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

I thank the member for that question. The member does a fantastic job representing remote Territorians, the Tiwi Islands and our external territories in Christmas Island and Cocos Islands. Thank you very much.

As a regional member, I'm incredibly proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government, delivering for regional Australia. We on this side of the House know how important it is to back our regional businesses, regional communities, local councils and farmers. Those opposite talk a big game and deliver a lot of press releases, but they actually forget the delivery part! The bush summit is a great opportunity for us to come together with regional communities, industries and businesses to have those direct conversations. I know that the Prime Minister is looking forward to going to Tamworth tomorrow and speaking to people at the bush summit there, as are my colleagues across this place who will be going to different parts of the country and participating in the bush summit. For my part, I am interested in this and heading to Wodonga on Tuesday of next week to be part of the bush summit and to hear firsthand from our regional communities.

But time and time again when I am out listening to regional communities there are a couple of key things. No. 1 is housing, because it's a critical part of regional development. If you cannot provide housing then you cannot get workers, whether they be in our essential services, like child care or aged care, or our teachers. Last week, I met with the North West Queensland ROC—10 councils from North West Queensland—who said, each and every one of them, 'Housing is a priority for us'. That was backed in the following day when I met with Bendigo and Shepparton councils, who said the same thing.

The former government failed to put dollars into housing policy. They failed to deliver for regional communities. And, on this side of the House, we know how important it is to deliver that, which is why we have a comprehensive housing policy—

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