Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

This MPI, put on by the member for Ballarat, has no relevance to the misuse of taxpayers' money. What it should have been titled was 'Labor's attempt to mislead regional and rural Australia, whilst having a dig at the National Party at the same time'. I take great offence to being told that I don't care about anybody in my electorate and care only about my position. That is an offensive statement. That is akin to me saying to the member for Ballarat, 'You hate businessowners or people who want to make a dollar and get ahead in life.'

I make no apologies, zero apologies, for working hard to get money for my electorate, for getting out there and advocating on behalf of my people under the BBRF. It is offensive to say that it is a rort—because it is not. Time after time, my constituents come and say to me, 'Pat, how come I didn't get that grant I put in?' or 'Pat, how come we have put it in three, four or five times and we can't get it? We're going to give up.' That's because it is oversubscribed by six times—$1.2 billion this time around out of $250 million.

For the member across the floor to suggest that it has nothing to do with geography, she needs to go and have a look at a map. We represent five million hectares across Australia in our regions. They represent 1.5 million, and 1.3 million of that is in the member for Lingiari's electorate. So, in terms of what they get, they represent 17 per cent of regional and rural Australia. And guess what? They received 16 per cent in funding. That is only fair—and it is absolutely correct. So do not lecture to me. Do not lecture to the National Party. We represent regional and rural people. I make no apologies that in the last BBRF I received $6.5 million for a dementia village, to provide care for those in their later life with dementia. You're here criticising the fact that National Party members are out there representing people in their communities and get funding for dementia centres. That's right, you don't want us to go out there and ensure that we get those services for people in their later life who are suffering with dementia.

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