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

by leave—On behalf of the government, I am very pleased to deliver our second regional budget statement.

I start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the lands on which we meet, the Ngunnawal and the Ngambri peoples.

I also acknowledge the traditional owners of the many and varied lands, regions and places right across our great country.

I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.

For time immemorial, Australia has been defined and cared for by First Nations communities.

Australia, as a nation, has existed for 120 years.

Not much more than a lifetime.

A blink in the eye in the history of this incredibly ancient land.

This year we have the opportunity to write a historic wrong.

We can recognise that history—that deep, deep connection with our land—and provide a voice to those who have been ignored for too long.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an incredibly generous offer, and I encourage all Australians to accept it with the same spirit in which it has been offered

Let that be the legacy for this year.

Regional

Just as this is the year for constitutional recognition, this budget focuses on embedding the hopes and aspirations of regional Australia into our decision-making.

From the Top End to Tasmania, from the Pilbara to Capricornia—this is a budget that does recognise that local communities matter.

It is a budget that responds to the diversity of our regions.

It is a budget that understand the vital role our regions and our people play in positioning Australia to take advantage of a transitioning world.

It is a budget that demonstrates that this government is serious about a transparent and evidence based approach to supporting strong, secure and sustainable regions right across the country, from wherever you are.

The budget builds on the work we began last October.

It delivers on our commitment to build a better future for all Australians, leaving nobody behind.

This budget recognises that now is the time to take advantage of the energy transition that is occurring and the unique position our regions are in to grow jobs and to grow economic security.

Delivered at a time when cost-of-living pressures are hurting Australian households, this budget also recognises the challenges that we face and delivers responsible, targeted support for those who need it most, particularly in our regions.

It recognises the times we are in right now and sets the framework for sustainable investment in our regions.

A new approach to regional investment is needed.

Our first budget began the hard work of cleaning up some of the mess we inherited.

We established solid foundations delivering on our commitment to more transparency and integrity in regional investment through programs like the $600 million Growing Regions Program.

It laid the groundwork for a new merit based approach centred on evidence and more sustainable investments in our regions.

It was a demonstration of our commitment to do things differently.

This budget builds on these early efforts by, for the first time, setting clear principles and priorities for how regional investment should be done across all government portfolios. Just because I have regional development in my title, it doesn't mean that this portfolio is the only portfolio that has the regions at its heart. The budget was a demonstration, as I said, of doing things differently and making sure that we are looking across government portfolios.

We will do this through collaboration, working closely across all levels of government in using the latest evidence and data to understand where our investment can make the biggest difference in the lives of regional Australians.

Regional Investment Framework

We are introducing a new regional investment framework—changing the way we think about supporting our regions—which I am proud to release as part of the budget.

It explains what our priorities as a government are—investing in our people in regions, investing in our places, investing in our services, investing in our industries and investing in our local economies—and how we're going to improve those in partnership with regions and our communities.

It offers broad principles and priority focus areas that will provide a consistent approach—across all portfolios and types of investment—to targeting and coordinating that investment across regional Australia.

And in recognition that all regions are different and have different starting places, the framework is flexible—adapting to the unique strengths and challenges across our regions.

From those regions forging net zero futures to those recovering from natural disasters, our investments will be responsible and responsive to a region and its circumstances.

Of course, all of that means incorporating lived experience from the local level, including through local government and the network of Regional Development Australia committees.

Because we know to get the right outcomes in the right places we need to listen to those regional communities.

The framework—and the commitment of this government to back it in with real action—is a landmark step in putting our regions on a path to long-term economic and social prosperity.

Importantly, this approach is embedded across all portfolios.

While I am honoured to be the minister chiefly responsible for regional development, every minister and portfolio shares responsibility for supporting and strengthening our regions. Be it for communications, for education, Indigenous Australians, health and aged care, Northern Australia, social services, industry or employment and workplace relations, all of my colleagues know that how we invest in our regions is crucial to achieving the outcomes we want as a nation.

Through this budget—guided by the Regional Investment Framework—we have collectively made decisions that consider and respond to the needs and opportunities of our regions. These substantial investments in regional Australia are an investment in the better future for all Australians.

Our first budget, in October, included over 220 new packages and individual measures across government targeted to strengthen regional economies and communities. This budget solidifies that effort with another 129 investments and initiatives cementing our commitment to, and ambitions for, regional Australia.

Budget measures

Our new Regional Investment Framework identifies four priority areas: investing in our services, our people, our places and in our industries local economies. It lays down a path to targeting investments in those areas and, through it, building better, more liveable and more prosperous communities.

I want to start particularly with services, and how important they are in regional Australia. Quality accessible services underpin the sustainability and the success of communities and regions across this country.

This budget delivers additional investments under the National Water Grid Fund, with $197.1 million over six years from 2023-24 allocated towards the construction of three important projects to provide safe and reliable water for regional and remote communities. A further $150 million has been allocated towards First Nations water infrastructure projects. It is an indictment on all of us that we have communities in this country, in regional and rural Australia, that do not have safe drinking water.

Our support also continues to deliver essential services for communities in Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, the Cocos Keeling Islands and the Jervis Bay community.

We are investing in digital connectivity, building on the previous budget's commitment of $2.2 billion under the Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia.

The government also continues to support connectivity through transport, including the continuation of regional aviation programs like the Remote Air Services Subsidy Scheme and a further round of the Remote Airstrip Upgrade Program.

When it comes to health services we are building on our work from October, including an historic $3.5 billion to triple the bulk-billing incentive in an immediate injection to support and strengthen the heart of Medicare. This will have particular benefits for communities in regional, rural and remote Australia, where bulk-billing incentives will go up the most.

The government is also providing further support for regional Australians in easing cost-of-living pressures by allowing millions of Australians with stable and chronic disease to buy two months worth of medicines for the price of a single prescription. This will particularly support those in regional and remote areas by reducing the number of copayments they face. Rural and regional pharmacies will be supported through doubling the funding for the Regional Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance Program.

We are investing $142.2 million over five years from 2023-24 to support continued delivery of the National Redress Scheme for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse, as well as providing survivors with access to emotional and practical support in applying to and interacting with the scheme, with services provided throughout regional Australia. Many of us know, from communities such as in Newcastle and to my own in Ballarat, that this awful, awful scourge affected our regions very substantially.

As part of the government's commitment of $589.3 million over five years from 2022-23 to implement measures under the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, regional Australians will benefit from $33.1 million over four years to expand the Family Law Priority Property Pool program to regional areas, and $13.4 million over two years also to extend the lawyer assisted Family Law Property Mediation program.

Next, of course, we have investing in our people. This budget invests in people to build their capabilities, to develop regional leadership and to develop and provide opportunities for skills, education and learning.

We are targeting investments to ensure that people are safe and supported, and backed in to take up opportunities and participate to their full potential.

We're committed to enshrining a voice for Indigenous Australians in the Constitution and advancing the Closing the Gap agenda.

To support our kids, we have committed $72.4 million over five years from 2022-23 to help address early childhood education and care workforce shortages, including across regional and very remote Australia, and an additional $40.4 million over two years in funding to schools in Central Australia to enable locally driven responses that support educational engagement, attendance and learning outcomes.

The budget tackles the teacher shortage in our regions with a further $9.3 million over four years and builds on the 20,000 additional university places the government is providing to students underrepresented in our universities, including those from rural and remote Australia.

For those pursuing further education outside the university system, the government is investing $4.1 billion over five years in a new national skills agreement being negotiated with the states and territories, including over $400 million to support 300,000 fee-free TAFE and VET places from the October budget.

Thirdly, we have the places we all call home.

The budget is investing to make the most of regional Australia's unique and diverse places.

From the bush to the beaches, the Top End to Tasmania, investments need to make the most of Australia's unique and diverse places across the map.

The government is continuing to support communities to respond and adapt to challenges in the places they know best. This includes building on the $48.8 million investment in community safety announced by the Prime Minister in January 2023 and $250 million under a landmark plan for A Better, Safer Future for Central Australia, announced in February 2023. The plan reflected the voices of local communities and will be delivered in partnership with them in multiple phases. And I note we have the mayor of Alice Springs in town, and I'll be meeting him in the next day or so, but I know he's around the corridors of this place.

Recognising the difficulties many Australians face in accessing secure housing, this budget builds on our $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund by expanding eligibility for the first home buyer guarantee and regional first home guarantee and increasing the government's guarantee of liabilities to the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation—soon to be renamed Housing Australia—by $2 billion.

I was surprised to learn myself that there are over 400 people in my own electorate who have been, because of this scheme, able to buy their very first home in regional communities across the country.

To ensure regions stay connected throughout the country, the government is maintaining its strong commitment to a 10-year $120 billion infrastructure pipeline while undertaking the necessary reforms to enable for more credible projects selected on the basis of a range of economic and social objectives, including regional connectivity, liveability and safety.

The government will keep regions connected and safe through ongoing funding for key transport programs including the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, which includes $250.0 million in phase 4 targeted to non-urban roads; the Bridges Renewal Program—

Well, that was us, actually, because that $250 million was an election commitment—and the Roads to Recovery Program.

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

Originally, I think.

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

Thank you, let's clarify that. In addition, 33 remote road upgrade pilot projects will be delivered throughout 2023-24.

We remain committed to Vision Zero—zero deaths and serious injuries due to road crashes by 2050. This budget commits over $976 million for new road safety improvements with a focus on regional and remote areas, and pedestrians and cyclists through the Road Safety Program. There is a further $43.6 million that has been committed to the new national road safety action grants program over four years from 2022-23.

Importantly, our plan includes measures to progress the development of a nationally consistent, shared set of road safety data. This includes a commitment by the Australian government to develop a national road safety data collection and reporting framework and minimum national data set.

The government is also investing to strengthen and protect the unique environmental assets across regions. The October budget included bringing up to $1.2 billion by 2030 investment for the Great Barrier Reef and further support for Kakadu and other national parks.

As the next phase of the Natural Heritage Trust provided in the October budget, this budget allocates $439.2 million of Trust funding to deliver benefits to Australia's threatened species and protect internationally listed world heritage properties and Ramsar wetlands.

And recognising that regional Australia is disproportionally affected by natural disasters, it will be supported through disaster risk-reduction projects funded under the Disaster Ready Fund, with an investment of up to $200 million per year available, and $27.4 million to deliver Australia's first national climate risk assessment and start developing a national adaptation plan.

Australia's flood forecasting and warnings will be improved, with an investment of over $236 million over 10 years to remediate flood warning infrastructure. It has been sadly neglected across our country. More reliable and accurate forecasts will support preparedness in regional areas and enable better informed regional responses, helping to ease destruction and damage caused by severe flooding.

To ensure that support is available when disasters do hit, an additional $231.8 million in 2023-24 is also being invested for Services Australia to establish a cost-effective emergency response capacity. This will support the delivery of high-quality government services and payments when customers need them the most.

And to support the arts and culture and to create healthy, engaged and vibrant lives, our people, families, and communities will benefit from the government's new National Cultural Policy, which commits an additional $286 million over five years to deliver increased investments in arts and culture right around Australia, including additional support for the Regional Arts Fund.

Finally, is the priority of investing in our industries and our local economies. The budget makes strategic, future-focused investments that recognise the significant contribution Australia's regions will make to securing a productive and sustainable future for our nation.

We're committed to supporting the transition to net zero for our national and our regional economies. Under our $1.9 billion Powering the Regions Fund, we will provide targeted support for our regions, sectors, workforces and technologies to drive the transformation to net zero, ensuring that regional Australians participate in the secure and sustainable jobs and industries of the future and to build strong regional economies.

We have allocated $2 billion to establish a production contract program for green hydrogen and its derivatives.

And our $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, announced in the October budget and built on in this one, will diversify and transform Australian industry through targeted investments in priority areas.

The government will establish a net zero authority to help drive the transformation to clean energy economies and ensure Australian regions and workers benefit from the transition.

The authority will work with a range of stakeholders to help key regions, industries and employers to proactively manage that transition.

The government's Net Zero Economy Taskforce has been working to put regional Australia on the front foot for that transition to net zero, working with local communities, state and territory governments, industries and unions to get this historic change, challenge and opportunity right.

In resources, the budget includes an investment of a further $23.4 million over four years to support the continued operation of the Critical Minerals Office and $57.1 million over four years to establish the critical mineral international partnership program.

And recognising the importance of the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors to our regions and to Australia's economy, the budget invests $1 billion over four years and $286.1 million ongoing towards a strong and sustainably funded biosecurity system, putting that onto a secure footing.

We will invest $40.6 million to continue the Indigenous Rangers Biosecurity Program, supporting a strengthened biosecurity system in northern Australia as part of an overall $1 billion package over four years to strengthen the national biosecurity system.

To strengthen sustainable farming and natural resources management practices, the investment of $302.1 million from 2023-24 through the National Heritage Trust will reduce the agricultural sector's emissions, build climate resilience, enhance market access and improve environmental outcomes.

We are also investing $38.3 million over four years, with an additional $7.6 million per year ongoing to bolster the capability of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, supporting a stronger and more sustainable agricultural sector.

Conclusion

This budget does enshrine our government's commitment to ensuring that no Australian is held back or left behind. The budget takes a well-planned, well-targeted and well-executed approach to listening to our regions and investing in their unique needs.

It's a budget that meets the needs of regions and meets the moment that we are in.

It takes decisions now that will support and position our regions throughout this defining decade.

We're backing our regions because our regions are the backbone of Australia's future.

Through this and subsequent budgets—and guided by the regional investment framework—our government will continue the journey, hand-in-hand with communities, towards vibrant and sustainable futures for our regions and for our nation.

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

I want to start by acknowledging the Australians who created the budget surplus, the Australians that the Treasurer didn't have the courage to acknowledge last night, the one in three Australians who live and work in regional Australia in sectors from agriculture to energy, from manufacturing to resources, from tourism to infrastructure. It's because of their efforts that regional Australia generated 40 per cent of our nation's economic output. Ultimately, the Australians who live in this part of the country need and deserve a federal government that has their back. That's why during our term in government the federal coalition put our regions front and centre of our plan to secure Australia's future, underpinned by our record 10-year $120 billion pipeline of infrastructure spend, which included nation-building project such as the Inland Rail and the Outback Way. We're immensely proud of our track record, which leaves a strong legacy across our regions.

However, after two failed budgets, the millions of men and women who live outside our capital cities now feel like the forgotten Australians. In contrast to the Prime Minister's empty election night pledge that no-one would be held back or left behind, under Labor people in regional Australia have been held back and they have been left behind. When it comes to supporting the regions Labor emptied the kitchen cupboards in that first budget, and last night the government took off the doors and hinges. Right now households are struggling under a cost-of-living crisis that Labor helped create and that continues to spiral out of control. Under the government's watch, persistent inflation, massive increases in energy bills, and 10 consecutive interest rate rises are pushing family budgets to the brink.

Rural and remote Australians are also hurting because they struggle to access a GP, yet the government has blown up the distribution priority areas for overseas trained doctors, which has ripped out GPs from small rural towns in favour of outer-city suburbs. This has put the lives of rural and regional patients at risk. Families are hurting because they can't find a childcare place. In its last budget, this government pulled together a package worth billions, but didn't spend a single dollar to create an extra childcare place in regional, rural or remote Australia. Farmers and regional businesses are hurting due to workforce shortages, faced with such a critical situation they can't understand why Labor has torn up the dedicated agricultural visa. We know that in their first budget back in October, Labor cut billions of dollars from regional infrastructure programs. They ripped out some $7 billion worth of water projects. With last night's budget we see the trend of Labor's cuts and delays and its neglect of regional Australia continue. The second Labor budget promises to decimate regional infrastructure yet again.

A snapshot of the programs that have been cut by this horror budget includes: the Stronger Communities Program; the resilient regional leaders program; the enhanced regional security screening program for regional airports, which was a $94.5 million program under the former coalition government; supporting national freight and supply chain priorities; Inland Rail; and interface improvement programs, while the Regional Airports Program has been discontinued. Many of these programs were all about empowering local communities. By scrapping these initiatives this government is saying that it does not trust local leaders and local councils to make decisions which are in the best interests of their own communities. Instead, this government believes that the extra 10,000 public servants it's employed in Canberra will know better. While we were in government the coalition was delivering a $3 billion road safety program to keep people safe on our roads. In last night's budget the government scrapped a large number of road safety programs, including the keys2drive road safety program, the Road Safety Awareness and Enablers Fund, the supporting young and vulnerable road users program, the Amy Gillett Foundation funding and the Road Safety Innovation Fund. They've all been cut and the money has been reprioritised.

During the Treasurer's speech there was not a single mention of infrastructure, and we can see why. Labor has stuck a razor gang into the former coalition government's $120 billion infrastructure pipeline. This was a smokescreen created by Labor weeks before the election just so the Treasurer didn't have to give the bad news on his one night of the year. Labor has also confirmed the government is now forcing local communities to wait two years to access regional grant programs. This means local councils and community organisations won't be able to access grants for infrastructure until 2024. While pushing back critical funding needed for regional communities, Labor grants programs target projects worth more than $1 million. It means that, for most regions, smaller projects like sports ovals, playgrounds and libraries will be ineligible for funding—local sports and community groups all abandoned and forgotten because of the government's deliberate neglect.

On top of this, the government is slashing roads funding, which includes a $1.7 billion cut to the road transport expense over the forward estimates compared to the October budget and a further cut of $356 million in the 2023-24 to the road investment component of the Infrastructure Investment Program compared to the previous budget. This budget also includes a 19 per cent increase in road user charges on heavy vehicles, trucks and buses over three years. According to the National Transport Commission, this is a $1.6 billion tax hike on every product made and on every product purchased.

But the ruthless measures in this budget keep coming. In a massive blow to regional Australia, the government has also abandoned vital water projects worth more than $872 million. Impacted projects include the Dungowan Dam and Emu Swamp Dam, while the Wyangala Dam wall raising and the Hughenden Irrigation Project have, once again, had their funding delayed. Decisions and cuts like this have consequences. When you take away water infrastructure, you take away the future of our regional communities which produce our nation's food and fibre. The government should know that tearing up or delaying investments in road, rail, bridges, dams and community facilities, while increasing costs on heavy vehicles, is not how we build a more productive and sustainable Australia.

A strong and robust biosecurity system is crucial for protecting our nation against the threat of pests and diseases. In government, the federal coalition always supported a sustainable funding model for biosecurity. However, taxing farmers was never considered or part of the mix. The coalition's approach to the biosecurity sustainable funding model was targeted at the risk creators, the importers. We believe this was the responsible and fair way forward, which is why one of the most shocking take-outs from last night's budget was Labor's announcement that, from July next year, Australian farmers will be hit with a bill equivalent to 10 per cent of their existing industry led agricultural levies. Why would any Australian government tax their own farmers to pay for their international competitors to bring their products into this country? To slug our farmers with a new $153 million tax and force them to pay for the risks of international importers is just unjust. Instead of taking direct action to address severe workforce shortages by reinstating the ag visa, the government has decided to tax them. What a perverse outcome. Labor's new tax on farmers will also hit Australian families hard by pushing up the cost of food right in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

This is a deeply concerning and disappointing budget for Australian agriculture, with $5.6 million committed over two years from 2022-23 for the government's independent panel to undertake an assessment and consultation process to phase out live sheep exports. For this government to commit millions of dollars in this budget to push ahead with the destruction of the live sheep export industry is a kick in the guts for our sheep producers, the 3,000 Western Australians employed through the supply chain and our entire agricultural sector. Shutting down a lawful and sustainable industry, which has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world, is incomprehensible. Decisions on agriculture should be predicated on science and evidence, not based extreme activists' agendas which hurt innocent people.

Despite underpinning the strength of Australia's economy, the resource sector has again suffered Labor's budget cuts, with the Beetaloo basin drilling program receiving a cut of about $8½ million, while for the strategic basin plan it's more than $12.6 million. This builds on cuts which were imposed on the resource sector in the October budget. In government, the coalition invested in the $200 million Critical Minerals Accelerator Initiative to develop new sources of critical minerals by supporting early- and mid-stage projects that contribute to robust global supply chains, build sovereign capability in Australia and create high-paying regional jobs. This funding has now been slashed by over $100 million, despite Labor's claim of support for the critical minerals sector. As a coalition, we'll always back the resource sector, the jobs they create and the wealth they generate.

All across rural and remote Australia, our network of community pharmacists do an incredible job. It takes enormous dedication to provide such a vital service for the local community. Pharmacy is one of the most respected, trusted and important professions in our nation. These men and women need our support. So why, without any consultation with this sector, has this government decided to double prescriptions from 30 to 60 days? The government doesn't understand that these changes could leave regional patients without access to life-saving drugs and threaten the financial viability of many rural pharmacies. The concerns of a potential human toll of these changes are real, and regional Australia will be hit especially hard.

For 18 years, Joanne Loftus has owned and run the local pharmacy in Northampton in Western Australia, a small rural community that's located nearly 500 kilometres from Perth. The Northampton Pharmacy supports about 400 locals, including many seniors with serious illnesses. Joanne loves her profession and loves her community, but right now she's heartbroken and she's worried about the future of her pharmacy. She's just one of many. The government must urgently re-evaluate and reconsider the consequences of this policy because, if these changes to medicine dispensing become reality, the survival of Joanne's business and the thousands of others in the regions will be uncertain, and they will be thrown into turmoil.

We know that accessing a GP in regional, rural and remote Australia has always been tough, but under this Labor government it's getting worse. In this budget there is nothing to address the government's devastating changes to the distribution priority areas, which have seen small rural communities like Cunnamulla in western Queensland forced to compete with suburbs like Brookfield in Brisbane for a GP. This policy has resulted in perverse health outcomes that have left people in rural and remote Australia worse off. In terms of improving access to doctors in the regions, in this budget there's just $4½ million over five years to train rural GPs through single-employer model trials. This simply won't cut it. Labor is throwing crumbs at a serious problem in rural Australia.

Australian children deserve the best possible start in life. Having access to quality early childhood education is so important for our families. Living in the regions should not be a barrier to having access to child care, but the evidence is shocking. According to a comprehensive study from Victoria University, around 75 per cent of families in rural and remote Australia live in a childcare desert, with three children competing over just one spot. Labor's first budget had a $4.7 billion package for cheaper child care, but not one dollar of this was committed to creating new and desperately needed childcare places in the regions. What this government still doesn't understand is that for families living outside the major capitals it's not just about affordability; it's about accessibility.

The cost-of-living crisis in regional Australia is just as severe as it is in the cities, and regional families with children can't afford to get through this crisis. They can't get back to work, because they can't find their kids a childcare place. People want to move to the regions for jobs, but they can't get childcare places. This is a major problem for our regional workforce, and it needs to be addressed. However, in the second Labor budget that we've had in six months, there are no new real commitments to extra childcare places in the regions. It's a poor reflection on a government that continues to turn a blind eye to the issue.

Regional Australia received a very clear message from last night's budget: this government doesn't understand the needs of rural, regional and remote communities, and this government doesn't respect the contribution that people in our regions make to this nation. The millions of men, women and children in regional, rural and remote Australia deserve better. They deserve better than a government that is incapable of dealing with the cost-of-living crisis. They deserve better than a government that thinks it's fair to hand down a budget that cuts billions out of infrastructure and water. They deserve better than a government that swings the axe over the essential services that they rely on. They deserve better than a government that imposes new taxes on your farmers and truckies. They deserve better than a government that rips doctors out of small country towns in favour of city suburbs. They deserve better than a government that prioritises lowering the childcare costs of millions of city families over the need to secure basic access to child care for parents who live in the regions. They deserve better than a government that threatens the viability of our rural pharmacists.

Although this federal budget will inflict another hit on our regional communities, Australians who live in this part of our nation can be assured the federal coalition will hold this Labor government fully accountable for its decisions to leave them behind.