Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

Through you, Chair: Minister, as a former minister who actually funded a round that was supposed to open in August this year to support these types of facilities being supported in communities—such as I've mentioned in the Mallee—I find it the height of hypocrisy that you have the hubris to stand in this place and call out, somehow, a lack of integrity around how our government administered childcare funding and grants programs across the board. You've failed. You've actually failed in your attempt to categorise spending in rural and regional Australia as wasteful, because it's not. It's not in your seats. It's not where people vote for you, because they do vote for the Liberals, the Nationals, the Country Liberal Party and other independents. They're never going to be voting Labor. Do you know why? Because every time you get into the Treasury seats, you show exactly the kind of disrespect you are with this legislation—and others—and you turn your backs on the very needs and critical investment required for the nine million of us that don't vote for you. We are still Australians and deserve equitable access to services.