Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last night's budget took me back to a time when I was younger and I worked hard for a few years and bought myself a little sports car. Looking back, I think it would be considered a bit of a hairdresser car now, but at the time I was pretty pleased with it. I came back from Sydney—I don't know why I'd gone down there—walked along the street to the car, and there was glass on the ground around it. The windows had been smashed, the car had been gone through and things had been stolen. Others had pilfered something I'd worked very hard for.

That's what the budget was last night. On Friday I'm going back to the Hunter, where we mine coal, build things and do things—just like in regional Queensland, where Senators Hanson and Roberts are from, where they mine things, make things and do things. In Western Australia they mine things, make things and do things. Those people have worked to make this surplus. Those people have run to create an Australia that has a good economy, a growing economy, that can deliver these windfall gains. What have we got back? Not a thing. The regions have been pickpocketed like my car was pilfered. There's glass on the ground as we sprint towards ending these people's jobs and crawl towards replacing the energy that they make.

There is a massive disparity in Australia, and it is this. If we go back to last year and the regional ministerial statement of the last government, we see there were 381 pages on what we'd do for regional Australia. Yesterday there were 81. If you don't live near a capital city, you don't count under this government. And that is sad, because it is the regions that deliver this country's wealth. We are in such a blind philosophical rush to shut down these people. They deserve more; they aren't getting it. You tax them $1,500 more and give them nothing.

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

I'm incredibly proud of the budget we've announced, in particular for First Nations Australians, with the portfolio areas that I have as Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians and Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health. We have invested in a range of measures to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, including a landmark $238.5 million to improve First Nations cancer outcomes through building capability and growing the healthcare workforce. We've invested $28.2 million to support the delivery of 30 dialysis units for First Nations peoples in regional and remote Australia with end-stage kidney disease. Ti Tree, Harts Range and Borroloola in the Northern Territory, two places in South Australia and a place in Western Australia have already been announced in terms of those 30 dialysis units. We've allocated $16.7 million to promote increased uptake of health assessments by First Nations peoples, which have reduced since the start of COVID-19. This will assist more First Nations people to receive essential support for the management of chronic and mental health conditions. We've provided $1.4 million to expand the delivery of the Strong Born program to provide information about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. We're also addressing the social determinants of health through better housing, education, jobs, food security and community safety in the cities, regions and the bush. This includes $150 million over four years to support First Nations water infrastructure and provide safe and reliable water for remote and regional communities. And $111.7 million will be provided under a new one-year partnership with the Northern Territory government to accelerate the building of new remote housing.