Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President. As I was going to remind the senators here and listening to the debate: it's not what I'm saying. That's not what the Labor Party is saying. The Audit Office found that seats held by the Nationals benefited most from the decision to ignore the merit list. It's the Audit Office that's saying this. It's not me. It's not the Labor Party. It's not the government. I'm here reminding you of this as you attempt this whitewash of an MPI that you're putting up here today.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate and assure the Senate that this government is committed to developing Australia's regions. Unlike those opposite, the government is also committed to transparency and integrity when it comes to spending public funds. As I've already indicated, you don't have to go any further than the Auditor-General's report from 28 July of this year on the Building Better Regions Fund. My concern—particularly as the National Party talk about being those representing the bush—has always been that all they do is bring out the pork once every three years, and there's no real strategy or vision at all for the regions or the bush. No matter how often they try to rewrite history, it's not going to wash in this chamber because everyone knows exactly what was happening. Everyone knows.

On 21 May this year, people had had enough of it. What we do know and what we've seen is that decisions were ignored. We had the famous ministerial panel that made the final funding decisions, which obviously relied solely on those mysterious 'other factors' when making decisions. It was a disgrace. It is a disgrace. Shoddy processes like this can only mislead our regional communities and the hardworking volunteers who apply for funding.

That is why this government has been, and will be, reviewing all programs and commitments made by the previous government. We've said that before, and that is what we will be doing. All of our regional communities deserve better when it comes to infrastructure, but that infrastructure must meet local community needs and be delivered in a sustainable way. That is why all funding decisions made by this government will be transparent and will take into consideration the needs of regional communities.