Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McDonald for her question. As she knows, from her on-ground experience in Queensland, particularly in the north, regional Australia is experiencing a once-in-a-generation surge in economic growth. This is all while these communities are recovering from the effects of the COVID pandemic, drought and other natural disasters over the recent period. A combination of high commodity prices, strong overseas demand for our agriculture and resources, and good rainfall in most of rural Australia are factors which are contributing to a positive economic outlook, which translates into jobs and a higher standard of living for all Australians.

But while this economic recovery is good news for the people of rural and regional Australia, this success didn't just come about by accident. The Liberal and Nationals government has been investing and delivering in thousands of projects on the ground to help lay the groundwork for our farmers, fishers, foresters, miners and small businessmen and women for the great work they do in the country. We are ensuring that our economy continues to grow, with low interest rates, low taxes and higher and higher employment. We're also experiencing an unprecedented population shift from our congested capital cities to regional areas that has seen a net migration of 45,000 Australians moving to regional towns and cities. This means stronger, more-resilient and more-vibrant regional centres.

Our government's investment includes a record $110 billion in infrastructure projects, in road and rail, including 1,700 kilometres of inland rail to better connect our regional communities and shift product to capital cities, ports and overseas. We've spent $3.5 billion on building dams, pipelines and weirs so that we use our precious resources more efficiently. And we put $5 billion back into communities for drought resilience. In my own areas of responsibility, too, we as a government have made available $2.5 billion to support those communities impacted by 'black summer'. (Time expired)