Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am not kidding, Senator Mason—it is absolutely true. This is appalling. All those young people in particular knew how important it was for them to have somewhere to collect and be together, and the government ripped it out from underneath them. And guess what? The reason the government gave was that there was not a commitment in place. Interestingly, the Regional Partnerships guidelines say that if you enter into a contract then it becomes null and void. You are not allowed to do that under the guidelines.

What we have seen here is an appalling decision by the Labor government to rip this money away from that local community. I challenge Justine Elliot, the local member, to prove that she is more than ‘just in Canberra’ and more than ‘just too busy’, to invest in her local people and to actually go out there and fight for those people that are in her local community, because those people need her. The Labor government has neglected the regions time and time again, and now it has happened again on the far North Coast. (Time expired)