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

I thank the senator for his question and his ongoing tireless work for regional communities. This is a budget about fairness, security and opportunity, and that is exactly what we will be providing for regional Australia. We are investing in regional communities because we know that when we have strong regions, we have a strong nation. The regions provide the water for the cities, provide the food for the cities and provide the energy for the cities. Indeed, people in the cities every morning when they wake up should thank regional Australia for their way of life.

We are seeing in this budget $200 million extra for the Building Better Regions Fund, taking the total amount available for that fund to almost half a billion dollars. That fund provides investment in our local regional communities for things like infrastructure, airports, tourism and local leadership, where we see local people taking those ideas forward.