Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a)   funds were allocated for Regional Development Australia Funding (RDAF) Round 5 in the 2013-14 budget;

(b)   RDAF Round 5 provided assistance to local government projects to fund the construction of important pieces of small scale infrastructure to support local communities and regional development;

(c)   the Government has:

  (i)   committed to delivering some, but not all, of the RDAF Round 5 projects; and

  (ii)   not yet made clear which RDAF Round 5 projects will and will not proceed; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) report to the Parliament on:

  (i)   what, if any, consultation it had with local governments and Regional Development Australia in choosing the RDAF Round 5 projects it has decided to fund; and

  (ii)   which, if any, of these projects will be funded under the National Stronger Regions Fund; and

(b)   provide certainty to regional communities by committing to fund each RDAF Round 5 project.

There is a growing sense in regional Australia that elected representatives, particularly those from big cities, just do not get the needs of regional Australia. This was most recently and succinctly expressed by the New South Wales Minister for Primary Industries and putative candidate for the seat of Goulburn, in New South Wales, when she said that Barry O'Farrell and the incumbent member just do not get the needs of regional New South Wales.

It would appear that the Premier of New South Wales is not alone, because, when you look at what is going on with the Regional Development Australia Fund, you see a government that is out of touch with the needs of regional communities. The Regional Australia Development Fund round 5 was designed for small-scale projects, local priorities for local communities' infrastructure, which were put forward by elected councils. These projects were filling the gaps in infrastructure development. They were designed to renew dated community-scale infrastructure across the country. Most of the grants, up to 70 per cent of them, about $105 million, were earmarked for regional towns. This money was for small-scale projects, $30,000 to $2 million in value.

Anyone would think, given the bipartisan support we saw in the announcement of these projects before the election, when we saw National Party mayors, Liberal Party mayors and councillors falling over themselves to say, 'Yeah, us too; we're in behind these projects'—and the member for Newcastle, who is in the chamber with me at the moment and has a deep interest in this fund, had a similar experience in her electorate—that, when the coalition parties found themselves in government, bipartisan support for these projects would flow into government. But, regrettably, we see a government that has its priorities all wrong.

In their first three months in government we have seen tax cuts for the big end of town and tax hikes for the rest of us, cuts to benefits, cuts to services and nothing but a deaf ear to the needs of the regional community. They are not even listening to their own members. A few weeks ago we saw the member for Murray courageously step outside the tent to stick up for the needs of her electorate. She begged the government to listen to the needs and support jobs in her electorate, particularly those impacted by the fate of the SPC operation in Shepparton. The member for Murray was ignored by her own federal colleagues. That shows their complete indifference to the needs of those regional communities.

The RDAF was funded in the 2013-14 budget but now seems to have been given the chop by the federal government. The government even axed the funding source for this fund, the minerals resource rent tax. They said it did not deliver any money. It raised $126 million in its first six months of operation. That might seem like not very much money to those opposite, but that is equal to the entire amount of funds that were earmarked for regional Australia in the RDAF round 5 funding, so they could have funded it if they wanted to. They could have funded these projects which were earmarked for regional Australia. They chose not to. Their priorities are all wrong. The shocking truth is that many of the projects in round 5 of Regional Development Australia have already been axed. The rest of them lie in limbo.

Happily, I have to say that some projects will proceed. In Labor's final budget we allocated around $300,000 for the Meals on Wheels project in Rockhampton. The idea of this project, a worthy project that deserved funding, was to replace flood prone and confined kitchen facilities. The government has decided that this project, unlike so many other worthy regional projects that deserve funding, will actually proceed. Deputy Speaker, you cannot argue on the one hand that the reason we are chopping RDAF round 5—and the reason we are refusing to proceed with funding for all of these other projects—is that the funds are not in the budget, if on the other hand you are sneakily going out there and giving the wink and the nod to these projects that you want to get up, like the Rockhampton Meals on Wheels project. I have nothing to say against the Rockhampton project; indeed, it was a project that was approved by Labor in government. But I do say: where is the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development when it comes to the interests of all these other projects?

We often hear that the National Party are the party for regional Australia, but the truth is laid bare by their handling of the Regional Development Australia Fund. The minister sneaks through those communities in the dead of night, opening the projects that were funded by Labor—in fact, he spent most of his Christmas holidays cutting ribbons on Labor's funded projects and taking credit for them—and then nicks off with his chequebook firmly wedged in his back pocket when the real business of being a minister comes to bear. People went into the last election somehow thinking that National Party and Liberal Party members in regional Australia would stick up for regional communities. What people have learned since the election is that nothing could be further from the truth. We are seeing cuts to regional Australia and cuts to funds in projects, and these cuts are hurting jobs.

These are important projects. You have to ask yourself, Deputy Speaker: what would a decent minister for regional Australia do when considering the terrible economic blows that have been wreaked upon many of these regional communities? In South Australia, for instance, they are suffering from the announced closure of Holden. The flow-on effects that that closure is going to have on the components sector will put thousands of jobs at risk. What would a decent minister for regional Australia do in South Australia? He certainly would not scrap the half a million dollars that has been earmarked for the city centre renewal project in Salisbury, in the seat of Makin.

I see that the member for Boothby is in the chamber at the moment. I have not heard much from the member for Boothby. He is not out there defending the half a million dollars that was set aside for the Aldinga District Centre Main Street and Town Square upgrade. I have not heard anything from the member for Boothby—maybe he will put himself on the speaking list for this debate and champion his community. A decent minister for regional development would be out there saying: 'South Australians are suffering. We are going to do something to assist them in their time of need.'

Northern Tasmania is in the grip of recession, and we see the minister not doing one thing for the needs of Northern Tasmania. We see cuts to projects in Devonport, including the upgrade of the Devonport Aquatic Centre, and cuts to projects in Launceston. The Northern Tasmania Cricket Association Ground upgrade was canned. That was $127,000. It might not seem like a lot of money, but for that community it would have meant an important upgrade of their facility. Over in New South Wales, in the grip of drought, we see that the $3.5 million upgrade to the Casino Regional Livestock Exchange Centre has been cut. Deputy Speaker, you would think that, if there were a community anywhere in Australia that was in need of some good news, we would see the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Leader of the National Party, up there delivering some good news to the people in Casino. He whizzes through there, opens and announces some Labor projects—but not one brass razoo to assist in the completion of the Casino Regional Livestock Exchange Centre. And I have to say that the member for Page—he is no hero, this particular Hogan!—has gone missing on this project. He is not standing up for the needs of his own community.

We could go right around the country. We could talk about the cuts to the Gulgul Barang Youth and Community Centre in the seat of Shortland—$2.7 million promised before the election, now cut. There was the Derby Export Facility enhancement project in Western Australia—$330,000 in the seat of Durack—but we have heard nothing from the member for Durack in defence of that project. Over in the Northern Territory, the member for Lingiari has unfortunately not been able to get through to the minister about the $124,000 for the upgrade of the sports field in Elliott. I call on all of those opposite who are of good heart and conscience to push hard to ensure that the minister gives some certainty for these projects, because regional Australia needs them. (Time expired)

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have great respect for the member for Throsby, but today he either shows a lack of respect for the regional public or is delusional in his response to the budgetary circumstances that existed when funds were offered to regional communities—funds that, at worst, were a premeditated attempt to mislead regional communities as a base political endeavour. I had that experience myself in the Latrobe Valley. Good members who have now left this parliament came down and made offers to the regional community of Latrobe Valley for a low-carbon future. They came down and said, 'We will fund you so that the Latrobe Valley will continue to exist.' In one weekend all funding for the low-carbon future was to cease. Why would that be? Because there was not one seat to be one in Gippsland. That is why. For base political reasons those projects were abandoned, but let me say to the House today that we in the Latrobe Valley will not be forgotten. It was bad enough that the previous government offered chocolates to regional communities without funding them, but what they have done to single-parent households, to low-income student loans and to regional hospitality, crippled by archaic penalty rate laws, is unforgiveable.

We intend to do the right thing by regional communities by saying to those regional communities that we will not make you an offer we cannot fund. We will not make you a promise we cannot fulfil, as the previous government made promise after promise but they were unfulfilled promises because the money was never there. The former Labor government made promises that a fiscally responsible party could not keep, and so it was that rounds 5 and 5B of the Regional Australia Development Fund were put on hold.

Like many other electorates, my electorate of McMillan was stunned; disappointed people were left wondering where the money had gone and why projects would not be funded as promised. The simple answer was, of course, that the money never existed. The Labor Party in government promised more than 950 projects, valued at $150 million, in RDAF round 5. All round 5 projects were announced after 1 June 2013 and, as such, they were considered to be Labor Party election campaign commitments, rather than projects that had been through normal due diligence processes and deemed worthy of Commonwealth assistance. They were empty pledges from a broke government, using the promises of money it did not have to buy votes. The lack of commitment to project delivery was evident in rounds 2, 3 and 4 of the RDAF program, as there were more than 50 projects that did not have funding agreements in place—even though some had been announced more than two years previously.

To ensure that the government meets its fiscal obligations, it has decided not to fund these projects. It was a hard decision and one that has caused angst. However, governing is not just about being in power but using power wisely. I would remind the member for Throsby that it is not the office that he holds but the outcome that is produced that is important. In not funding these, we have a future. The government continues to support communities across regional Australia, including through its new Community Development Grants Program. The coalition looks forward to delivering our election commitments and to continuing to engage with local communities on their infrastructure and regional development needs throughout the term of this government.

The great Martin Luther King may have had a dream, but I have one too. Mine, of course, is somewhat more humble, but, for the people of my electorate of McMillan who share in this dream, it is important nonetheless. My dream is to see my rural seat on an equal footing with those in the city. As the member for Throsby mentioned, there is that great divide between the rural and metropolitan electorates.

As any rural politician knows, infrastructure funding is essential. It is a means of driving not only the economy but also positive social change in our communities. On my wish list for McMillan, roads, sporting clubs, childcare centres, hospitals, marine rescue services, Centrelink outlets and even post offices all jostle for priority. I do not know how much will be in the pot in the future, but McMillan's needs are great.

The West Gippsland Hospital in Warragul, the very town where my electorate office is located, services a population that is growing day by day and also services people who are coming from the city out to the country for their health needs. We could direct some funds towards it—yet a piecemeal response will not do: it needs to be rebuilt, and this will be an eight-year plan costing $243 million—or there could be the glorified political decision on behalf of the member for McMillan to give him $245 million for a brand-new hospital at Warragul; I think that would go down well!

The Port Welshpool jetty, which was almost destroyed by fire some years back, has been crying out for funding for years. A bright future awaits, with $3 million needed to transform not just a historic landmark but the fortunes of that region. It will mean that the school will progress, businesses will progress, child care will progress and the pub will progress. And it will mean disability access for fishing, which is sorely needed—I could go on. It ticks every box for a community that needs rebuilding.

The Korumburra Integrated Children's Centre would take pride of place in the centre of a bustling town that remains one of McMillan's true success stories. A dedicated committee has a dream that I share: quality child care for a community that has a bright future. Every community needs a quality childcare centre for that delivery. The childcare centre would meet a crucial need for families in Korumburra for child care, kindergarten, out-of-school-hours care, maternal and childhood services and specialist children's services. This project has been thoroughly investigated and planned with ongoing community involvement. In addition to the land, South Gippsland Shire Council will commit $2 million to the development of the centre. Parents have contributed $100,000. However, a further $3 million is sought.

The Pakenham soccer ground could use $1 million to continue its development. The marine rescue team at Port Welshpool needs a new boat. We need duplicated roads, but we need especially the rebuilding of local roads: we had the drought, then we had the rain, then we had more rain, and now the roads have broken up. The South Gippsland Highway, Leongatha bypass, Warragul-Drouin highway duplication and Warragul-Korumburra road are all crying out for money, along with a lot of other roads.

Moe, a town close to my heart, that has been given funding for a railway precinct redevelopment, is deserving of more still. I would love to see a Medicare office and post office in the town. Honestly, I could stand here speaking on the subject of McMillan's wants and needs all day. I must stop now. I am mindful of the clock.

In closing I would like to say: anything that elevates the fortunes of our rural electorates is something worth its weight in gold. The Regional Development Australia Fund may not be a panacea for McMillan's shortfalls, but I look forward to seeing what it delivers. We need communications infrastructure. I do not think there is a member of parliament in this place that would not desire better communications in their area and better roads, as these things are planned and developed for our communities.

I know that the member for Throsby is thinking, 'Your desires are greater than any government can fulfil for all our electorates,' because, as to what I have just outlined in my electorate, and as to city electorates, we could all run up a bill on behalf of our government that is very, very high, just on the infrastructure needs of our communities. Every regional member of parliament knows the benefits of infrastructure development—be it a hospital, telecommunications, or roads—because development of infrastructure enhances business opportunities. When we enhance business opportunities we therefore enhance the opportunities for our children to get jobs locally, for our families to live locally, for our aged care to be enhanced, for our healthcare services broadly to be advanced, and for our children's centres to be advanced.

Every one of the members of this House works in the best interest of their communities, and those with a regional voice need to be heard louder and stronger even when it comes to the minister at the table's black spots program for mobile phones. There is nothing worse than when you are in the middle of a crucial conversation in a regional area and you go round the corner and the conversation is over. Now we have a regional black spots program. It is not going to fulfil every need in every community, but it will change the way some communities have access, especially for their emergency care.

I commend the motion to the House not because of the detrimental words of the member for Throsby in regard to this government's approach but because it raises the issue of infrastructure development in regional communities.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of this important private member's motion moved by my colleague the member for Throsby, whose own electorate shares a remarkably similar history to that of Newcastle and who likewise hails from a region which has always punched above its weight and which remains an important social and economic contributor to our nation. My own electorate of Newcastle, embedded within the Hunter region, is part of Australia's largest regional economy, producing around $37 billion in 2012 and eight per cent of New South Wales's total economic activity. So there is no doubt that regional Australia makes a more than significant contribution to our nation.

As do all regions, we expect this contribution to be recognised and indeed supported as appropriate by all levels of government to ensure continued growth and economic development. It is no secret that regional Australia and their local governments in particular struggle to meet the growing infrastructure needs of their communities. That is one of the reasons that the previous federal Labor government established Regional Development Australia, the first-ever tripartite regional development advisory body linking the federal, state and local governments together with regions across the nation. RDAs allowed local communities direct access to Canberra and helped to depoliticise the nature of infrastructure funding in the regions by operating as an independent body at arm's length from government and setting their own priorities for local infrastructure. RDAs worked to put an end to the bad old days of regional rorts that operated under the Howard government. RDAs across the nation are made up of local leaders who volunteer their time to work across each region for the benefit of their communities. Their task is to develop strong long-term strategies and solutions for their regions' needs. RDA Hunter, under the strong leadership of Dr Gaye Hart as chair and Mr Todd Williams as the CEO, is an excellent example of RDA's work to grow and sustain a region's economy for the future. I would suggest that any government that chooses to ignore or dismiss the advice and recommendations of local RDAs does so at its own peril.

That is what is this government's decision to slash the round 5 Regional Development Australia funding grants for community infrastructure is so distressing. In my electorate, the Newcastle City Council was set to receive more than $1 million to upgrade the Merewether Baths pavilion and surrounding area, ensuring that amenity and accessibility issues were addressed. The improvements included the replacement of the baths pavilion, new shade shelters and seating and the provision of disability access to the area. The works were to complement the major upgrade of the baths funded by a state government loan and the council's own funds. The major upgrade to the baths themselves is going ahead, with the baths closing this week. However, the million dollars ripped out by the Abbott government will mean that the site remains inaccessible to wheelchair users, with the old, rusty and somewhat dangerous pavilion remaining. The council confirmed this themselves in their public information document: 'No works to the pavilion are included in this stage of the redevelopment. Council are currently considering options for renewal for the pavilion and public domain.' The cash-strapped council could have done without another review. They could have done with the $1 million of funding from the federal government.

In six or so months time when the baths reopen we will have a wonderful upgraded free facility for the community to enjoy. Some of the old Merewether Mackerels, the winter swimming club, will tell you that a daily swim there, especially in the midst of winter, is life prolonging. But significant numbers of our community will not be able to use the facility as it will remain inaccessible. If wheelchair users are lucky, they will be able to roll down to the baths that will have improved accessibility at the water's edge but they will not be able to find their way back up the steep, non-compliant ramps.

This cut to regional funding is cruel and it does not make sense. This government needs to come clean on why it is abandoning these much-needed, small-scale community infrastructure projects. As highlighted by this motion today, the government is now picking and choosing which projects are to progress for funding. What, if any, consultation has the government had with local government and local communities? I join with my Labor colleagues today and call on the Abbott government to honour the RDA round 5 funding commitments, including the $1 million allocated for the Merewether baths, to give certainty to Newcastle and other regional communities around Australia who have been left in limbo. (Time expired)

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let us call this motion moved by the member for Throsby what it is: it is just playing pure politics with people in regional and rural Australia. It is a disgraceful motion and it follows the disgraceful action by the Labor government in the lead-up to the last election. They went to communities and promised things that they knew they could not deliver on and would never deliver on. They provided false hope and in doing so they played with local communities. What the Labor Party did in the lead-up to the last election with this round 5 funding was a disgrace and this motion is a disgrace because it follows on from that despicable behaviour.

I remember having to go to the small community of Pomonal, which had been promised some money for their hall. It was promised by a Labor Party government. It was a political stunt to try to wedge hardworking local members by playing games. I explained to that community that that was what this was. The Labor Party were desperately spending. They were going into local communities promising this and that, knowing that they would never be able to deliver.

Meanwhile, good hardworking coalition MPs were going around talking to their communities trying to find out what projects they wanted and needed. They had discussions with the local communities and said: 'The Labor Party have made a mess of our budget. The Labor Party cannot run the economy. We're going to have to try to fix the nation's finances. In doing that we will deliver on local projects, but we can't deliver on all of them. We can't just splash the cash around willy-nilly, because ultimately someone will have to pay for it.' You look these people in the eye and say: 'Because of the way the Labor Party went about governing, it will be your children who will have to pay the price for this mismanagement. It will be your children who will have to pick up the tab, the bill. That is why we have to be responsible. That is why we will selectively look at projects, work with you and hopefully deliver them for you.'

It was easy because you can explain the Labor Party's record with round 2, round 3 and round 4 of the RDA where they spent the money not in areas where the community wanted it spent but in areas for their own base political purposes. The community understood that. All of a sudden in round 5 they are saying: 'We'll splash it around here and splash it around there. We will splash it around everywhere.' The community were sick to death of it. They will not buy into these political games that Labor play. Get serious about how you go about developing policy and developing your community engagement because, if you keep playing these types of games, you are going to have a very long, deserved stint in opposition.

In my electorate of Wannon we are going to deliver on the projects that we took to the election. I am proud of the commitments we took to the election: $10 million for an integrated cancer care centre; $25 million, matched by $25 million, for the repair and upgrade of the Great Ocean Road; and $3.2 million to fix the Condah-Hotspur road to make it safer for our school buses to carry schoolkids, to make it safer for mums and dads driving on those roads and to make it more efficient for the log trucks. That had been an RDA priority through round 2, round 3 and round 4, yet when the Labor Party came to splash the cash in RDA round 5 they did not even consider it. This is a sham of a motion. You were a sham of a government and you deserve a long time in opposition. (Time expired)

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to rise in support of the member for Throsby's motion. I do this as the representative of one of Australia's fastest-growing municipalities: the city of Wyndham, a region that in recent times has grown by more than 12,000 residents every year. This equates to around 230 people arriving a week, or 32 every day. It seems that at every turn a new suburb has appeared, expanded and filled. We truly are the epitome of a growth corridor. With this growth comes great things: new innovation and ideas, increasing diversity, and a vibrant and ever-shifting cultural identity. We celebrate this dynamism, but with growth comes needs as well. We need more health services, we need more and better schools, we need improved roads and we desperately need local infrastructure.

So when in June last year it was announced that the city of Wyndham would receive its share of $150 million in Regional Development Australia funding I was thrilled. I was thrilled as a local resident and thrilled as a member of the Wyndham community. Because back then that is exactly what I was: a concerned resident, a mother and a principal. I certainly was not the member for Lalor, because that is how long ago this funding was announced—well before I was the member for Lalor, well before the election and well before those opposite came to government and made this heartless cut. So for them to maintain—insist—that this funding was simply an election promise that does not need to be honoured is just plain untrue.

I note that the member for Wide Bay and the member for McMillan have also claimed that the money for these projects simply does not exist. But, as my colleagues have pointed out, this funding was promised and budgeted for months and months ago. So maybe the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development should have a closer look at the budget papers, as well as his conscience. If he did, he would see what is at stake here: parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, medical centres, memorials, multipurpose halls and even something as simple and as necessary as a ramp to improve access for those with mobility issues.

Regional Development Australia Fund round 5 was essentially about supporting infrastructure that makes our communities better places to be.    Locally, for my electorate, that would have meant funding for the construction of the Tarneit Community Learning Centre Library. It would have meant federal government assistance for a library designed to meet the needs of our rapidly- growing region and the very new community of Tarneit. It would have meant the city of Wyndham could continue to demonstrate to every family the value of literacy. And it would have meant a place where people could come together, particularly some of our more isolated residents. But, because of the callous and heartless attitude of the Abbott government, funding for this project has been cut, without consultation and without question.

Maybe there is hope. After all, the member for New England and Deputy Leader of the National Party did say that projects of merit would be funded. But maybe the member for New England thinks that a library for the people of Tarneit has no merit. What about the people of Guyra's new roundabout in the member's own electorate, a footpath in Gunnedah or the new playground in Tamworth? All of these projects were to receive funding under Regional Development Australia Fund round 5. But now, who knows? Now we have nothing—no clarity, no commitment and no community funding. It will, however, be interesting to see whether the government's opposition to the RDAF extends to when it is ribbon-cutting time for round 3 and 4 projects. Will they be there for the photo opportunity when the Geelong Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Hub opens? Will they be there when my community's recreation centre redevelopment is finished? Only time will tell.

If the government want to be fair dinkum, they will not just turn up to cut ribbons and get their photo taken; they will also turn up and help communities in need, communities such as those of the member for Newcastle, the member for Throsby and my own. I call on the Abbott government to reinstate round 5 funding. I commend this motion to the House.

Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I must admit that I am a little perplexed by today's motion, moved by the member for Throsby. When I first read the motion it looked like—to use cricket parlance—a full toss on leg stump. The sheer audacity of this motion is, in effect, the member for Throsby demanding to know why the coalition is unable to meet the former government's last-minute pork-barrelling through round 5 of the RDAF, in addition to our own election commitments.

Let me be clear to the member for Throsby: the funds for round 5 RDAF projects were doled out by a desperate and profligate government which knew it would never have to fund the projects itself. What is also perplexing about this motion is that oppositions normally try to hold a government to account by demanding that they keep their own election commitments. But here we have the member for Throsby questioning why we are not meeting the Labor Party's irresponsible election promises on the eve of the last election.

In my own electorate of Deakin, all of the RDAF projects were announced on the eve of the election and they were, categorically, election commitments. One heartbreaking example for me as a local member is the Croydon Mens Shed, whose members were cruelly misled by Labor. Instead of doing the honourable thing and making clear that these funds were election promises contingent on the Labor Party's re-election, the former Labor member dishonestly presented these funds—to use the term provided to me by the Croydon Mens Shed—as 'signed, sealed and delivered'. But the truth is that not a single funding contract was signed prior to the election. Moreover, in the case of the Croydon Mens Shed, the group did not even know that the funding was coming before it was announced. They had not specifically sought it. During the desperate and rushed process, on the eve of the last election, the Croydon Mens Shed received a telephone call out of the blue asking for a photo opportunity and a press release. Labor undertook no due diligence on the project. After the event we now know that the project is worthy. But no due diligence was undertaken by the Labor Party and that is a hallmark of how they treated taxpayers' money for the six years that they were in government. We know that the Labor Party are good at putting out press releases and generating great photo opportunities, just like they did with the Croydon Mens Shed. But they just do not have any ability to manage a budget or to spend taxpayers' dollars in a prudent way.

I suggest that if the Labor Party want us to take their RDAF election promise seriously, they should start by doing so themselves. But we know they could not contractually commit to these projects because no money was allocated to the projects. So of course they could not enter into the contracts. These round 5 projects were yet more expenditure commitments tied to the income supposedly being raised by the mining tax. Labor were unable to deliver on these projects because they depended on mining tax revenue that just was not there. And we all know that the expenditure commitments tied to the mining tax far exceed any projected income.

In contrast, the coalition government takes its commitment to regional Australia seriously, and that is why we are taking real action and introducing the National Stronger Regions Fund. Two hundred million dollars per year has been allocated to this fund over the next five years. Not only is this fund within our fiscal means but the government is committed to working with local communities to ensure this funding is delivered to the areas that need it most—not phone calls out of the blue requesting photo opportunities, Member for Throsby, but undertaking proper due diligence with taxpayers' money. Furthermore, proposals for worthy RDAF round 5 projects like the Croydon Mens Shed may be resubmitted under the NSRF scheme, with the scheme's guidelines to be released shortly.

On September 7, the Australian people elected a government that says what it means and means what it says. They also elected a government that knows how to manage its finances. I am therefore proud to be part of a government which continues to make prudent decisions in order to meet our financial obligations and a government that has made substantial commitments to regional Australia. We look forward to honouring these commitments. Time expired

Debate adjourned.