Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Labor government are showing nothing but contempt for rural, regional and remote communities. As they rip water from productive use in the Murray-Darling Basin, it means there is less water to grow food. They cancelled funding for community-led projects in the basin that would improve environmental outcomes. They committed to funding new and improved mobile phone towers, but only in Labor-held or peri-urban seats, while real rural communities like Maaoupe and Sherwood miss out. They scrapped the Building Better Regions Fund, meaning vitally important regional infrastructure projects are stranded, without funding, as building costs continue to rise. While the October budget did include some funding for programs to assist rural and regional Australians, the Albanese government is deliberately delaying their rollout, to avoid spending any new funding in the current financial year.

Communities across Barker have shovel-ready projects like the Mount Gambier saleyards project, Murray Bridge Regional Sports Stadium, Calperum Station and Loxton childcare centre, just to name a few. Applications for these projects were made to round 6 of the coalition government's Building Better Regions Fund and were awaiting outcomes, until the Labor government came to office and scrapped the program, leaving these proponents stranded and in the dark. Minister King came to Mount Gambier a fortnight ago to cut the ribbon on a $62 million recreation centre in Mount Gambier. That was an important regional infrastructure project that the coalition government supported. We funded it. But she refused to meet with the community to talk about the upgrade of the saleyards that they're waiting for federal funding for.

Our regional roads are also falling into disrepair, while Labor slashes funding from infrastructure investment programs and delays other funding promised to local councils. Nine point six billion dollars—that's billion, with a 'b'—was cut from regional infrastructure programs in the October budget, with $4.7 billion cut from the infrastructure programs over the forward estimates, including $1.2 billion cut from regional infrastructure programs, in addition to $7 billion cut from major water storage infrastructure projects. I fear there's more to come in May. Let's call a spade a spade. This government has an ideological bias against rural and regional Australians. I don't know why they hate us so much.

As I've said, Labor governments aren't generally considered to govern well for rural and regional Australians. While I don't often stand up in the federal parliament to call out state governments, I really have to on this occasion. The Lucindale Area School is a small regional school located in the south-east of South Australia, in my electorate of Barker. As a state school it's under the operational management of the South Australian Department for Education. The school offers education from reception to year 12 for students from across the region. I take this opportunity to read an email I received from a student. It states:

I am writing on behalf of myself and my class here at Lucindale area school, about the lack of a dedicated science and math teacher.

Because of the lack of a math and science teacher I have fallen behind in my education and am fearful that if we as a class continue on this path, it could affect the future employability of myself and my peers.

This was sent to me by a year 10 student. After speaking to a teacher at the school I was reliably informed that the education department's idea of solving this crisis is to send a different substitute teacher from Adelaide every 19 days to teach maths and science to these children. Why 19 days? I'm told that if it's any more than 19 days then that person would have to be offered a permanent contract. In between these substitute teachers there's often a period when there is no maths or science teacher at the school, which is affecting the education of students in years 8 through to 10, who go without.

This is 2023. STEM is widely acknowledged as imperative for our future workforce, and I have a year 10 student from an area school writing to their local federal member of parliament and pleading for a maths and science teacher. Are we kidding? This is a complete and utter disgrace. It wouldn't be acceptable in the suburbs of Adelaide, and it's not acceptable at Lucindale. These students are being let down; they're being left behind. I'm so proud of those students who've written to me on this subject, but I wish they didn't have to. Imagine a world where you didn't have year 10 students pleading for a teacher.