Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

We are at a crossroads. Australia is struggling under the weight of the Labor government's reckless economic mismanagement, and nowhere is this more evident than in regional Australia and in my electorate of Capricornia. As I have said repeatedly, it is deeply disappointing that, while the wealth of this nation is generated in the regions, the federal Labor government continues to turn its back on regional Australia and fails to recognise the value and importance that regions bring when government spending decisions are made.

Today, as we bring these appropriation bills to the chamber—bills that allocate $12.7 billion to keep the government running—we must also confront the dire truth: this is a financial mess of Labor's own making, and ordinary Australians, particularly those in Central Queensland, are being left to deal with the consequences. In total, these appropriation bills seek approval for $12.7 billion in additional appropriations—$9.1 billion for ordinary services, $3.5 billion for non-ordinary services and $9.2 million for the parliamentary departments.

Let me be clear from the outset: the coalition recognises that the appropriation bills are the mechanism through which governments fund their policies and keep the machinery of government operating, but the decision not to oppose these bills must never be mistaken for an endorsement of this government's economic management, spending priorities or complete lack of fiscal restraint and disregard for everyday Australians, who will ultimately be left to pick up the Albanese government's tab. Appropriation bills such as these present one of the rare opportunities for this parliament to step back and examine the totality of government operations, spending decisions and fiscal discipline—or, in this case, the glaring absence of it.

The uncomfortable truth is Australia is running on continual deficits not because revenue is weak but because spending is out of control. Record levels of revenue are being completely outstripped by record levels of spending and record levels of spending growth. This is not restraint, this is not responsible economic management and this is certainly not what Australians were promised.

Since Labor's election to power in 2022, my constituents in Capricornia were promised that they would be better off—no-one held back and no-one left behind. Unfortunately for the people of Capricornia, that promise has been broken time and time again. Since Labor came to office, critical infrastructure and community projects in regional Australia have been delayed, defunded or thrown on the scrap heap altogether. Labor's policies are directly hurting regional communities, and these appropriation bills once again highlight a troubling pattern of neglect and misplaced priorities that continue to disadvantage Central Queensland. This government's decisions show, once again, a government that is out of touch with the realities faced by Australians living outside the capital cities.

One of the most damaging examples is Labor's decision to slash NDIS provider travel reimbursements by half. Under these changes, providers' capacity to travel to clients in regional and remote areas has been severely reduced regardless of distance. For communities spread across vast geographic areas like my electorate of Capricornia, this is not a minor—

Debate interrupted.

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