Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise here today to ask this new Labor government, led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, to honour the commitments the previous coalition government made to the people of rural and regional Australia—particularly the communities in my electorate of Maranoa and those who were redistributed from Maranoa into the new Labor seat of Flynn.

The Labor Party has criticised the National-Liberal coalition over the highly successful Regional Partnerships program. We have been accused of pork-barrelling, a charge that I reject outright. I am not going to apologise to this Prime Minister or his Labor counterparts for working hard for the people of Maranoa. I certainly am not going to apologise for the hard work and the tireless efforts of my constituents to better their communities. In my electorate of Maranoa, the Regional Partnerships program, together with the Balonne Shire Council, for instance, and the Queensland government, has provided the people of Dirranbandi—a town of about 500 people—with a community swimming pool. Together with the Barcoo Shire, the Regional Partnerships program has built a community centre for the western town of Stonehenge, a town of around 40 people. Aramac Shire was able to build a medical precinct. Charleville was able to build a skate park for its young people. The Tara Shire Council was able to provide its community with extended day care facilities. And in the Diamantina shire, Birdsville was able to build a medical clinic.

The Rudd Labor government has accused the Liberal and National parties of rorting and pork-barrelling the Regional Partnerships program into coalition electorates. So does that mean that the new member for Flynn and the Prime Minister—a Queenslander—is not going to support the extension of aged facilities in Blackall, which is now in the new Labor seat of Flynn? Will his own member for Flynn support him? And where is Chris Trevor, the member of Flynn? He has been very quiet since his election in November. What is he going to say to the communities of Muttaburra, Tambo and Alpha, who have been told that their projects, previously approved by a coalition government, might not be able to go ahead after all? ‘Sorry, the coalition was pork-barrelling. No motel for Muttaburra. No new business and cultural centre for Tambo. No new showgrounds and rodeo ring for Alpha’?

Does the member for Flynn want to tell his constituents that the Labor government—which boasts to be a government for all Australians—is happy to put $2 million into the Tree of Knowledge project in Barcaldine, which is obviously a symbol of the birth of his own party, but does not want to improve the aged-care facilities in Blackall? When the member for Flynn visits the pool in Muttaburra, built with Regional Partnerships funding, will he tell them that it was a result of pork-barrelling? Or is he going to realise it is a vital asset to the Muttaburra community—a place to teach kids how to swim, a place to gather socially, a place which provides hydrotherapy to the elderly? When the new member for Flynn goes to Blackall, is he going to tell them that he will not help provide them with more aged-care places because it is pork-barrelling? If he is going to go up there, I am happy to go with him to that part of the old Maranoa, where the Regional Partnerships program helped to build community centres, pools, saleyards and medical clinics. I am happy to go there with the new member for Flynn, and when he points out that he considers that these are pork-barrelling projects, I will be happy to look on those projects with pride. I certainly will not be apologising.

These Regional Partnerships projects are vital to the outback communities of Queensland. Since 2003 there has been some $10 million provided to Maranoa communities through this program. The Maranoa electorate covers almost one half of the land mass of Queensland. It covers the equivalent of almost 3½ times the land mass of Victoria. And yet during the six-week election campaign, Labor promised $5.3 million for regional projects for the seat of Flynn alone. I will support those projects, because they will help those communities, but do the Prime Minister and the member for Flynn think that the $2.4 million Barcaldine Tree of Knowledge project is more important than the motel accommodation for Muttaburra or the aged-care facility in Blackall? Will they honour our commitments to the other communities of rural and regional Queensland? If the new Prime Minister is serious about governing for all Australians, he must not abolish this highly beneficial program; he must continue to support all the communities of outback Queensland. After all, he says he is from Queensland and he is there to help. I call on the member for Flynn to go and see the Prime Minister and make sure those projects, supported and approved by the former coalition government, proceed. (Time expired)