Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Hansard source

Those opposite do not support regional Australians. Despite all the hype and the bluster, it appears that Labor is focused on investing in infrastructure in their own seats or those that they think they might have a chance of winning. Round 6 of the Mobile Black Spot Program is a testament to that. I have the Minister for Communications right. It targeted funding to Labor seats as election commitments. In fact, 74 per cent of the grants went to electorates that vote red or might vote red. This is despite Labor only representing one-third of regional electorates in the nation. In Victoria, the Labor seats of McEwen, Bendigo and Corangamite all benefited from the communications minister's handpicked funding. There was no funding for Mallee, no funding for Nicholls and none for Gippsland. There was none even for the independently held Indi.

Yesterday in question time the member for Bendigo and the member for Ballarat, who is the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, waxed lyrical over their government delivering for the regions. They talked up the cities of Bendigo and Ballarat—cities in their seats. They forget about more than half the land area of Victoria, which includes cities like Mildura in my electorate, Warrnambool, Shepparton, Wodonga and Traralgon.

Regional Victoria and Australia are waiting with bated breath to hear the results of Labor's 90-day infrastructure review razor gang, which is now up to 110. It has been more than 100 days since it was announced, but where is it? Which projects are getting axed? In Mallee, the Swan Hill community are waiting to find out whether the axe will fall on a $60 million project the former coalition government committed to for a bridge across the Murray River. This has been held up by state governments and heritage listings and all kinds of other reasons. It was not under the coalition that it was held up; it's because of other reasons. Yet here we find that project, which has been promised for years to the people of Swan Hill, is in the axing. We are waiting to hear. In the south of my electorate, the people of Wimmera are still waiting for the duplication of the Western Highway between Ararat and Stawell, as well as the Horsham roundabout. All are subject to the minister's razor gang.

I have spoken to one of my regional councils this week. Due to a Victorian decision to axe the Regional Infrastructure Fund, his council now cannot access federal Labor government's Growing Regions Program. How does that work? This federal Labor government, like Labor every time they get in, has matched funding of fifty-fifty with state governments. Now that the Victorian government has axed their Regional Infrastructure Fund, it means that communities cannot access any funding. Where does that leave us for the next three years? Absolutely high and dry. It's an absolute disgrace. Growing Regions may fund projects between $500,000 and $15 million, but councils are required to fund the fifty-fifty. The Andrews government has slashed the only possibility for most councils my electorate to access any funding at all.

Councils nationwide, including those in Mallee, can get a 90 per cent Commonwealth contribution only if they have been effected by natural disasters like recent floods. But guess what the caveat is. It can only be projects where the site was rolled over with flood; it is not for replacing roads and footpaths which are desperately needed in the region. One council who came to see me this week said they have a total budget of $12 million for all the people that they care for. They have 5,000 kilometres of road. Please tell me: how is that council going to repair any of that road? This leaves regional communities absolutely desperate. It's no wonder our roads are still full of potholes. Under the Labor government, that is going to remain. Do I have to tell my local communities that that is the outcome? It is appalling.

In their first budget, this federal Labor government has cut more than $10 billion in regional programs, highlighted by the axing of the highly successful Building Better Regions Fund and the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure funding. I have had councils nearly weep on my shoulder about the cutting of that fund because it was the only way they could build the projects that are so important to their communities.

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