Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

The only person saying, ‘Stop spending money,’ Joe, is you, because last week I was out with your backbenchers, with them campaigning for extra money from the second round.

The fact is that this compares in stark contrast with what the former government did, and I was asked about that. Under the former government’s Regional Partnerships program—the ‘Regional Rorts’ program—one-third of the funding went to just 10 coalition electorates—not a single Labor electorate on the list, not one. I sat in this place for 12 years and there was not a single grant to my electorate, not one. The fact is that those opposite rorted the Regional Partnerships program. They did not go through local government; they went through the private sector. There was a million dollars for an ethanol plant in Gunnedah that does not exist, $420,000 for a cheese factory that closed down and $845,000 for a rail line that burnt down. The contrast is very stark.

We on this side of the House have set up a rigorous process that stacks up, that does not advantage us politically, and that stands in stark contrast to the actions of those involved with their ‘Regional Rorts’ program.

See this speech in context