Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have received a letter from the honourable Leader of the Nationals proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The Government's cruel decisions which are hurting regional, rural and remote Australia.

I call upon those honourable members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the stan ding orders having risen in their places—

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 21 May the Prime Minister made a statement that no-one would be left behind. It took less than six months to see that the cruel decisions of this government have left 30 per cent of Australians that live outside a capital city behind. In fact, it actually started before the election when they made a commitment to end the live export of sheep. Unfortunately, what this means for the people of Western Australia, the 3,000 men and women who work in the live sheep export industry, is that they have no future. They have no future when this new government says that it predicated this decision on science. The new agriculture minister says that we are shutting this industry down because the science tells us so. Explain the science and actually table the science because the science says that Australia does it better than anyone else.

We have moved from a mortality methodology to an animal welfare methodology. We're the best in the world in an industry that's continuing to increase, so why take away the livelihoods of 3,000 Western Australians at the stroke of a pen? For what? To export our animal welfare standards to another country that doesn't do it as well as us? That's not common sense. But then they go further. They went further with taking away the opportunity for Australian farmers to produce. The NFF at the jobs summit identified 172,000 workers are required to get food from a paddock to your plate. The best that those opposite are prepared to provide is through the PALM scheme, and that equates to 42,000 workers. You don't need a maths degree to understand the sheer shortage that is out there across regional and rural Australia.

There's no solution, just another working group with the AWU, just another talkfest without the action on an ag visa, which we signed with Vietnam. In fact, we had the opportunity to sign other countries up to give them the pathway to permanent residency, to move in what was the biggest structural adjustment in the agricultural workforce in our nation's history, one that we provided under the ag visa. We as a nation were prepared to also provide the greatest gift this country can provide to anyone around the world, a pathway to permanent residency. This pathway would bring the next generation of migrants to regional and rural Australia, to grow regional Australia and grow agriculture. But this was ripped away with the stroke of one pen, which now means that farmers and even processors right across this country are working at around 60 per cent capacity. You don't invest to plant a crop if you can't pick it.

I met a farmer in Carnarvon in Western Australia. He walked away from his property because it was all too hard. He didn't have the trust and faith to put his capital out to plant a crop. He handed over his property to someone that could afford to do it, but only at 60 per cent. It was a property he was born on, a property that he had a connection to, and it was lost. It was lost in that moment because we didn't provide our farmers with the tools. That's not common sense. Every time you go to the supermarket, it's not just the natural disasters that have caused the cost-of-living pressures at the grocery store; it's man-made. It's Labor made, because of their cruel decision to rip away the ag visa and the opportunity for our farmers to have the tools to produce the food and fibre they want.

But it gets worse. We've got a new water minister, and she has decided to reopen their plan, the plan that they put through this parliament. We're 80 per cent of the way through the first stage of the plan, the 2,750 gigs. The last 20 per cent of that plan can be achieved through infrastructure, so that farmers and communities don't have go through buybacks, because buybacks don't necessarily hurt farmers; they hurt the small communities that support them: the machinery dealer, the pump shop, the agronomist—

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hairdressers.

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

the hairdresser, the cafe—

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Schools.

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

the schools. The farmer gets his money. So we were on a pathway to complete that. What this government did when they created the plan is add an additional 450 gigalitres to that, but with that 450 gigalitres they had a safety net. They even put that safety net on to protect those communities so that not a megalitre of water could be taken out of those communities if it did not pass the neutrality test of social and economic benefit. That was the safety net that now this heartless government is trying to rip away from regional and rural Australia. That will see 450 gigalitres bought back, taking away the future of the basin community, taking away our food security. You need that water to produce, and there's a physical constraint even delivering it to the mouth of the Murray. It's called the Barmah Choke. There are perverse environmental outcomes if you try to force too much water down it. That's not common sense; that's a perverse outcome for farmers, for communities and for our food security, and again you'll pay for that at the check-out.

But to do this, to buy back that 450 gigalitres, they're robbing all of regional Australia's future, because they took away the money to build the water infrastructure. The $4.7 billion that has been ripped away from water infrastructure money would give us the tools of the future not just in the basin but right across Australia—northern Australia in particular; whether it's Hells Gates, Urannah or even Emu Swamp dam in my electorate—with which you would continue to help and support farmers who were trucking water to their permanent plantings only less than six months ago. But they've taken that away from us—and to pay for 450 gigalitres of water? That's cruel. That's nasty. That's not what Australians do to one another. Why would you do that? To take away the future of regional and rural Australia, to give us the tools to feed and clothe you—so you understand, this has huge ramifications for these communities but also for you.

But it goes even deeper than that, even just to the Building Better Regions Fund, a fund that helps little councils in remote areas that don't have the rate base to build infrastructure. I'll go my own electorate. In Winton, at my own place, is the idea that locals want to create an aged-care facility for the elderly to age in place. The closest place when you get too old in Winton is Longreach, 190 kays down the road. So you leave your family. Your family is 190 kilometres down the road. You don't get to see them every day. You won't get to see them possibly for weeks, maybe months. That's taking away the opportunity. That's the human toll of this cruel, heartless endeavour by this government to redistribute wealth and opportunity from the regions to the capital cities. We don't begrudge them that; we just want our fair share.

But the human toll gets worse. We welcome the $4.7 billion in the budget for child care, but let me tell you this isn't about childcare affordability for those in regional and rural Australia; it's about accessibility. We've got families that can't go back to work, because they can't get a childcare place. I don't begrudge anyone in Sydney getting a $22½ thousand subsidy, because the cost of living in Sydney is a lot. But try getting a job in regional Australia for just $90,000, to pay for your increased cost of living, but you can't, because you can't get a place. I went to your job summit, and I welcomed the $4.7 billion. But please partition off some of that money for childcare accessibility for regional and rural Australia. Do the right thing. Understand that we have the same opportunities that those in the cities should have. Instead, it all went into reducing childcare fees in capital cities. That doesn't help us. It doesn't help young families get back into work. It's not equitable. It's not common sense.

Then it gets even more sinister and more perverse. The distribution priority areas bonded foreign doctors to regional, rural and remote areas, where it was difficult to attract Australian-trained doctors. One of the first actions of this government was to expand that area well beyond into peri-urban areas of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. I can even give an example in my electorate of Mitchell: they haven't had a doctor since September. We can't compete. If a foreign doctor googles Sandford in Brisbane and Mitchell 350 kilometres west of Toowoomba, they're going to pick Sandford. That's the human toll that we face. We feel like the forgotten Australians. Australia should be better than that. The decisions of the government shouldn't cruel. They shouldn't be vindictive. They should be about making sure there's equality and equity no matter your postcode. Unfortunately, what this will do is put not just livelihoods at risk but also put lives at risk.

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I find it bizarre that we've just had 10 minutes from the leader of the Nationals talking about us not delivering for regional Australia. We've been in government since May. Those opposite had 10 years: 10 years without a decent change to aged care in rural areas; 10 years without understanding that you have to invest in schools otherwise you'll end up with skill shortages across the country; 10 years to figure out you have to play a role in housing, and now we see a housing crisis around the country; 10 years to make sure that we had GPs in regional areas. They can sit here and talk about the nonsense but they had 10 years and failed to deliver. They failed to deliver and they failed to understand that regional Australia is more than just Nationals seats. It's more than just Liberal seats. There are crossbenchers and Labor members who represent regional Australia, and those opposite never got it.

What regional Australia needs is something that's not a 1950s solution. Regional Australia needs modern technology. Those opposite failed to understand that in a modern society we have to deal with connectivity. They failed to build the NBN. Their record is first cutting the NBN then having significant blowouts. They said they'd build it for $29 billion, then it was $41 billion, then it was $49 billion and then it ended up at $58 billion—double the cost. They spent 10 years denying the reality of climate change and ignoring the intensity and challenges of natural disasters in rural communities. Every natural disaster funding assistance was slow, cumbersome and without the ability to build back better. Their failed $4.8 billion Emergency Response Fund didn't deliver a single mitigation project or release a cent in recovery funding in three years. It earned $800 million dollars—high-five to that!—but it failed to deliver to the people who needed it most.

As I said, the state of housing across this country, especially in regional Australia, actually hinders employment opportunities. We've inherited an economy of increasing interest rates and growing repayments impacting household budgets, along with already high grocery and energy prices. They failed to understand the skills and jobs we needed for the future, they failed to see the signals that there would be a significant shortfall in workers needed across many sectors, and they failed to train that workforce.

Those opposite seem to think those in regional Australia don't need government funded services such as child care or the NDIS. I was particularly perplexed when I heard Senator McKenzie on Cairns radio saying, 'If you're looking for savings, don't go after the regions—rather, look to reform the NDIS, look to reform Medicare, and get some of those structural saves.' It's beyond belief that we can suggest in 2022 that regional Australians deserve less, that they don't deserve access to those services. To top it off, regional Australia needs much more than just grants. We need transparency and clear measures, and the ANAO report said that the Building Better Regions Fund failed to deliver funding in a clear and consistent manner.

Actually, the biggest failure was sending $10 million to the North Sydney Olympic Pool. It received funding via a closed invitation-only grant process. I would love to know from the Leader of the Nationals how many of his constituents in Maranoa go to the North Sydney Olympic Pool for their regional pool. No-one in Eden-Monaro thinks that their regional pool is in North Sydney.

I don't know where those opposite were, complaining to their own side of government, when they delivered $10 million of regional funding to the North Sydney pool, because there are pools across this country in regional communities that do a great service. They are safe, effective ways to get kids to learn to swim. Everyone needs them. Yet in any regional community you go into they will tell you that they need money to rebuild their pool. And somehow North Sydney became the priority for the former government—no level playing field, no transparency and no consistency.

We live in challenging times, we all get it. There's a global slowdown, high inflation, rising interest rates and a succession of natural disasters putting pressure on our economy. On top of these current pressures, we're working to clean up a decade of waste. It can't be done in six months. But we are doing much more than governing by press release. You can't build a road on a press release. You can't show up for a photo and not follow up with those communities. We've committed a billion dollars towards two major regional programs that will be delivered in a fair and transparent manner.

The Growing Regions Program will provide new funding opportunities for social and economic infrastructure to local councils and not-for-profit organisations through open, competitive grants processes. The Precincts and Partnership Program will provide a strategic, nationally consistent mechanism for funding and coordinating large-scale projects that transform our places, benefiting communities in our regional cities and wider regional and rural Australia.

Unlike those opposite, we know regional Australia will be the driving force behind our economy, particularly the renewables economy. Those opposite thought all that regional Australia needed was a cash splash. There was no vision on how to build, support and harness the value of regional Australia, but regional Australians deserve so much more than that—broad-sweeping policy that delivers and meets their needs. Investment in regional Australia is much bigger than a simple grants program. That's why there are 760 initiatives in the Regional ministerial budget statement for regional Australia and over 220 new packages on individual measures.

I thank the member for Page for his interjections, because Senate estimates provided, a few weeks ago, this government, the Albanese government, is delivering $4 billion more for regional Australia. That's why we're investing $2.4 billion in funding to the NBN and delivering $656 million to improve mobile connectivity in regional and remote communities. They always talk to us about mobile funding. They always talk to us about not getting the services that those in the city get.

We know the chef, the childcare worker, the fruit pickers all need a roof over their head before they can accept a job in our regions, which is why this government took up the challenge abandoned by those opposite. We have a $10 billion future housing fund, and we've implemented the regional first home buyers scheme. Already 1,000 people have taken advantage of that scheme, and couples like Abbey and Corhan near Townsville will be in their first home before Christmas. But there is so much more that needs to be done.

We need stronger educational opportunities across the regions. That is why we have prioritised access to 20,000 additional Commonwealth supported places at regional universities. That's why we've invested $158.5 million worth of measures to address teacher shortages. But good regional development isn't just about investing in roads or industries; it's about investing in our people through skills and training. It's investing in services like Medicare, the NDIS and child care.

We know that regional Australia bears the brunt of natural disasters, which is why we have prioritised the Disaster Ready Fund, investing up to $200 million per year on disaster risk reduction and resilience. Our regional communities tell us they want to be better prepared for next time. They don't want to build back infrastructure that continues to get washed away or burnt. They don't want the community to continue to be cut off. They want to know that we give credence to their lived experience, which is why we prioritise that.

Regional Australia is at the centre of our nation's growth and at the forefront of the Albanese Labor government's agenda. Investment in regional Australia includes Powering the Regions Fund, investment in schools and universities, investment in housing and investment in health care. It's about investing in people and taking seriously place based solutions. The Labor government are saying to people, 'We will deliver for you, no matter where you live, no matter your postcode and no matter who represents you in parliament.' There has to be a clear and transparent process.

The Labor government will deliver a regional Australia that can thrive in the modern world. I am so proud to be part of this government delivering for all of Australia.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We really saw in the recent budget the new Labor government's lack of commitment and what their real story is. I call the recent budget the no-hope, no-solutions budget. It had predictions of higher power prices and higher mortgage costs, but there were no solutions. It was a no-hope, no-solutions budget. The great disappointment in the budget obviously was the real cut to infrastructure projects and programs within regional Australia. That was a real kick in the guts obviously to regional Australia.

Added to that is the insult, not necessarily to me and people in this chamber but to the people who live in regional Australia, by those opposite—and many have done it, including the now Prime Minister—saying that National and Liberal MPs in regional Australia were pork-barrelling. When we advocate for money and get funding for projects in our regions—for our bridges, roads, hospitals and sporting upgrades—those opposite insult every single person who lives in regional Australia by calling that pork-barrelling. It's an absolute insult.

Rubbed into that is them pulling money from regional programs. We've seen them pull the BBRF. We saw in the budget about $9.6 billion ripped out of regional grants programs and $4.7 billion ripped out of the forward estimates for regional programs. At the same time there is the absolute hypocrisy of those opposite because suddenly they gave to Dan Andrews, for the Suburban Rail Loop, $2.2 billion of the money they ripped out of the regions. There was nothing from Infrastructure Australia on that. Not only did they insult every person who lives in regional Australia but also they were hypocrites with what they did with that.

We shouldn't be surprised that they don't understand regional Australia. Regional Australians know that the government don't get them. When you look at a map of Australia, you can hardly see the red bits in the regions, because regional Australians know that those opposite don't get them. They know that the Labor Party don't get them. That is why they reject Labor and you don't see much red on the map.

This actually goes back a long way. This actually goes back in the Labor Party to Paul Keating's day. Do you know what Paul Keating once said about National MPs? He said all Nat MPs want to do is build roads to nowhere. What an insult that is. He probably thought it was funny as well. That's how far this goes back with the Labor Party. They're not roads to nowhere. It was the Nationals that established the Roads to Recovery Program. We institutionalised that into spending because we know how important those roads are. They're not roads to nowhere; they're roads to our houses, our communities, our farms, our hospitals and our schools.

Another program that Paul Keating and Labor would think was for roads to nowhere was the Bridge Renewal Program which we brought in when we came into government in 2013. That was another very important program. We know and hear that Labor don't get regional Australia. Obviously regional Australia understand that, too, because you don't see a lot of red on the map.

The other thing I want to add is another example of this. They were talking about skill shortages and job shortages. That is hypocrisy. We as the previous government did work to bring in the ag visa program. As the Leader of the Nationals said, we have a huge shortage of workers in regional Australia. We negotiated the ag visa. We were going to roll it out through South-East Asia to get more workers into regional Australia to help. Guess what the Labor Party did on their first day? They chopped it. It's gone. They are not going to extend the ag visa program. So, again, they have no understanding of regional Australia. They don't care, and they insult us with their hypocrisy.

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

I think it is worth revisiting the last nine years under a government that those opposite led and comparing that with the last six months. What does cruel government look like? How about cutting video telehealth psychiatric consultations for regional and rural Australia? There has been years of drought, horrific bushfires, a global pandemic and flood after flood, but the Morrison government thought it would be a good idea to make it more difficult and more expensive for people in regional and rural Australia to see a psychiatrist. I can tell you right now that that was cruel. So the Albanese government reversed it. We gave people struggling with their mental health back their psychiatrists. One person in my electorate said the former government's decision put her in a dark place but that we had given her hope again. Those are real consequences of decisions those opposite made that we are correcting.

What else does cruel government look like? How about neglecting older Australians living in aged care? Neglect was the title of the report from the royal commission, and it laid it directly at the feet of the Liberal government. We are putting the care back into aged care. As the member for an electorate with one of the oldest demographics in the country, I can assure those opposite that people on the South Coast care about that. We care that we will have nurses 24/7 in aged-care homes, that older Australians will have good-quality food, good-quality care and a system that gives them dignity as they age thanks to the Albanese government.

What else? How about forcing people to live below the poverty line by deliberately keeping wages low and refusing to provide an adequate pay rise for those receiving government support. As an electorate with one of the highest numbers of pensioners in the country, people in our region care about this. They care that we have delivered the largest pension indexation rise in 12 years. They care that we advocated for a rise in the minimum wage and a pay rise for aged-care workers. They care that this government supports their increased wages, while the former government cruelly kept their wages low on purpose. This government is taking the needs of regional and rural Australia seriously, and we are putting them first.

We have experienced a worsening GP crisis for years. Just yesterday I spoke on the bill that will help incentivise more GPs into regional and rural Australia. What is cruel is leaving whole communities without a local doctor. We are trying to fix it. What's cruel is a government watching our housing prices spiral out of control and doing nothing to fix it. It's a big job to undo this neglect, but we have started the process to build 40,000 new social and affordable homes. Our Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee is helping people buy a home. In fact, we have many policies that will help support local people find and keep a roof over their head. Those opposite had none.

In my electorate, we are providing $40 million to help fix local potholed roads across the Shoalhaven. That is on top of the $250 million boost in the local roads and community infrastructure fund targeted at regional Australia to help local government fix our roads that are in ruins from this crazy weather. We won't call it climate change induced crazy weather because we might have to point out that the former government's refusal to take any meaningful action on climate change may have contributed to that. Is that cruel? Well, if you ask our communities suffering from a never-ending stream of climate related disasters, they might tell you a thing or two. I certainly don't think they will see help to rebuild their roads as cruel.

Is it cruel to invest in life-saving cancer treatment close to home for people in the Eurobodalla, or would the Liberals prefer that people like Cathie Hurst were forced to continue travelling to Sydney or Canberra for their radiation therapy treatment, hoping they can make it home before they get sick? That's what I call cruel. In fact, I would call the New South Wales Liberals' continued refusal to support the radiation therapy centre in Moruya cruel. The failure of the former member for Bega and the failure of the former Morrison government to deliver this centre: that is cruel.

Local people in my electorate can see the difference in a government that has been working every day since it was elected to deliver real, positive change in our community. We've made more positive improvements for regional and rural Australia in the last six months than those opposite have in the last nine years, and this is only the beginning.

Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor has missed an opportunity to honour and deliver on over $9.6 billion in funding that the coalition, when in government, had committed to regional, rural and remote Australia. Labor have broken the collective spirit of regional Australians, who are living and working to put food on the table for families. I have said repeatedly that the wealth of the nation comes from the regions. It is disappointing that the Labor government have failed to recognise, when considering their first budget, the value and importance that regional Australia bring to the table.

The royalties and taxes generated from coal, gas, cattle and grain pay to build roads, schools and hospitals and contribute to aged care and the NDIS. These resources are unique and distinctive to regional and remote areas of Australia. They deserve recognition for the vast wealth that they generate and contribute to this country. The regional and remote regions are deserving recipients of vital infrastructure funding because of their indispensable capacity to uphold the health of the Australian economy. This is a cruel and low blow to the hardworking communities and industries of regional and rural Australia, who quietly and without fuss work from dawn until dusk, and in some cases around the clock, to keep the cogs of the Australian economy turning.

I'd like to bring to your attention vital infrastructure projects in my electorate of Capricornia that are casualties of Labor's brutal funding cuts. Rockhampton is the only major city along the east coast of Australia that does not offer alternative routes for 2,600 trucks that travel through daily. We are the beef capital of Australia and home to two major meatworks and the CQLX, the Central Queensland Livestock Exchange, a major selling centre and regarded as one of the best stud-selling facilities in the country. The Bruce Highway traverses over Rockhampton's two bridges and through the centre of the city, bringing a high volume of vehicles that compete with the local morning and afternoon peak traffic. I think I have made a clear case as to the critical need for a ring road to Rockhampton. When in government, the coalition recognised this and committed $1 billion to fund the construction of this vital infrastructure project.

Another vital infrastructure project casualty to Capricornia is the Urannah Dam. The decision by the federal Labor government to take away $7 billion from water projects is a testament to their lack of practical understanding of the necessity to fund dams. Again, the coalition recognised that water security and a pumped renewable energy hydro scheme are essential to regional, rural and remote infrastructure. The Urannah Dam site presents the perfect opportunity for pumped hydro to be built. The Urannah Dam is ready to go. The coalition committed $483 million to this vital project, but Labor cut the funding to the Urannah Dam project and announced plans for a $12 billion pumped hydro renewable energy hub to be built in the Pioneer Valley. Unlike the Urannah Dam project, the Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro project does not have the capacity to store water and provide water security.

Another cruel and reckless decision by Labor was to cut funding for the Phillips Creek Bridge upgrade. The Phillips Creek Bridge on Saraji Road is the key link between Dysart and Moranbah, north-west of Rockhampton. Mining companies in the region rely heavily on the route to get their products to market. Flooding closes the Phillips Creek Bridge periodically throughout the year, costing businesses millions and causing frustrating delays for motorists. A replacement bridge would make the highway safer, more flood resilient and keep motorists and freight moving. The coalition, when in government, committed $14.4 million to replace the Phillips Creek bridge on Saraji Road, pending a funding agreement being reached with the Queensland Labor state government. The decision to cut funding to vital road infrastructure on regional and remote roads—the pathway from the paddock to the plate—is hurting all Australians at the checkout.

The coalition committed $10 million to Rockhampton Airport to help fund the construction of bay 7, a new apron that would ensure the airport continues to service locals, defence personnel and tourists, to meet future demand. The apron would allow for additional large defence aircraft to land during exercises without disrupting public transport. This investment and upgrade would provide 120 jobs in construction and 126 indirect jobs. The federal Labor government need to honour this commitment to Rockhampton Airport. It will incentivise airlines to increase commercial flights and provide more bargaining power to attract other airlines and open up new routes.

The decisions of the Labor government have left regional and rural Australia behind. Why is a fight required for every cent of regional infrastructure funding, whether state or federal, that's delivered to Capricornia under Labor?

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

I'm more than happy to speak on this matter of public importance that the Leader of the National Party has put to the parliament. I can't help but notice there is one National MP left in this chamber: the member Riverina. There's the Liberal member for Capricornia—

You're National Party, are you? I do apologise. On the opposite side there are two members left in this chamber who are from the regions. Compare that to this side of the chamber: the member for Hunter; the member for Gilmore; the member for Lingiari; the member for Robertson; the member for McEwen, which is outer metro; the member for Macquarie; the member for Pearce; the member for Blair; the member for Bendigo; and me, the member for Lyons. I've got the member for Menzies over there waving his hand—oh, and the member for Grey has snuck in the back. So we've got two Libs and two Nats on a matter of public importance brought by the leader of the National Party, who's not even here to hear his own matter of public importance. That's the importance the Nationals place on issues like this. They are all hat and no result—that's what they are!

That speaks to the last nine years of government by those opposite. They talk a big game about the regions but they're never there when it counts. That's what we've seen in the results over the last nine years. Health is in crisis. There's been a GP crisis across regional Australia under their watch. There's been a housing crisis across regional Australia under their watch. With NBN, the digital divide got wider under them over nine years. If there's one thing that's been consistent over the last nine years, it's that too many regional electorates have been represented by National Party MPs who talk big in this chamber but don't deliver on the ground, where it counts.

I'm very pleased to be speaking on this matter of public importance, and I think I'll run out of time before I get through. My mantra since coming to this place six years ago has been, 'We need to rebuild our regions,' because what I've seen consistently from those opposite is a hollowing out of our regions. I've seen the automation of services and the centralisation of services. Our regional communities are being hollowed out. People are deserting our regions. Those opposite, over nine years, did nothing. They did nothing about housing affordability; they did nothing about health access. They just sat on their hands and complained and doled out pork barrels to their mates. That's their idea of representing the regions: pork barrels to their mates.

I'm proud to be part of a government that is delivering for the regions in a proper way. In my electorate of Lyons, there is much to do when it comes to rebuilding our regions, especially since, for nine long years, those on the opposite side who served in the previous government did nothing but send a wrecking ball through our regions. They destroyed local services, stripped towns bare and did nothing to attract long-term occupancy and new occupancy for homes in regional Australia.

I could provide countless examples of support that's needed for GPs and medical services. In the suburb of Brighton in my electorate, and in Bridgewater, Campbelltown and Bicheno—all across my electorate—under those opposite the GP crisis got worse, and it's an issue that we have to confront and deal with. That's why we're here: to confront the mess left behind by those opposite. It's a big mess to clean up. We're up to it and we'll do it.

The good news is that the Albanese government is committed to rebuilding after the destruction wrought upon the country by those opposite. We've made a start, with $1 billion to directly benefit GPs and their patients. We're working with the states and territories, primary health networks and health centres to pinpoint pressure points and ensure that the health system meets the needs of all Australians—including, and especially, those in regional and rural Australia.

I also want to briefly come to the skills crisis we confront. You try and get a tradie these days. They are absolutely run off their feet—and why?

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You're in government!

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

I'll take the interjection from the member of Riverina. We've been in government for six months, and he expects us to fix nine years of destruction in six months! We've made a good start, old boy, and you know it!

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

From where I sit in regional Australia, all I can see is the dust from the ALP wheels as they skid back to the city. They've been in government for six months, and already they've slashed a heap of programs that were so beneficial to my electorate. In fact, I'll point out while I'm here that over a billion dollars was committed to roadworks in my electorate in the last five years, and it actually transformed that network.

One of the very first things the new government did—I spoke about this issue yesterday in the House—was to draw or extend the district of workforce shortage provisions for rural doctors into the suburbs of the capital cities, for crying out loud! That has already reduced our ability to attract foreign-trained doctors into regional areas. In the area that I come from, in regional South Australia, after the announcement in the last couple of days and the news that two doctors are leaving, we will have one doctor for 7,000 people. The minister has refused to meet with the Northern Eyre Peninsula Health Alliance, which delivered a report with the $300,000 left to them by Greg Hunt to precisely address this issue—and the minister has refused to meet them. I've asked him, over six months. I gave him the report as soon as he became the minister. So there's no action from the ALP on fixing the rural doctor crisis where I come from.

Even before that, the very first thing this government did when it came to power was to announce the cancellation of the cashless debit card, which, of course, started in Ceduna, in my electorate. The first signs on the streets at the moment are exactly what I warned of. The intake of alcohol has vastly increased. The gambling rooms at the hotels are full. There have been fights on the main street, and there's been an increase in all of those antisocial behaviours that the cashless debit card was introduced to address. This is an assault on regional Australia.

The BBRF program—a fabulous program that delivered more than $50 million into my electorate—has been cancelled. The new government has said that there'll be a couple of new programs. I get that; that's fine. But the round 6 submissions have been in for six months; they have been fully assessed by the department; and, after thousands of hours of effort from local community groups, they've just thrown them in the bin. Some of the groups will no longer be eligible to actually apply under the new systems because the argument's moved on—the caravan's moved on. They've had to move their projects on. The record speaks for itself here.

While I'm speaking of regional Australia, I might point out that, in this period, the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government proudly announced some investment in regional South Australia, with $10 million for the Holdfast Bay council. Holdfast Bay, for those who don't know, is where the Glenelg tram goes to. It's the closest beach to the city of Adelaide. Another $6 million went to the Marion council, which sits right alongside the Holdfast Bay council; it starts about three kilometres out of the city. If that's regional investment, we are in trouble in regional Australia.

I might point out that the last time the Labor Party were in government they had a program called Stronger Regions, and that paid for a ring route around that very remote airport of Perth, for crying out loud! We're seeing funds that we directed into regional Australia over the last 10 years being redirected away for city projects. Look at the regional airports and services in my electorate, Madam Deputy Speaker. In the March budget, delivered by the coalition government, there was an amount of $28.5 million to continue the subsidy for regional security scanners in airports like Whyalla and Port Lincoln. In this budget that's gone. That money will dry up around March next year. For the people who live in Whyalla, that's going to put $50 a seat onto a Qantas flight, and in Port Lincoln it looks like being $18. I've spoken to Qantas this week. I know the local councils can't bear the strain of that kind of imposition. It costs over a million dollars a year to run these scanners.

That legislation, incidentally, was introduced by the current Prime Minister back in 2012. I told him at the time exactly what would happen if they pushed ahead with this process. The category that actually nominates these aeroplanes has changed slightly in the last two years, and now we've got this block on regional transport coming at us straight down the road.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

While the previous government did govern, and they say they governed for the regions, they governed for their own regions; they didn't govern for all regional MPs. They didn't deliver for all regional MPs, and for their own electorates they didn't deliver or govern well. The previous speaker talked about the Building Better Regions Fund and actually was incorrect in what he told the House. In round 6 of Building Better Regions they did call for applications, and lots of organisations and councils did put in their applications, but they were never assessed by the department. The minister asked, on coming into government, and there had been no list of priorities prepared; there has been no work done by the department.

The other reason why our government scrapped that fund was that, under the guidelines that were set up, it was going to be left wholly up to ministerial discretion. There was no independence or transparency and no departmental involvement at all. Being a government of good governance and transparency, our government decided that we wanted to restore integrity—the independence and the oversight. That is why that fund has ended and we announced in the budget a new fund to deliver good regional infrastructure projects—projects that are a priority for the regions and assessed by the department, not by an individual minister's wish or whim of the day.

The region covered by my electorate welcomed that, because we were hurt by the previous government. The department had decided, through the community sports infrastructure fund, that a soccer field in my electorate was worthy of a grant: $500,000, or just under, to upgrade the Kyneton soccer field. It became a victim of sports rorts. Colour-coded red, it got cut from funding which went to another project in a coalition seat. That's what happened under the previous government. They didn't govern for all regions, they didn't govern for all regional Australians; they only governed for their own, and they did it badly.

The previous speaker also spoke about doctors and the shortage of doctors. We too feel that in greater Bendigo and throughout my electorate. I've been speaking in this parliament since I was elected nine years ago about the growing GP crisis in our regions and the growing gap fees that are charged to patients. It didn't just happen after the May election. It's been happening for a long time in the regions. But now it's convenient for those in the National and Liberal parties to be raising it. We have a GP crisis, we have a Medicare system in crisis, we have a bulk-billing crisis, and these things started under their watch.

The Labor government has a plan for rebuilding Medicare. A billion dollars has been set aside to help GPs with their clinics and to put money back into bulk-billing, and that's just the start. We recognise that to help solve the GP crisis we have to start reinvesting in Medicare. That's why we're also expanding places at universities and making sure that more regional kids get the opportunity to go to university. The gap continued to widen in terms of educational outcomes in the regions under the previous government's watch. The gap in health outcomes and life expectancy between metro and regional people widened under the previous government's watch.

Life is getting harder in the regions, and it didn't just start after the May election—it started a lot sooner. We're going to be more targeted in how we support the regions. We are helping with cost-of-living pressures. We're lowering the cost of child care—a huge issue for regional parents. We're supporting the development and growth of the early childhood education workforce. A massive barrier for women in the regions is not having access to child care. It's not just about the cost of child care; we literally don't have enough educators in the regions to help educate our youngest children. There's enough space, there's room, but we don't have enough educators, so we have a plan to tackle that.

I could go on and on about what our side is doing to help support people in regional Australia. What's disappointing is that, rather than realising the mistakes they made in government, the opposition have come in with this MPI to attack the good work that we've started in our six months of government will continue to do once we enter next year.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We knew in rural and regional Australia that life wouldn't be easy under Prime Minister Albanese, but we had no idea it would be this bad. We had no idea it would be this bad and this tragic. Have a look at the first budget that has been brought down. What a disgrace! Ripping all the projects out of our region of Dawson—projects like VMR, or Volunteer Marine Rescue Whitsunday. That's headed by president Mr Mal Priday, secretary Roger Woodson and their 50 dedicated volunteers. They do a fantastic job saving lives almost each and every day. They do medevacs. They even buy their own shirts. Under the coalition, they had $420,000 that was in the budget to extend their clubhouse. They have outgrown their facilities. The Whitsundays has the highest boat ownership per capita. All they need is a little bit of a helping hand, but no! It was ripped straight out from underneath them—$420,000. Then there was the veterans wellness pledge of $5 million in the budget. That has been ripped out as well.

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

They're your election commitments!

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It wasn't in the budget.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was definitely in the budget. That was for a brand-new RSL in Mackay—

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

I'll hold you to account on that.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm happy to. There was a veterans retreat at Kinchant Dam and a veterans wellness area around the memorial pool complex in Mackay. If these people—the veterans of this Australia—are good enough to put their bodies on the line, their lives on the line for Australia, shouldn't you be looking after them when they come home? Some of these veterans have got PTSD. All we ask is to look after them and provide them with some resources to actually do that.

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I agree. That's what we're doing.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So do it, rather than ripping it out of the budget! That's absolutely disgraceful. I don't know how you live with yourselves or sleep at night when you do that—when you're not even prepared to look after our veterans. Then there's the Proserpine P&C. We do the heavy lifting in the bush. All they're chasing is $50,000—that was in the budget—for some shade and softball. They have already raised the money for all the playground equipment—gone! You've taken away some funding from the kids! Absolutely disgraceful. We had a pledge at the Alligator Creek Community and Sports Club to provide some of our elderly people who play bowls with some shade and also to do up their clubhouse. But no—absolutely taken out as well.

One of my colleagues, Michelle Landry, was speaking about the Urannah dam project, a nation-building project, before. It's 20,000 hectares of agriculture opened up on pumped hydro. Those on the opposite side are all for renewable energy, so why wouldn't you be part of that? This project is right next door to the north-south grid. You can actually put the electricity straight in. It provides water for mining, agriculture and urban use. It's wealth creation, a nation-building project, and you rip it out. But what we did get from the other side is increased cost-of-living pressures. Electricity, by their own forecasts, is going up 56 per cent. That was after they got elected on a promise of a $275 reduction in power bills. I know you don't want to know about that, you don't want to talk about that—you can't even mention the word or the number—but that is what you got elected on, and you've just walked away from it.

Fuel has gone up. I've got a guy in my area that cannot afford the fuel for his trucks to keep the business going, because he can't pass on those extra costs to his customers. What a debacle the ag visa is. And thank the good Lord that you've at least let Vietnam come back in. You tried to scrap it, but you let Vietnam come back in. At least that way we can put some food on people's tables. I've never come across such a cruel government in all my life.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Hunter electorate has never had it better. The Albanese Labor government has delivered for the Hunter in spades. The recent budget shows that Labor is the only party that cares for the regions, with more than $400 million of investment directly into the Hunter electorate. This is a budget that invests in the things that regional Australia need to be able to build a better future.

When those opposite were in power the Hunter regularly missed out, despite being in regional Australia. Who can forget the regional grants program that saw millions go to projects like North Sydney Olympic Pool instead of electorates like mine? If that's what those opposite consider regional and rural Australia, then you can understand why electorates like mine continued to miss out under the former government.

When they were found out, they tried to justify the rorting by saying that it was definitely a regional facility because people from all over New South Wales came to use that pool. I mean, come on! The Liberal Party are responsible for more cover-ups than a dodgy tattoo parlour. They have turned rorting into an art form. The former government and nappies have one thing in common: they should be changed regularly.

In May, the Australian people put the adults back in charge. We're not wasting a single day in government. We've been fixing the mess that those opposite left, when it comes to grants programs. Community development grants programs were only so-called grants programs under the former government—no community organisations could apply for money and those opposite kept using it to top up the slush funds for their own electorates, like the regional ones in North Sydney.

The Building Better Regions Fund—or, it should have been called, the 'Building Better Nationals' Electorates Fund'—favoured National Party electorates, and decisions were made on laws that applicants didn't even know about. Now that the adults are in charge, we have committed $1 billion in the budget, over three years, to two new regional programs. The Growing Regions Program will provide new funding opportunities for social and economic infrastructure to local councils and not-for-profit organisations through an open competitive grants process—that's right, open.

Our new Precincts and Partnerships Program will provide a strategic, nationally consistent mechanism for funding and coordinating large-scale projects that will transform places to benefit communities in regional cities and wider regional and rural Australia, like the Hunter electorate. It is only the Labor government that understands the depth and diversity of regional, rural and remote Australia. We know that Muswellbrook is different from Mildura, and we never take a one-size-fits-all approach to regional Australia. That's why our budget delivers targeted investment to regional Australia, including an urgent care clinic for Cessnock—which is in the region, just in case those opposite are unaware. This is really important, as the Hunter electorate has some of the lowest bulk-billing rates in the country.

We're investing over $600 million to enable infrastructure in the Hunter and regions to support new industries. There's over $268 million in funding for the much-needed Muswellbrook bypass; more than $400 million invested in the nationwide Freight Highway Upgrade Program, which is once again in the regions; hundreds of millions of dollars invested in our universities; and, most importantly, comprehensive funding for the upgrading of sporting and community facilities, like Olympic Park in Muswellbrook, the Alroy Oval precinct in Singleton, the regional skate park and BMX track in Cessnock, and Mum's Cottage and the Edgeworth Eagles facilities in Lake Macquarie.

Unlike the former government, the Albanese Labor government is listening to rural and regional Australia. We know that our communities need infrastructure investment and we know that our communities need a government that is committed to the essential services that they all rely on. That's why the Albanese Labor government is committed to delivering for regional and rural communities, like those in the Hunter electorate. Those opposite continue to say that we don't look after regional and rural communities. That's a deadset lie. The Labor Party are the only ones who care for rural and regional Australia. Now that we're back in the adult seat we're making things happen again.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The discussion has concluded.