Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The honourable member for Dunkley raised regional development and ACCs. I would like to give him a history lesson. When the coalition were elected to government, early in the piece, they sacked some of the then regional economic development organisations by email or by fax. In 1997, John Anderson was the minister responsible for regional development, and he axed the whole department. That is how important regional development was to the National Party and the coalition. So, when you make accusations, get your facts right—absolutely right. I have lived for a long time in a seat that the National Party held for nearly 100 years and did nothing for, delivered nothing to, but instead said one thing here and another thing back in the electorate.

The honourable member for Wide Bay then talked about rorts and frauds. The only rorts and frauds that were committed were political rorts and frauds by the National Party, in a declining party, in the regional seats.

Opposition members interjecting

He raised it. I am telling the truth. You go around there appointing your senators to run around and tell lies all around the electorate. You have no commitment to regional development, none whatsoever. It is all a rort.

I commend the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government for the investment in national infrastructure, in nation building, in jobs and in my seat of Page, which did not have anything put into it for ages. I will start with the Alstonville bypass. The local community lobbied for the Alstonville bypass for 17 years. They were promised all sorts of things. Nobody ever delivered. This government and this minister are delivering $90 million. But the Leader of the National Party in New South Wales did not get this right either. On radio the other day he was talking about how it might be at risk under the state budget. Not a cent of it is from the state; it is all federal dollars—$90 million. That just shows how out of touch and ill informed they are. Ninety million dollars put into the Alstonville bypass will make a huge difference to our local community, where about 20,000 cars daily go through Alstonville. They will be able to deviate around Alstonville and make a difference.

See this speech in context