Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Leader of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in the House tonight to bring to the attention of the wider community the small rural community of Valla, which has been left high and dry with the announcement by the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development that no funding will be forthcoming for a community development project. The funding amount of approximately $35,000 was only 32 per cent of the total cost of the project. The remaining 68 per cent of the funding was to be provided by community groups, in-kind contributions and volunteers.

The community development project was to revitalise the public hall so as to enhance the economic and social participation of the community. The volunteer committee had been working on the funding application for some two years. The funding was promised in October 2007. Further information was requested by the new government in January 2008. But, alas, on 21 January 2008 the funding was withdrawn.

The funding would have facilitated the upgrade of the hall to ensure that it was able to meet the needs of the community going into its second century, as the hall was to celebrate 100 years of service in 2009. The Valla community is extremely disappointed. The committee had jumped through all the hoops and complied with all requests. The decision by this federal government to withdraw funding has taken away an opportunity for self-determination. The community told me that all this community needs is a hand up not a hand-out and, with the centenary coming up next year, it was all the more concerning.

It is not as if this is a project which is in isolation. Unfortunately, in the last budget, some 116 projects were in the same boat—they were left high and dry by this government. I would hope that it is with some remorse that the members opposite see the withdrawal of funding for a playground for disabled children. It is something that no member of this House should aspire to. I was pleased to see that, after being put under some considerable pressure by the media, the responsible minister saw his way clear to revisit the project. Unfortunately, the same latitude has not been extended to Valla hall. It was interesting to note the comments by Mr David Koch about the call he apparently received from the minister. Mr Koch’s comments were as follows:

... he—

that is, the minister—

didn’t realise how many community groups were affected. He said their understanding is that the whole partnerships program was a bit of a rort but there are some really good community projects in there so he is going to fast track the examination of all the applications and do it quickly …

Is that the decision-making process of this new government—that a minister would abandon a range of projects and discriminate against disabled children in Bundaberg without fully availing himself of all of the facts? I think it is a disgraceful situation. Regional Partnerships is a program that delivered great outcomes to many regional communities. In my community it helped fund a school that gave kids another chance at life, a school where kids who had fallen between the cracks in the state system were able to gain an education and in one case go on to university.

I refer also to the Sportz Central project in Coffs Harbour. This project was definitely not a rort. It was co-funded by the local government, the state government and the federal government, so three tiers of government carried out due diligence on this project. We had a project that was widely used by the whole community, a project that, in its current form—it was about to be extended in this funding—was being used seven days and seven nights a week, working for the community 110 per cent. Yet this project was also subject to having its funding withdrawn.

It is a disgraceful situation. This minister has basically cut these projects adrift without proper assessment, consultation or consideration, without taking into account the needs of the communities which these projects would serve. I think that the initial decision which came to the attention of the media, in relation to the playground for the disabled children, is only the tip of the iceberg. Communities right across the country are being disadvantaged by this woeful decision and the minister should think again.