Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, September 26 Labor will be holding our Country Labor Forum in Casino. The fact is rural and regional Australia have been abandoned by the Abbott government. But Labor's country forum will bring members from across the regions to talk about the policies and plans we need.

The Abbott government policies continue to hurt rural Australia. You know what? In the regions, we blame the National Party for this betrayal. We blame the Nationals for the cuts to hospitals. We have seen them cut $50 billion cut from hospitals. We also blame the Nationals for cuts to education. We have seen $30 billion cut from schools, and we condemn this government's unfair plans for $100,000 university degrees. We also blame the Nationals for funding cuts to local councils and unfair cuts to regional development.

This government has no plans or understanding as to how to address the challenges facing regional Australia, particularly the very high unemployment levels. All this government has is a line-up of weak and shallow National Party members who sell out the country every chance they get. The fact is the Nationals do not tell the truth and they cannot be trusted at all.

Labor knows that investing in regional Australia is critically important for local communities, not just for the facilities that will be provided but also for the creation of local jobs and economic activity, because the fact is Labor will always back regional and rural Australia, unlike the National Party, who sell out country Australia every single opportunity they get.