve better.

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Eden-Monaro has come to this place and encouraged people to visit her electorate, presumably members of the government or otherwise, to listen to her community. With respect, she ought to check her diary for Friday. If she did, she would realise that the House Select Committee on Regional Australia, which I chair, is conducting an inquiry into regional Australia and is in fact travelling to Eden-Monaro on Friday. We're not travelling there on Friday because, as the member suggests, she has asked but rather it was at my suggestion. And it's also not because she has come into this place and suggested otherwise. To come in here and try to suggest that the people who represent the government in this place are not willing to listen to her constituents is quite wrong, and I've just highlighted that very fact.

Let's talk about what we're in screaming agreement about. We're in screaming agreement, as I am with the member for Indi and my colleagues who represent regional Australia, about the importance of regional Australia to our nation. A strong regional Australia means a stronger Australia. I am in awe of the member for Indi's passion for the region, as I was her predecessor. We share a lot in common. But we have to be quite clear and clear-eyed about what we are doing. I didn't have the benefit of hearing, because I was in the House of Representatives during the member for Indi's contribution, but to suggest as some have that, in some way, this government has turned its back on regional Australia—I can tell you that that is not true.

It's difficult to debate this matter without reference to the events of last night. Of course, budget 2021 is a seminal point in the term of this government, but budget night is also significant in the life of any government. Just like elections shape the country, every single budget opportunity does exactly the same. I can't speak for every member of parliament, but what I can say is that constituents in my electorate woke up this morning to news that they are seeing part of the infrastructure pipeline delivered to Barker. I know the member for Grey was here making a contribution and talking about important infrastructure in his electorate. Let me tell you about the Truro bypass. It is a bottleneck on the Sturt Highway, which is a road of strategic importance. Not $1 million for a bypass around Truro, not $16 million, but $160 million. That is nation-building infrastructure. At the same time, there is funding to undertake studies in relation to other important transformative infrastructure. Through this budget there is a litany of announcements that will support regional communities. I'm particularly interested in the instant asset write-off and the bulk-billing incentive for GPs.

I don't think anyone in this place would be upset about the Building Better Regions Fund going for a further round, with an additional $250 million. In my electorate I've just been on a call to mayors and CEOs of the 17 councils. The one complaint I received about a further round of the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program was, 'Tony, we're not sure we'll be able to roll out that program, because we are snowed with the amount of funding that's coming out of Canberra right now.' Answer: 'Well, this funding, round 3, will operate from 1 January 2022 through to 31 June 2023.'

This is a government that is committed to regional Australia. Why? Because when you look across the chamber, the majority of people who come from regional Australia are on the government side of the benches. That's just the reality. Try as they might, those opposite, to suggest, 'Oh, no, there are more people from the Labor Party who represent rural, regional and remote communities', it is not true. And I remember one of the members who does live in regional Australia who represented the community of Ballarat and, when we were dealing with the National Stronger Regions Fund, what the ANAO said about that contribution. We're about regional Australia. We come from regional Australia. We know that a strong regional Australia makes for a strong Australia, and long may that be the case.

Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for Indi for moving this very important motion regarding the regional Australia white paper, Regions at the ready: investing in Australia's future. I can't think of a better thing that the government should be focusing on. Our regional areas are so important to Australia. I take exception to what the previous speaker said. I grew up on a dairy farm in a country area—six generations. I proudly stand here as the member for Gilmore. It is an absolute honour to represent people. But the reason I stood as a candidate and became the member for Gilmore was that I saw what was happening in our regions. I saw how our people were hurting and how they were missing out under 24 years with a Liberal member.

The budget last night left a whole lot of things out, and I've got a lot of people in my electorate who are very, very unhappy. Here's an article from today, from the CEO of Waminda. Waminda is our South Coast Women's Health and Welfare Aboriginal Corporation, looking after Aboriginal women's health. They are a leader in what they do. They have lots of great programs aiming to improve health and educational outcomes for Aboriginal women as well as families. They have a lot of great programs, like Dead or Deadly. They have stroke prevention programs. They have programs that go into our schools. They have been trying to work with the government for years to create Birthing on Country. This would be an Australian first and would go a long way to reducing the Indigenous child mortality rate. So, they are very disappointed, and there's an article in my local paper today about that.

Health is probably the No. 1 issue in my electorate. We have a lot of elderly people, but of course health affects everyone, of all ages. A new Eurobodalla hospital is coming to Moruya, but there is concern that level 4 facilities are not going to be at the hospital. In the budget last night, funding was announced around mental health, and I always welcome funding around mental health. But the new Eurobodalla hospital needs an acute mental health unit—mental health inpatient beds. People are crying out for that. We also need a training facility so we can attract more health workers to our region. It's absolutely imperative. And radiology funding was promised under this government previously. Where is that? That's what people are asking me.

And housing: on the New South Wales South Coast we have the worst housing crisis that anybody has ever seen. I have people coming into my office who cannot find a rental. We have the lowest rental availability in New South Wales. What do we say to them? There is nowhere to go.

I've got a letter here today from the Shoalhaven homelessness interagency. It says: 'The strain on our services, in being able to find alternative housing solutions, is increasing exponentially and is simply untenable. The chronic shortage of housing has been compounded by increasing rents in the private rental market, the appallingly low rate of JobSeeker, which limits people's ability to access housing, and a shortage of stock available through the public and community housing services.' What is this government doing about it? Nothing. They have no vision. That's what I take exception to. Regions at the ready: investing in Australia's future. We should be looking after our greatest asset—that is, our people in the regions.

Then we've got our roads, which are crippling around us. The duplication of the Princes Highway is absolutely paramount. That definitely needs more funding. We have a lot of different roads, like the Araluen Road. We've gone through the bushfires, four disaster-declared floods, COVID—you name it, we've really seen it all. We don't even have an emergency operations centre in Moruya. They were working out of a hall with trestle tables from Bunnings. How does that happen? We've got the national disaster mitigation fund and we've got communities crying out for support. This government needs to get serious and start helping regional Australia.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The motion before the chamber speaks to the Morrison-McCormack government's plan for regional Australia. I can assure the chamber that our government has a plan for regional and rural Australia, including in my electorate of Mallee. Last year, the government delivered the most significant budget in Australian history, in the middle of a global pandemic. It was also the most significant budget regional Australia has ever seen. Last night, we went further and in this year's budget we've doubled down on our commitment to regional communities.

As the member for Mallee, which is the most regional electorate in Victoria, I have been listening to my communities. That's why I'm focused on, firstly: greater access to health care; better roads, infrastructure and connectivity; the workforce that we need; building the skills for tomorrow; thriving regional industries and small businesses; our environment; and planning for the future. These are my priorities for Mallee, and this budget is delivering for Mallee and for all of regional Australia.

We're investing $65.8 million to increase the rural bulk-billing incentive for doctors working in rural towns and remote areas. Doctors working in our towns along the Mallee Track will receive a 30 per cent increase in their bulk-billing rates. This measure will reward regional doctors for their contribution to regional communities. We're also providing a further $206 million to extend telehealth services, bringing our total investment to $3.6 billion to date. In Mallee there have been 417,879 telehealth consultations, through Medicare, since the start of the pandemic. Investments in telehealth represent extraordinary value for money in Mallee.

In this year's budget, the government is making record investments in aged care and mental health. We're committing an additional $17.7 billion for aged care on top of our existing investment. This will mean the creation of an additional 80,000 home-care packages over the next two years, bringing the total to 275,000. Our National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan is committing $2.3 billion for prevention, early intervention, treatment, workforce and support for the vulnerable.

The Morrison-McCormack government is securing Australia's recovery with a record investment in infrastructure as part of this year's budget. In Mallee, our roads are crucial to our economic survival and the health of our communities. We're committing an additional $15 million to the Calder Highway between Melbourne and Mildura, on top of the $60 million that is already committed on that corridor. We're providing an additional $1 billion for our $3 billion Road Safety Program. The government is continuing its support for local infrastructure projects that improve our communities and regional towns.

In March this year, I wrote to the Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer to inform them of several priority projects in each of the 12 local government areas in my electorate. The Deputy Prime Minister and the Treasurer have listened to my call for an extension of the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program and have committed to another round of the Building Better Regions Fund. Mallee councils will share in $37.3 million under the third tranche of the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, which is more than they received in rounds 1 and 2 combined. Several priority projects in each council can be delivered with this funding, and the BBRF has been increased to $250 million this round to support even more infrastructure projects.

Our government is building the skills of tomorrow and delivering for our thriving regional industries and small businesses. We're committing $1.5 billion to extend the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy for an additional six months. There are 2,155 apprentices currently being supported in Mallee under this 50 per cent wage subsidy, and I expect this number will grow. More funding is being provided to the successful JobTrainer Fund, which supports free or low-fee training places in areas of skills need. Around 33,000 people will be supported to develop the skills needed to work in aged care. Our government is also extending the instant asset write-off measure for a further 12 months, a measure that has been hugely popular in Mallee. This means around 20,900 businesses in Mallee can write-off the full value of any eligible asset they purchase. This government has a plan for Mallee communities and is delivering on our commitments.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.