Damian Drum (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity in the debate on the appropriations bills to talk about the wonderful area that I represent. As part of the Liberal-National coalition, I represent this area in the knowledge that our government understands the needs of rural and regional Australia. It is an incredible honour to be a representative of this area and to look at huge investment projects like the Echuca-Moama Bridge. In recent months I've had the opportunity to travel to Echuca and Moama twice to look at the progress of that facility, once with my office and then to take the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, to look at this project. It is incredibly exciting to see the progress that is being made. It is the largest transport infrastructure project in northern Victoria and includes new bridges over both the Murray River and Campaspe and also additional flood relief bridges on either side of the Murray River and shared walking and cycling path over the length of the crossing.

As a major funding partner in this $324 million project, the federal government has a $125 million investment in this project and is very proud of the leading role that we have in getting this project to be a reality. Once complete, this bridge will provide a new vital link between Victoria and New South Wales, and the economic benefits will flow for decades to come. It is expected to be finished by the middle of next year, but the actual spans will be meeting sometime around September or October this year, which will be a very exciting time. This project has had over 400 direct jobs and 1,100 indirect jobs. It was great to see this project broken down into smaller contracts to enable some of the local subcontractors to actually bid for and win some of these earlier stages of the project. It's not just the Echuca-Moama Bridge. In Shepparton, the art museum is there for everybody to see. As you enter Shepparton, it's impossible to miss, a new and very impressive art museum. The building is now complete, with its fantastic view of Lake Victoria at the northern end of Shepparton. It will be officially opened later this year and the federal government was again the major funding partner here, with $15 million towards a $47 million project, with huge community intake as well.

We're starting to see a trend in regionalisation that we haven't seen before. The Nationals, in our coalition government with the Liberals, are investing in infrastructure that's needed to service the people and to connect growing communities that we need for a very vibrant future. As part of the government's rollout there's a $110 billion infrastructure pipeline, and our electorate of Nicholls is certainly very keen to see the $323 million for the funding of stage three of the rail upgrade. The Melbourne to Shepparton line will effectively be fixed up, so that we can get more services. We have a paltry 4½ services into Melbourne every day. It is an absolute joke, where the Victorian government has effectively taken Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong and given them over 20 services, and yet a major hub like Shepparton has been left with four. Anyway, we're getting some upgrades now and we will see some regular, faster, more reliable VLocity trains that will hopefully be on that Shepparton line. This investment is in addition to the $244 million that we have put into the North East line that heads up towards Wangaratta and Wodonga. The North East line also runs through Broadford, Seymour and Avenel. It will form part of the Inland Rail project. The $14.5 billion that this government has put into Inland Rail is getting thousands of trucks off the roads and ultimately is a most significant infrastructure project, not just here in Australia but possibly anywhere in the world.

The Goulburn Valley produces nearly $2 billion worth of goods and services each and every year. The region is a major warehousing and logistics service area for much of New South Wales. What is grown and cropped in New South Wales is often stored in and around Goulburn Valley and Shepparton. About 25 per cent of all trucks registered in Victoria are from the Goulburn Valley. At the junction of two very significant highways, it is very much a transport hub, and B-doubles make up a huge percentage of the vehicle traffic around Shepparton. That is why the Goulburn Valley bypass is such a critical project. We have had 80 per cent of our best guestimate on the table now for two years, but the state government have been unable to put their business case together. I understand that they have finally completed the business case after three years and that that is currently sitting with the department.

There has been a whole raft of other road and infrastructure projects around the Nicholls electorate: $10 million for the Murray Valley Highway between Echuca and Yarrawonga; $10 million for the Shepparton alternative route; $5 million for the Doyles Road intersection; $2.2 million for bridgework on the Goulburn Valley Highway; and $6.7 million for local government bridges, for their renewal and heavy vehicle safety programs. We certainly have seen an enormous amount of money go into the road structures around Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley—and even more so if we can get the Shepparton bypass to proceed.

We have also had a nice relationship, network, with the government in relation to the Regional Jobs and Investment Packages. We have seen some outstanding success in Nicholls, with all of the projects that we have seen in tourism, in manufacturing, in agriculture, in food processing, in health and in sport. The Museum of Vehicle Evolution, also in Shepparton, has received funding and is nearly completed. The Yarrawonga Tourism Trail has been completed. Murray River Paddle Steamers have also received funding from the government and have transformed a couple of their paddle steamers to take them to another level in their business.

Some manufacturing and engineering companies have received funding through the Regional Jobs and Investment Packages, including Furphy Engineering, JN&R Engineering in Kyabram, Aquatech and Rubicon. It is incredible to see the water-saving programs that Rubicon are installing around the world. This Australian company, based in Shepparton, is taking their water-saving technology programs right around the world. Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley should be incredibly proud of what this company does.

We have also seen investment in food processing: ACM in Girgarre; Wine by Sam at Seymour; Ryan's Meats in Nathalia, who have really done some fantastic work; advancements in fruit growing and packaging by FJ Lenny, Turnbull Brothers, Ky-D-Pak; and also the work that has been taken on board by Thompson in relation to the FRUITCo project, which is looking to be completed later this year. That will be an investment of over $50 million in the fruit industry, of which the Australian government has contributed $15 million to assist with its development. That will not only have an impact on one business but will also create a facility that other businesses will be able to use on a pay-for-use basis. We also have health providers, such as CA Group Services and Echuca Podiatry. This is what governments should do: work with local businesses, local governments and communities and target their investment to make sure that we create the jobs and grow these regional economies.

One of the most rewarding and satisfying parts of being elected is to see projects grow from the ideas that we have and to see these projects become a reality. One such projects is the Cobram Community Cinema. The previous cinema burnt down in 2010 and we saw a group of young high school students in Cobram start a fundraising campaign, ably helped by Rob Morry. What a fantastic project!

In the end, that community, mainly driven by young kids, raised over $700,000. The federal government chipped in over $520,000. But, to see the town of Cobram now have a couple of fantastic theatres for all of the movies that they want—a $1.3 million project in partnership with the Masonic Lodge—is fantastic, and I'm very, very proud to see the way that has worked out. By providing funding through the community and volunteer grants, we are able to reach out to many of the volunteer groups—men's sheds, lots of the service groups. The Morrison-McCormack government have been very keen to make sure that we stay very firmly attached to many of these community driven groups.

On the bigger picture of what this government is doing for the Australian people through the budget, I have to acknowledge what we have done so far through the pandemic with the funding that we've put out to businesses, through JobKeeper, to make sure that the workers can keep their bills paid. JobKeeper and JobSeeker have become absolute lifesavers for many businesses and many households. We're also seeing that the loss carry-back provisions have been taken advantage of by businesses that have paid some significant levels of tax over previous years and are now suffering losses. They are able to carry those losses back and use that tax that was paid in previous years. The childcare funding that we have put into the budget gives more young families, more young parents, the opportunity to make the choice: do we continue to stay at home a little bit longer because we can afford it or do we get back to work because we've now got more assistance from the federal government to put our children into child care?

There is also the extra money that we are putting into the aged-care sector—an extra $10 per day and 80,000 additional places for home-care packages. I think the vast majority of us, when we look forward to a time when we might need additional assistance and our family can no longer look after us, would like to stay at home as long as we possibly can. As our government has said time and time again, we have added so many more home-care packages. It's critically important. But in this budget we've also had to do something for those aged-care facilities that have been struggling, and we know that many of them have been struggling. Our paying $10 per bed per day is certainly going to give them an opportunity to get their facilities back to a stage where they can provide high-quality care in a sustainable fashion. That is incredibly important.

We have also continued to be all about trying to get people to keep as much of their money as they possibly can, with the most aggressive tax cuts and tax reforms that we can possibly introduce at this time. The instant asset write-off is in fact another form of tax relief for those businesses that would normally run a successful business. They're not only paying the wages and paying their own business tax but getting an opportunity to reinvest in their business in a way that will be able to be written off from tax but also trigger and stimulate the local economy through whatever machine or equipment it is that they purchase. The instant asset write-off has seen many businesses invest in their own business to an extent that it's going to put them in a very good space for the years ahead, because they're going to be working with the very best of equipment.

It is fantastic to be part of a government that is actually thinking about how we can keep people in work, how we can keep businesses in a realm where they are able to continue to employ people, continue to put people on their books. With the way the employment numbers have jumped back, we obviously are looking at a large-scale success when it comes to looking after these businesses. Our Treasurer, Mr Frydenberg, should be proud of what he has delivered.

From the conversations that I am having with my people back in Nicholls, they are incredibly grateful of JobKeeper and JobSeeker. They are incredibly grateful for what we would call a continued spending of the government at the moment to make sure that we get through this pandemic in a way where we take businesses with us and then they can take the workers with them. As we know, eight or nine out of 10 people are employed by the private sector, so I am just grateful this government has eight or nine out of 10 people in their sights to support them as we move forward.

See this speech in context