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

I want to thank the member for Gilmore. As my electorate neighbour, I know how fierce she is when it comes to advocating for her local communities. The Albanese Labor government is delivering real outcomes for regional Australia, investing in the infrastructure that our communities need to prosper and delivering it through transparent grant programs—transparency that is not colour coded. But more on that later.

Our Growing Regions Fund is already delivering real results on the ground for regional communities all over the country, thanks to almost $600 million in funding. And I was pleased to recently hear Cassowary Coast Regional Council Mayor Teresa Millwood talk about the revitalisation of the Mission Beach town centre in Queensland, made possible by $8 million in Growing Regions funding. And she said: 'This is going to breathe new life into Mission Beach. It's already happening. We've got people constructing new accommodation around the village green, and I've spoken to business owners, and they tell me that this is just what this place needed, and we must thank the Australian government and the Queensland government, because without their support this would not have happened.'

Through our budget, we're investing a further $750 million for future rounds of Growing Regions and Thriving Suburbs community infrastructure programs, and that's on top of the projects we're already supporting across the country through our $400 million Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program. They're practical, community driven projects that create jobs, grow local economies and strengthen regional resilience.

Just last month, I announced $48 million for 12 new projects across regional, rural and remote Australia, like Wynyard in Tassie, where more than $9.5 million is transforming Big hART artisan precinct into a hub featuring workshops, a greenhouse, cultural spaces and purpose built infrastructure to support regional enterprise growth. Producer Dudley Billing said: 'This funding gives our community a chance to lean into its strengths. The trades that build our region can carry it forward, hand built, handmade, ultralocal and built to last. That's the artisan precinct.'

These projects show what is possible when governments partner with local communities. But our grants programs are assessed based on merit and transparency. And how does this compare to other approaches?

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