Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With all due respect to our incredible Australian athletes, I'm sorry: it's time to forget about the Paris Olympics; it's time to forget about the Paralympics as well, because there's a new show in town. There's a new show in town, right here in Canberra. Those opposite are conducting their own hypocrisy Olympics.

In the hypocrisy Olympics being conducted by the Australian Labor Party, the medals are very hotly contested, but there have been two outstanding candidates of late: my friend the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, and the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. Both of them come in here and they spout their obviously focus-group-tested, three-word slogans: 'nothing's been achieved,' in 10 years, and 'waste, rorts, mismanagement'—all their claims about the coalition's time in government.

But, when they get out into the community, when they travel around Australia, it's a very different story. In fact, it's a spectacularly different story when they're out in the community, because they're out there with their scissors in hand, cutting ribbons. They're cutting ribbons; they're making speeches; they're unveiling plaques; they're opening projects. The only problem with this is that they're projects that they had absolutely nothing to do with. They're projects that were fully funded by the previous government.

So, as I said, this is a hotly-contested gold medal, but this week's winner for the gold medal in the hypocrisy Olympics must go to the minister for local government, because here she is, putting out press releases like 'Delivering local priorities in the Northern Wheatbelt', which says:

As part of the Government's commitment to improving access to childcare in regional communities, Minister McBain today confirmed that $800,000 in federal funding is flowing to Moora's new childhood education and health centre.

Delivered through Phase 4 of the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program …

And she had a great quote as well:

"It's fantastic to be in town, to see local-led projects progressing, and to discuss the Shire of Moora's forward priorities—because when we work together, we get the best outcomes for our regional communities."

The only problem with the press release and that quote is that the minister had nothing to do with the project whatsoever. It was fully funded by the previous government. As to the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program she's waxing lyrical about, she loved it so much she abolished the whole program! It's gone!

So this minister has form. It's the same with the Stronger Communities Program. Actually, many ministers have form in this regard. The Treasurer's done this; the Attorney-General's done this; the Prime Minister's done this. On the Stronger Communities Program, they've been out there in their communities, gushing with their praise. They even had novelty cheques made up—big novelty cheques. They stand there with the cheques, saying, 'We've delivered for our community.' They loved that program so much and they talked about it so much on their social media profiles that, again, they abolished it! I'm sorry; the collective noun for hypocrisy is 'the Australian Labor Party'.

I do feel sorry for the minister for infrastructure. The minister for infrastructure was just pipped for the gold medal for hypocrisy this week, because, when you consider her handling of the regional development portfolio and her signature grants program called Growing Regions, she probably does deserve a gold medal. When you think about it, when she comes in here, she's probably actually one of the best at ranting at the dispatch box; she carries on a bit like a pork chop about all the failings of the previous government. But again, out in the community, it's a different story.

This minister has become the minister for ribbon-cutting. She's taking credit every day for the projects she had nothing to do with. If you see a grader or a crane or a bulldozer working on a major project in Gippsland, in my electorate, or perhaps anywhere in regional Australia, I can assure you of one thing: this minister had absolutely nothing to do with it. She can't even deliver her signature program, the Growing Regions Program, on time. Only in the last sitting period, the minister confirmed that the Growing Regions Program round 1 was opened for applications in July last year—that's last year, 2023. The successful projects were announced in May this year. That's not bad—only 10 months to assess a program. Now we're in September, and not a single contract has been signed for the Growing Regions Program and not a single project has started. So, after two years and four months, this minister has not delivered a single regional grants project anywhere in Australia.

What do you do when you can't deliver round 1 on time and there's an election looming? Well, you announce round 2. Having waited more than two years, councils which are now in caretaker mode—or are about to go into caretaker mode, in Victoria's case—have less than six weeks to apply. This is incompetence and hypocrisy of Olympic proportions, from a government that you wouldn't trust to run a chook raffle at your local pub on a Friday night.