Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Here we go again—another day, another MPI from the Nationals, claiming the sky is falling in, families are failing and somehow it's all Labor's fault. It is the same script and the same scare lines from the same people who had nine long years to fix things and chose not to. The truth is that this MPI is not about helping regional Australia. It's about distracting from the Nationals' own record of neglect, of turning up to the regions at election time, taking photos in hi-vis and then disappearing when the hard work needed to be done.

When the Nationals were in government, regional Australia did not get relief; it got ripped off. They left us with inflation at 6.1 per cent and rising. They left bigger deficits, no savings and debt heading completely in the wrong direction. They went to the last election with a plan for even more debt and higher taxes to pay for a nuclear fantasy that would drive up power prices and kill jobs in our regions. That is the reality they don't want to talk about.

Now, are people doing it tough? Yes. There is no doubt about that at all, and the Labor government has never pretended otherwise. The difference is that this government is actually doing something about it. We are not pointing fingers, not talking Australia or Australians down but getting on with the job of governing in difficult global conditions. We are delivering cost-of-living relief that is responsible, targeted and fair and tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer—three rounds of them. The first are already flowing, with even more to come. From July next year, lower income and middle income earners will pay less tax and, from the year after, even less again. That is real money back into people's pockets week after week. There are cheaper medicines, with PBS scripts capped at $25, the lowest price in two decades, and frozen for pensioners and concession card holders at $7.70. That makes a real difference in regions, where chronic illness is higher and access to healthcare has become much harder. A stronger Medicare with more bulk-billing, more urgent care clinics and more doctors and nurses where people actually live—these are not promises but actual delivery.

Cheaper child care, energy bill relief, a $40 increase to JobSeeker, higher rent assistance and a 20 per cent cut to student debt—these are policies those opposite all voted against, by the way. And, while we're doing all of that, we also have done what the Nationals never managed to do, which is actually fix the budget. There have been two surpluses, a smaller deficit and debt going down, not up, and we are over $233 billion better off than what we inherited, with more than $114 billion in savings found. That's not reckless. That's actually responsible. The IMF says our fiscal strategy is effective. The OECD says we have tightened policy, but apparently the Nationals know better than the world's leading economic institutions.

What really sticks in the throat is the hypocrisy. The Nationals like to pretend they are the guardians of the regions, but where were they when regional manufacturers were hollowed out? Where were they when power prices went through the roof? Where were they when wages flatlined, apprenticeships were cut and regional health services were stretched to breaking point? They were silent or, worse, they were just complacent.

This government is backing regions with real investment, like investment in roads, like the Singleton and Muswellbrook bypass; energy; skills; health care; and local jobs. We're backing fee-free TAFE so young people don't have to leave town to get the training they need. We're backing apprentices, local industry, the energy sector, mining and critical minerals. All these create jobs in places like the Hunter instead of shutting the gates and walking away. We're doing in partnership with communities, unions, local councils and industries, because lasting change only works when the regions are actually part of the plan.

The Nationals don't have a plan for regional Australia's future. They have nostalgia and fear—fear of change, fear of progress, fear that, if the regions succeed under Labor, people might remember who actually delivered for regional Australia. Australians can see what this MPI is all about: the same old boring attack from a party that talks big about the bush but failed when it mattered most.

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