Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to draw the attention of the House to the good work done in my electorate under the Regional Partnerships program and to draw attention to the threats which exist to this very successful program. Let me remind the House that Regional Partnerships began in 2003, with the aim of helping communities to become self-reliant by providing opportunities for economic development, social projects and better access to services. This is not a program that is run from the top down, with communities being told by some far-flung bureaucracy what they should have or how they should do it—quite the reverse. Communities are encouraged to draw up their own plans, based on their own particular needs, and are helped to put proposals forward by local area committees. This approach brings two benefits. First, we ensure that the projects are relevant and, second, the fact that the projects come from the community ensures that they are supported by the community, both in their development and once they are completed.

We are talking about regional Australia. We are talking about sustaining communities, often isolated and often far from the sorts of facilities that many people in our cities take for granted. These projects cover a whole range of services—business, sport, health and education. Since this program’s inception, federal funding has assisted some 1,088 projects across the nation, with a total federal input of $213 million. For every dollar of Commonwealth funding, the project partners have contributed three times that, contributing to a total of $852 million in value to the community.

Let me now turn to some of the benefits of this program in my electorate of Cowper. Those of us who live in regional and rural Australia know only too well that, whilst there may be an excellent quality of life, we are often a long way from specialised medical facilities when things go wrong. The stress and cost of having to travel to major centres for treatments such as radiotherapy adds to the difficulties of coping with a serious illness such as cancer.

I am delighted to say that in Coffs Harbour the federal government was able to assist the community. Through the Regional Partnerships program we were able to assist in the construction of a patients and carers lodge to provide accommodation for those who travel to Coffs Harbour for cancer treatment. The boundless energy of our local Rotarians and other community groups such as Lions and the CWA made it happen, with some help from the government. Local doctor and Rotary member, Paul Moran, said:

Without the Regional Partnerships programme, the Shearwater Lodge could not have been built.

Turning to the environment, we have a tremendous natural environment in the electorate of Cowper, and I make reference to the beautiful environment around the Nambucca River. The program contributed to an estuary management plan to ensure that this resource is maintained in a sustainable way, a way that meets environmental needs, whilst combining that with the needs of the tourism and fishing industries.

Funds have also been provided for the Upper Orara Hall, the Willawarrin Hall, the Orara Valley Pool and the annual Rusty Iron Rally in Macksville. The Ngurrala Woodworking Facility will provide skills and training for Indigenous people in the Nambucca area. I was in Bowraville recently for the acceptance of a grant by the Mimi Mothers Group to provide another new facility in that town.

These are not grandiose, high-profile, multimillion dollar projects. They are projects which have sprung from communities, which have been developed by communities and which improve the way of life in those communities. These are local projects driven by local people. In the light of that, it is hard to see why anyone would want to wind up this program. But that is exactly what the Leader of the Opposition wants to do. He told the Sunday program in February last year:

... the programme’s got to go. And we’re going to fight like blazes between now and the budget to force them—

being the government—

to cancel this programme.

Happily, as is his habit, he failed in his endeavour in this regard, and Regional Partnerships is still going strongly. But he has never retracted that statement. In fact, he had a splendid opportunity to demonstrate that he had seen the error of his ways when he made a speech on regional policy last weekend—but he didn’t take the opportunity to back down on his promise to get rid of Regional Partnerships.

If it were left to the Leader of the Opposition, there would be no projects like the carers and patients lodge, there would be no projects like the renovation of the Willawarrin Hall and there would be no swimming pool for the Orara Valley. The Leader of the Opposition says this program has got to go, which means over $800 million worth of community projects have got to go. The only plan Labor has for regional Australia is neglect. Its decision to abandon the Regional Partnerships program is proof of that.