Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

It's fantastic to be here representing my ministerial colleagues tonight and listening to some of the contributions that have been made around the room on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2023-2024. I think the important thing here is what we're not going to do, and we are not going to replicate what the former Morrison government did, because transparency, integrity and prioritising delivery over announcement is absolutely the key focus of our government.

I'm proud to stand here tonight and outline what the Albanese Labor government has achieved for our regions in less than 12 months. We have done more in those 12 months than the former government did in 10 years, because our regions deserve much more than just a grant program. We want regional Australia to seize the huge opportunities that come with a shift to cheap, clean, renewable energy, a shift that has been deliberately blocked for over a decade. Every time we've looked at big regional programs dreamt up by the former government, we've seen real problems: an Inland Rail which blew out by $31 billion under the former government and didn't go to a port, an infrastructure pipeline that blew out from 150 projects to 800 without any additional funding, and projects that were promised but without funding partners. In just 12 months we've delivered and are laying the foundations for a better future.

In our very first budget, we committed a billion dollars to new regional programs. We've provided increased connectivity by properly funding the NBN rollout and fixing mobile phone black spots. We've seen more housing assistance through the expansion of the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, skills assistance through our fee-free TAFE places and funds for increased disaster resilience and mitigation.

Labor's fiscally responsible 2023-24 budget continues to deliver for regional Australians and recognises the importance of helping them build our economy with significant investments, from our $2 billion Hydrogen Headstart fund to the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund. We are supporting regional Australia and its industries by investing a billion dollars to strengthen our national biosecurity system. We're supporting people across the nation with a historic investment of $3.5 billion to triple the Medicare bulk-billing incentive, the largest increase in the 40-year history of Medicare. We've got a regional investment framework that puts regional Australians at the heart of our decision-making. We want regional Australia to receive a fair share of the prosperity it creates, which is why the National Reconstruction Fund will drive the economic engines in our regions. It's why the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund will support regional Australia, which is crying out for housing. Our Powering the Regions Fund will deliver new industries to regional Australia.

We are amending the Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility Act to extend eligibility for NAIF financing to Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the IOTs, enabling assistance, support and opportunity for their residents and businesses to diversify and create economic development. As Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, I want to congratulate my colleague, Minister Madeleine King, for taking this important step of including the IOTs in the NAIF. Providing financial assistance to progress economic growth in our remote territories is incredibly important, and it took a Labor government to achieve that.

Our review of the Infrastructure Investment Program will clean up the mess left by those opposite in the previous 10 years, with a $120 billion infrastructure investment pipeline that blew out in projects but didn't add a single dollar. We want to work with the states and territories, we want to work with our local government partners and we want to see collaboration across the board because that's how projects get delivered in our communities. Under the previous government, projects were left without adequate funding or resources, without real benefits to the public for whom they were approved and with a clogged-up pipeline that has caused delays and overruns in important nation-building projects. It's proof that you can't build a road on a press release. You can't change economies by 30-second media grabs. For those opposite, it was all about the announcement and never about the delivery. The difference with this government is that we are prepared to do the work to get things done.

I just heard the former shadow communications minister mentioning community feedback. Apparently community feedback's a bad idea and projects should just be decided by ministers with their spreadsheets in front of them. The member for Barker talked about road safety funding. We've established the National Road Safety Action Plan and have got an inquiry into how we can help our communities and councils, in particular, fix up our road network. We're not sitting here taking up space. We're getting things done. The opposition had the chance to do that in their 10 years of government and failed at every turn. We are delivering and we are doing that on behalf of all of Australia.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

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