Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It was an extraordinary admission there by the previous speaker that, yes, the Labor Party now represents more regional seats in this parliament than the National Party. If we're going to start counting regional seats based upon land mass, then I'd suggest he go back and read the Constitution, because, for as long as we've had a federal parliament, it's been the number of people that live in a seat that determines the size of the electorate and how many seats we have. That is what has changed in this parliament. We didn't say 'the number of rural seats'. We didn't say 'land mass'. We said the Labor Party now represents more regional seats in this parliament than the National Party, from Leichhardt in the north and Lingiari across, in fact, most of the Northern Territory to Franklin in the south. Bendigo, Ballarat—you name it. We have lots of regional seats now in the Labor Party, and it is because of that that we have continued to support regional aviation.

I'd like to put on record the investment into my own electorate, the electorate of Bendigo. The Albanese Labor government, representing more regional electorates, understands how critical our regional airlines are to connecting people. The distance between Cairns and Brisbane is the distance between Brisbane and Melbourne. That is the geographical distance that the member for Leichhardt has to ensure is covered, like we have in other regions. Even in Victoria, where distance is smaller, we still make sure there are investments in our regional airlines.

In Bendigo, prior to the election in 2013, the runway in our electorate was so run down that there was fear that it could not be used during critical emergencies like bushfire season or in medical emergencies. I do acknowledge that, after a long campaign locally with the local government, we were able to secure funding from the previous Liberal-National government to upgrade the runway. That did allow and encourage Qantas to start opening up flights from Sydney to Bendigo. It was a game changer for our town. Not only did people not have to battle the traffic to Melbourne or parking at Melbourne Airport; it opened up business opportunity—the ability for people to travel from Bendigo to Sydney and Sydney to the world, a popular flight route being Bendigo-Sydney, Sydney-Queensland, and the opportunity for people who are in those jobs to live in Bendigo and commute for weekly work—but equally encouraged business to come to Bendigo. Further to this investment we secured to upgrade the airport, we've increased investment through the Labor state and federal government. There's $4.5 million from our government to upgrade the new terminal. The terminal expansion is open and is receiving more passengers daily to the airport. Now, through this upgrade and Qantas's investment, we are able to receive larger planes. It is four times larger than the previous building, making for a more comfortable check-in and a more comfortable arrival.

What was also invested from our government through round 4 of the Regional Airports Program was safety upgrades to allow the planes to park overnight, allowing Qantas more flexibility for flights. We've also funded in round 4 of this same fund, the Regional Airports Program, upgrades to the Kyneton Airport—$413,500 towards extending and resealing the runway to ensure that not only recreational aircraft are able to use the space but it becomes a critical staging space during those bushfire emergencies. I have to acknowledge the work of the club secretary, Sophie, and her dedication towards this fund.

Labor is committee to the regions. We're committed to investing in the airports as needed and to ensuring that people in the regions have the same access to aviation travel as the rest of the country.

See this speech in context