Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator O'Neill for the question. From day one the Albanese Labor government has been getting on with the job of delivering for regional Australia. We've delivered on our commitment to restore integrity and transparency in our regional grant programs, because now every community, regardless of their postcode, can apply—the $600 million Growing Regions Program, the $400 million Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program and more.

As someone who drives for hours across the Northern Territory, I know how important it is to improve the safety of our regional roads. We're progressively doubling the Roads to Recovery Program over the next five years to $1 billion annually. In the senator's home state of New South Wales, this means that councils will be receiving $1.2 billion over the next five years, a $461 million increase. We're also increasing the road Black Spot Program from $110 million to $150 million per year, meaning more money for improving some of the most dangerous sections of our roads. We have launched the new Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program, with $200 million available each year, a $50 million boost. And we have delivered an additional $250 million to regional councils through phase 4 of the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program.

We know on this side of the chamber how important connectivity is in our regions, which is why we have made a record investment. We're delivering a further $2.4 billion to expand NBN full fibre to an additional 1.5 million premises around Australia, 660,000 of those being in the regions.