Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to advise the Senate that the government will now be moving to what we are calling the Building Better Regions Fund from the existing National Stronger Regions Fund. What this will do is better target funding to projects outside of the major capital cities.

We are also going to introduce a new stream. The current infrastructure spend, which is so important for our rural communities, will continue. We are also going to introduce a community investment stream. We know that local communities so often understand the best delivery mechanisms to grow their economies and grow their futures. We are also going to assess like-for-like projects so that projects of the same size will be compared and small will not be compared against large—which I am sure you will appreciate, Senator Sterle. We are going to ensure that we continue to deliver those funding dollars that are so important for strengthening these communities.