Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I present a copy of my ministerial statement.

In 1835, the settlement of Melbourne started. In 1851, it had 23,000 people. Then came a mineral inspired growth: the gold rush. Within five years, Melbourne had tripled in size. Gold drove the whole Victorian economy. Today, gold would be a but a fraction of a per cent of the gross domestic product of the Victorian economy. But things have to start somewhere and they start by the primary inspiration of wealth, in this case from mining. In 1972, Emerald had a population of around 2,000 people. Then they built Fairbairn Dam of around 1.3 million megalitres. Emerald now has a population of about 16,000 people.

Minerals and farming, with the appropriate infrastructure, bring growth on the coast and away from the coast. And as we see with the mining town of Melbourne, because that's where its wealth initially came from, the Australian economy is a massive economic benefactor from minerals and farming in regional areas. Eight out of 10 of our largest exports come from regional Australia. Today, there is another major mining town that absorbed nearly 500,000 people, the population of Tasmania or the Gold Coast, from around 2008 just because of mining. That town is called Perth.

The Prime Minister says we must talk of the why and the how. Well, the why is quite clear: turn on your television tonight and you will see the why in the turmoils of Europe. You will see why when you see the photos of Prime Minister Sogavare of the Solomon Islands with Xi Jinping from China, negotiating a new naval port 2,000 kilometres from Australia. Look beside you on the couch, at your children and your grandchildren, and you will see the why. The budget is about the how.

To make our nation as strong as possible as quickly as possible, we have invested an extra $7.1 billion extra in four targeted regions over the next 11 years through our new Energy Security and Regional Development Plan, and then billions more as a massive investment but merely a small seed to create a multiplier effect on the growth of our nation. If we didn't have the benefits of the regions, Sydney would be a silent city of minimal opportunity. Investments in infrastructure, low emissions technology and energy production, resources extraction and processing, and water infrastructure will open up new frontiers in agriculture, mining, industry and hydroelectric power.

We will focus on four key regions: the Northern Territory, North and Central Queensland, the Pilbara region in Western Australia, and the Hunter region in New South Wales. We also have multiple billions to invest elsewhere, but these are the areas we have picked to inspire the growth for the task of creating a stronger nation as quickly as possible. We don't have the money to try and trigger every geographic section of our nation at once, so we have to make the strong decision to pick a few. Turbocharging these regional economies will enable people to get the job they want in a career they want that allows them to live with their families in the area where they make their money.

Through the ports of Dampier, near the town of Karratha, we are building on the $34 billion worth of private investment by Woodside in gas and the mining wealth from iron ore and tourism, to grow that area by investing in such things as port infrastructure. If the money is made from the port, make the port bigger. Likewise, we are investing in Port Hedland, which by tonnage is the biggest export port in the world. When Port Hedland shuts down, our Australian dollar goes down. Port Hedland, though, has a population of merely 15,000. We need areas such as this to become the Gladstones and the Newcastles of our north-west.

The resources minister, Keith Pitt, has been pushing hard for strategic investment and policy so that these towns grow in economic breadth and depth. They need to be sustainable in the peaks and troughs which inevitably happen in a mining industry and give us the opportunity to build our Gladstones and our Newcastles in our north-west.

If the Pilbara has developed the potential, the Northern Territory has the undeveloped potential, and we must have a vision backed by the investment to develop it. This wealth must also make it to port.

We must invest in the mechanism to get this wealth onto the boat and into a market. We must seal the roads through the desert, through the Tanami, and we are going to do that. We must have a vision and we must have the strength to deliver it. We must make sure that we have the government with the strength to deliver it.

We're expanding the rail between Alice Springs and Darwin. We will build new industrial precincts in Alice Springs and Katherine and Tennant Creek, and we have a massive investment in Middle Arm, near Darwin. We're investing in ports and investing in roads, such as the Outback Way, the third sealed road across our nation. The Outback Way is a sealed road from Townsville to Perth through the centre of Australia, cutting more than 1,000 kilometres off an alternate route, a road that goes through the critical minerals precinct that will have access to Middle Arm in Darwin and Mt Isa in Queensland. These are areas where processing can occur in order to reduce our reliance on processing that is done overseas, predominantly in China, and grow towns in the very centre of our nation, providing critical minerals for everything from your iPhone to submarines to batteries to our Defence Force.

The Assistant Minister for Regional Tourism, Michelle Landry, has often conveyed to me the importance of the Northern Territory through the lens of tourism and the opportunities it presents. By building just one road, we have doubled the sealed roads that intersect Alice Springs. That gives us a sense of what further is to be done. On the Burdekin, if a Labor government can be believed and have the capacity to stand up to the Greens, we've allowed for them to build one of the biggest dams in Australia. All they have to do is say the word 'yes' and Hells Gates Dam will commence, as requested by the city of Townsville.

Sydney Harbour is 435,000 megalitres. This dam will hold 2.1 million megalitres. As pointed out to me so often by the Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia, David Littleproud, it will provide 60,000 new hectares, or 150,000 acres, of new irrigation, allowing billions of dollars of new agricultural produce to go towards his goal of making us hit $100 billion in our agricultural industry. It will easily pay for itself in the lifetime of the people in this parliament and then continue producing wealth long after we have all gone. But not only does it produce agricultural wealth; it also underpins reliable renewable power through hydroelectricity. It underpins industry and its requirements for water, such as would be the case if we wished to produce hydrogen, as well as domestic requirements.

Hells Gates Dam will make marginal mineral precincts viable. And this is merely one dam. We've also put money on the table so that the state Labor government doesn't have to put their hand in their pocket to build Urannah Dam, to build another agricultural precinct, and once more we will wait and see whether a Labor government is as good as the rhetoric that it rolls out before elections. Can they really stand up to the Greens? Do they really have the capacity and the vision to build away from Brisbane? These two dams that I have mentioned were part of their state election platform. In fact, Hells Gates was touted as critical state infrastructure. So, we test their mettle to see whether their blood is red or green.

Then there are Paradise Dam, Emu Swamp, Rookwood Weir, Dungowan Dam, Scottsdale Irrigation District in Tasmania and refurbishment of the capital works in the Murray-Darling Basin. Tasmania has shown clearly what a state government can do when it wants to get to work with the federal government. They have been a great success in developing their water infrastructure. But billions upon billions upon billions of dollars invested in, or in the pipeline for, water infrastructure is there before we even get to rail or road. And there is more to come, because water is wealth, and a dam is a bank.

But this infrastructure can't be built unless you have governments that are tough enough to understand the circumstances of our current time, governments that are tough enough to understand that circumstances have changed and that priorities must change with them, governments that are tough enough to select winners, governments that don't just read history but learn from it after watching the television at night and what is exactly going on right now, governments that go beyond the rhetoric of just saying that they will create a strong nation to actually investing in it, putting into the budget how they will create it.

Historically, rail has been a massive driver of investment. Many believe that Texas was developed by oil, but rail connecting it to the Pacific was instrumental in building the wealth of an area that now has a bigger economy than Australia's. Rail, by its very nature, attracts industry and grows our nation. Former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer was ridiculed when he drove the construction of the Alice Springs to Darwin railway line; the viability of the business case was apparently atrocious. Now the problem is that it is too small and needs to be upgraded. This will be undertaken by our government.

Pertinent infrastructure grows into its business case, as can be seen with this rail line. The expansion that we will bring about for this rail line will build industrial parks in Alice Springs, Katherine, Tennant Creek. It will assist in the defence of our country and the decentralisation of our nation. The Inland Rail that we are building is the largest investment project currently underway in Australia. This will more than double the size of parks in Narrabri and will grow Toowoomba. Running through places like Euroa, Wangaratta, Glenrowan, Seymour and Benalla, Inland Rail will build on the wealth of that former mining town, Melbourne. It will grow Brisbane, and my intention is to continue to build it to Gladstone.

I'm well supported in my intentions by my assistant minister, Kevin Hogan. The cynics said that we would never get the money for the Inland Rail, because it had been talked about for so long. I know that in my discussions with the infrastructure minister at the time, the federal member for Grayndler, Anthony Albanese, in the first iteration of the Rudd government, he told me that this rail just did not stack up and would not stack up for at least 18 years. Well, we got the first substantial tranche of money for the Inland Rail in 2016.

This rail line couldn't wait for a Labor government that revels in bureaucracy and the inertia and subservience to the Greens at the expense of our future—1,716 kilometres from Melbourne through Brisbane, and then a further 660 kilometres from Toowoomba to Gladstone. From an environmental perspective, Inland Rail will take 200,000 trucks a year off the road by using double-stacked trains up to 3.6 kilometres long, travelling at speeds of up to 115 kilometres per hour. Gladstone has a further role to play in how we build on this great industrial city's capacity to underpin our nation's wealth with the rail line going to Gladstone.

On top of coal and gas, we also have a requirement for our nation to give us sovereignty in fertiliser, which is yet another issue that is so evidently brought to me by David Littleproud. Working with Australians who produce fertiliser, whether they are in Queensland or Victoria, will assess the role that Gladstone will have in the further production of this. Taking our inevitable peaks and troughs of the mining and levelling it out with greater investments in the requirements for agriculture.

Bundaberg also needs assistance in agriculture with exports of sugar, and that's precisely what we intend to do. We will be investing in excess of $7 million to upgrade their port as well. Nola Marino, in her capacity as assistant minister for regional development, is driving better outcomes in this region through regional development deals, growing the economy, creating jobs and making sure that Central Queensland is stronger.

Whether it's sealing the road from Alice Springs to Halls Creek through the desert, through the Tanami, or building the railway lines to invigorate the growth of regional Australia, this government has a plan, a plan that will drive the development of our regions for decades to come, which will drive the wealth and prosperity and defence of our nation. This government understands regional Australia. We are the coalition for regional Australia. The Labor Party and the Greens don't get the regions. They never have; they never will. They sneer at us when we select a chairman of Infrastructure Australia, who they say is merely a mayor of a regional city, not from the right sandstone university.

In my own electorate, Dungowan Dam underpins 7,000 new jobs that will go to the industrial estate of the Global Gateway Park. It also assists in the fundamental standard of living for people who have to deal with almost continual rolling water restrictions. People in Tamworth have as much right to water their lawn as someone in Turramurra. Water security is essential, yet again the Labor Party sneers that a regional city should have the same economic aspirations as a capital for that purpose.

Our vision for Tamworth is to make it the largest processor of animal protein in Australia. You have to have a vision, you have to aim for it, you have to put the mechanisms in place to achieve it, and you have to have a government that will back you to do it.

The great state of Victoria is noted for its manufacturing. The $2 billion Regional Accelerator Program, driven by the minister for regionalisation and Victorian Senator, Bridget McKenzie, will be a force for its manufacturing growth, for its further capacity, for its further delivery to our nation.

In Shepparton, they make food, milk and fabricated metal products. We've seen the investment that this nation has made in Shepparton, and we look forward to further. We want to make sure that we are not so reliant on others. COVID has unfortunately shown us in bright colours our vulnerabilities when put under stress.

We are making sure we turn the Strzelecki Track into the Strzelecki Road in South Australia. We are building South Australia's connectivity to the rest of our nation. We are enhancing South Australia's connectivity within its own borders, and strengthening it with new massive investments in the uranium industry.

In New South Wales, we are nearing completion of the duplication of the Pacific Highway. The Coffs Harbour bypass will remove 12 sets of traffic lights, taking tourists into town and moving heavy transport out of town. Our $1.68 billion investment to extend the M1 Pacific Motorway to Raymond Terrace, south of Coffs Harbour, is one of the biggest infrastructure projects the Hunter region has ever seen, and now is backed up with our massive investment—front page of the Newcastle Heraldas we build this region. It will support growth right across the Hunter and Newcastle regions, boosting productivity, built on a strong, integrated transport network. We are driving this massive piece of nation-building infrastructure through to completion.

That you could leave Melbourne and drive through to north of Gympie, without one traffic light, is a vision that was inspired by former Nationals leaders like Warren Truss and Michael McCormack. People are moving to regional Australia. This is happening and thank goodness they are, because for the size of our nation we are so terribly overcentralised. For example, Central West New South Wales is critical to the wealth and prosperity of our nation and people are moving to places like Mudgee and Lithgow. We want to see places like this thriving, and this government will back growth in these regions through direct participation and inclusion in our Energy Security and Regional Development Plan.

We have shown in the past that we have the capacity to build new cities. We are in one right now. Canberra was once a couple of sheep properties in a valley on the Molonglo River. And now there are about 435,000 people who live here, so we have proved we can do it. I appeal to state governments and to people on both sides of this chamber to grasp this vision, not for any individual within this chamber, but for the sake of the nation as a whole. We have no time to waste. I repeat that: we have no time to waste. In circumstances that have become so apparent so recently, we must make sure that we show the Australian people that we respect their security by building a stronger nation.

To build a great city like this, it is essential to have the transport infrastructure but you must also have the social infrastructure. Health is paramount. Parents are very hesitant to go anywhere where they or their child can't get treated quickly. This budget allocates $66 million to improve access to critical and life-saving MRI machines in regional areas. This will lower the costs and reduce the need to travel for these imperative, life-saving scans. This is expected to benefit 40,000 regional, rural and remote patients every year, thanks to the dedication of Minister for Regional Health, Dr David Gillespie.

Health care is a major priority for people in regional areas and this budget provides $296.5 million to improve access to doctors, mental health professionals and critical medical equipment outside the cities. This support will assist in better managing the supply of our medical school graduates, and expand the footprint of health professionals in regional Australia.

In this budget, the government is providing nearly $1.3 billion to improve access to mobile and internet communications in regional areas. Our ambitions include providing 8,000 kilometres of new mobile coverage areas for major transport routes and nearby homes and businesses, as well as improving internet speeds for NBN customers. Once more we see the link between the national imperative and the social benefit. This means more regional Australians can benefit from the social and economic opportunities that come with improved digital connectivity. For banking, for checking prices, for immediate communications with finance, with health, with education. For talking to your friends and calling your family. For safety if you're stuck on the side of a road.

Regional education is a huge priority in this budget, with an additional $320 million dedicated for education facilities from child care to universities in regional Australia.

In 1851, this nation started building Melbourne, south of which is the great island state of Tasmania where massive investments have happened in roads, health and other issues such as the Antarctic division. Why did we do this? Because above even the resources and the gold, if we wanted to survive as a nation, we had to build Melbourne. Now we must do it again. We must take the next step. Having 4,000 kilometres between Perth and Darwin without a city of over 100,000 people is untenable for the security and prosperity of this nation. Decentralisation to where the wealth is, not merely to where the wealth is spent.

This government has a vision that will take us forward into the coming decades. It will take us forward stronger, more resilient and more secure. We are committing an additional $21 billion to turbocharge our regions in this budget. This budget and the role of regional Australia means that you can have confidence, as you cast your eye beside you to your family sitting on the couch, that we understand the circumstances now so apparent not only in the world but in our region. We are doing everything within our powers to become as strong as possible as quickly as possible.

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) | Link to this | Hansard source

E KING () (): I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for the ministerial statement. Normally these ministerial statements don't contain a lot of politics, but I recognise we're on the eve of an election so there might be some observations I'd like to make.

If you want to see the difference in the diversity of our regions and what their representation is, just look at how few women there are representing regional Australia on that side of the House, compared to this side of the House. The diversity of our regions—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes. I said there were two. The diversity of our regions is well and truly on display. It isn't just blokes that live in our regions, and it isn't just National Party blokes who live in our regions either. There are people who vote right the way across the spectrum, and, as the Deputy Prime Minister pointed out, each region is different. They each have their own needs, their own opportunities, their own strengths, their own targeted investments and their own economic history. Mine is a gold town and it is a small- to medium-manufacturing town. All of those things are important.

The Deputy Prime Minister also wanted to talk a bit about Labor and the Greens. Well, Deputy Prime Minister, the only people I see trying to inject a bit of green into their blue are the members in the Liberal Party over there who are trying to pretend that they are teal. That is what we've seen. They're the only people I see, in the coalition, who are trying to inject a bit of green into their actual policies.

We know what we stand for; we absolutely know what we stand for. Those people over there simply do not represent modern regional Australia anymore. I remind people that this government has been in power for almost a decade. They didn't just win three years ago, though each term they seem to think they're somehow new. I guess having a different prime minister each time does that to you. But they've now been in power for a decade. Think about the changes you've seen in your own families and your own communities just in the last 10 years. But over that decade those people, who purport to represent regional Australia, have wasted opportunities and have squandered their time in government. This week we've seen those problems writ large.

I always welcome investment in regional Australia—I welcome targeted support and I absolutely want to see investment in regional Australia. But what we saw in the budget and what we saw in the statement tonight was a budget that was focused on an election that we are having, literally, within the next 50 days. It's not a budget that is actually focused on the future, let alone the future of regional Australia. It wasn't a budget that makes up for almost a decade of attacks on wages. It doesn't make up for a decade of attacks on job security, including in our regions, or the attacks and cuts to Medicare, though jobs and Medicare have been fundamental to making sure that regional Australians are actually able to live well within our communities. It wasn't a budget that made up for the attacks on the National Broadband Network and the complete decimation of the plan that actually would have seen first-class broadband in our regions or the attacks on regional government services. The amount of Public Service jobs that have been sucked out of the regions under this decade-old government has been phenomenal. These were people with good paying jobs living in the regions delivering services for regional Australians. But they were cut and have been cut in the past decade.

In the statement we just heard from the Deputy Prime Minister we heard a very limited view of regional Australia. Of course, as I said, Labor supports investment in our regions. We always have and we always will. But an announcement for four regions isn't a plan for regional Australia. A plan for four regions is not a plan for regional Australia. If you want to know the real purpose of these announcements, take a look at the timing. We've had a government in power for nearly a decade, but it took, literally, this last day of parliament sitting for this government to recognise that there is a need to do something about regional economic activity and to look at diversity in our regions, particularly those that have a very narrow economic base.

The regions that have been found to be deserving of assistance happen to include, coincidentally, the seats of Flynn, Leichhardt, Hunter and Lingiari. The government claims that these four regions have been chosen because they need energy security. Well, if that's true, minister at the table, then why have you not included the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, if this is about energy security for regions? These are two seats that the National Party holds.

In Senate estimates today the minister for regionalisation said that they selected these four regions because they were the only regions in need of opportunity. Now, I think those four regions are in need of investment. But, frankly, if the government is saying the rest of regional Australia has neither need nor opportunity, then they have a long way to go. They've picked winners and losers by looking at an electoral map. That's what you've done. This is an announcement for an election but not a plan to develop this nation, and it is definitely not a plan for regional Australia.

This is a government that has always been very big on announcement and very, very small on actual delivery. I want to talk a little bit about inland rail, for example. A fact that the government likes to forget—and the minister did it again in his statement here—is that it was the last Labor government that invested almost $1 billion to kickstart inland rail, to start the project with that investment and progress it to the construction stage. That's what a Labor government actually did. We did see the potential of inland rail, and we invested in it. Another fact the government fails to mention is how it has comprehensively mismanaged this project. They've been in office for almost a decade. I'll just remind you of that: for almost 10 years this government has been in office. And this project is 1,700 kilometres. How many kilometres of rail, out of inland rail, do you think this government has managed to construct in a decade? It's 133 kilometres. That is 15 kilometres a year—the National Party's great nation-building infrastructure project, and in a decade they have built 15 kilometres a year.

At the same time as they've built 15 kilometres of inland rail a year, and have still not worked out how they're going to get it to the ports of Brisbane or Melbourne—it truly been inland rail—now that we've supported the business case for Gladstone they have managed to have a cost blowout from $4.4 billion, for the 15 kilometres a year that they've built, to $9.3 billion and now to a whopping $14.5 billion. And they try to lecture us that they're the best economic managers in the country! You have got to be kidding me.

Despite this multibillion-dollar blowout, the government still does not know where the route will start, where it will end or how it will interact with existing stations along the route. Thankfully they've followed at least the recommendations of the Senate inquiry into inland rail that we set up and the recommendation from Labor's candidate for Flynn, Matt Burnett, who's been a strong advocate for Gladstone, to develop a business case to extend the line there, and Labor looks forward to seeing the results of that business case.

Moving past the government's record of mismanagement on major projects and the huge impact that this issue has on the regions, it is hard to go past the complete failure in relation to disaster management. It is a major issue affecting regional people across the country. It is the job of the opposition to hold the government to account and to point out absolute incompetence when it is affecting regional Australians, well and truly, and this issue is one of those that needs to be pointed out. My heart goes out to the people of Lismore, whom I visited just two weeks ago, in particular. But there are lots of communities facing floods across our community today. The truth is that we know we are going to be facing more and more disasters like this, and we have to be prepared for that.

It is simply an absolute indictment on this government that it took an imminent election for them to unlock their failed $4.8 billion Emergency Response Fund. Again, a decade in office, yet somehow it is: 'Now, on an eve of an election, let's try and do something about disaster resilience.' Too little, too late, as always. This fund did nothing but earn interest for three years. It could have built levies, bushfire evacuation centres, cyclone shelters or drainage improvements across regional communities. It's done none of that. It didn't spend a cent for three years. Instead, it earned the government $830 million in interest. Fine. Let's go and get that money out into the community. This government's inaction has simply contributed to building a better budget bottom line, and it's shameful. Tragically, it is Australians in regional areas, largely, that have borne the brunt of this inaction.

An Albanese Labor government will stop treating emergency funds like they are a cash cow or a term deposit and will instead revamp the failed Emergency Response Fund to create a new Disaster Ready Fund, which will substantially improve disaster readiness in our regions, with up to $200 million per year to be invested on disaster readiness to protect lives and livelihoods. Labor's fund will actually build the flood levies, bushfire evacuation centres, drainage systems and cyclone shelters needed to keep Australian safe, keep their properties safe, and reduce the massive costs of repairs when disasters hit. We will continue to find full disaster recovery through the usual budget arrangements, but our Disaster Ready Fund will provide a permanent, dedicated fund for disaster readiness across the country. Regional Australians shouldn't have to wait for an election before a government decides to keep them safe, but, sadly, under those opposite, we've had to wait for an election for them to do anything.

Driving the increasing severity of weather events is of course climate change. The government may not get it, but climate change is changing our regions and the way in which we live in them. Climate change affects regional Australia more than anywhere else in this country. If you don't believe me, just ask the people in the Northern Rivers, the South Coast, or tourist communities on the reef. Ask the National Farmers Federation, Meat & Livestock Australia, GrainGrowers Australia, or the range of other regional Australian organisations that support net zero by 2050. Why? Because they, like most regional Australians, know that it is in their long-term economic interest to do so.

Instead of representing the interests of regional Australia, instead of acting to secure our social, economic and environmental futures across all the regions, the partisan way that the National Party play politics is, frankly, getting in the way. The Deputy Prime Minister and his deeply divided party room have held our nation hostage, extracting promises of funds for their hand-picked regions in exchange for a fig leaf of climate change action. That's what they've done. They didn't bargain for a better deal for Corangamite; they didn't bargain for a better deal for Eden-Monaro; they didn't bargain for a better deal for investing in Ballarat, Bendigo, Tasmania, Geelong or Gilmore; they are not interested in Wannon or Gippsland, Grey or La Trobe. How weak is the Prime Minister to have actually let this happen? And how out of touch are the Nationals to not realise that acting on climate change could actually be a jobs boon in the regions? This is a decade late. They are a decade late to action on climate change, and any action they are taking is too small.

Labor's Powering Australia Plan will create jobs, cut power bills and reduce emissions by boosting renewable energy. That's what it will do. This policy will put the federal government in step with the business community, agricultural sector and state governments when it comes to investing in renewables. This plan, as shown in the independent modelling Labor commissioned, will create 604,000 new jobs and, more importantly, five out of six of those renewable energy jobs will be in regional Australia. They will be good, secure jobs for Australian workers—the kind of jobs you can raise a family on. At the same time, our plan will spur $76 billion of investment. It will cut power bills for families and businesses by $275 a year for homes by 2025, compared to today. Our plan will prioritise growth and investment for the regions that have served as Australia's engine room for so long. Energy, manufacturing and resources.

Under a Labor government these regions will continue to power Australia and provide a stream of exports into the future. They are secure jobs for regional Australians for generations to come, and secure jobs are pretty important. That is why so many of Labor's policies boil down to securing Australian jobs and a better future for all Australians.

We want to use the power of government to buy Australian. We want to use the power of government to make more things here in this country, particularly in our regions. With our national reconstruction plan, we will value-add in resources, expand mining sciences, process more raw materials here and unlock the potential of the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors. We'll provide free TAFE places in areas of skill shortages to regrow decimated sectors that are so important in our regional communities. You don't have to go very far in our regional communities to know how the skills crisis is impacting everywhere, from the resources sector to tourism to hospitality to retail. Every single element of our regional economies is being affected because this government has failed to train enough Australians to actually make us self-sufficient in this country. That is what you have done; that is the legacy of a decade of inaction on this issue.

Labor will upgrade the National Broadband Network, ending the drag that slow internet has had on our economies and allowing more people to relocate or set up a business in the regions. With our housing plan, our housing Australia fund and the Regional First Home Buyer Support Scheme, we will enable more young people and low-income people to buy in the regions, to stay in the regions and to raise their families in the communities that they love. We will strengthen and support Medicare and aged care, in particular, providing the services that people need in the regional communities that they call home.

We will substantially improve NDIS services throughout regional communities. Our communities deserve that. We know there are good, paying jobs in this sector in particular, but you shouldn't have to be living in a capital city to be able to access the services you need on the NDIS. The government had absolutely nothing to say last night about improving and expanding the services for regional people with a disability, who might, when they actually get access to an NDIS plan that meets their needs, not be able to use their plan because there isn't anyone to deliver those services in regional communities. We will resolve that problem. We will invest in each regional community based on the merits of the projects that are brought forward, not on some colour-coded spreadsheet, which is the only way the government seems able to make decisions.

An Albanese Labor government understands that each region has its own needs, its own opportunities, its own complex economies and its own challenges. We want to work with local government, in particular, with regional bodies—the Deputy Prime Minister couldn't even mention Regional Development Australia; the government has completely sidelined that as an economic development body in its own regional policies—with business groups in regional areas to identify the opportunities for investment and to invest in them, whether that be in manufacturing, in mining, in food production or in tourism. We won't impose a one-size-fits-all solution and we certainly won't be going around trying to pick winners, leaving communities behind. Everybody who lives in regional Australia should have the same opportunities. It shouldn't be that we leave regional Australians behind if they don't live in a National Party seat, which is what this Deputy Prime Minister basically just said he was planning to do.

We won't focus purely on the announcement and neglect the delivery, and we will prioritise the part that actually matters—that is, building things—not just getting a headline in a newspaper or trying to get some glossy brochure out, which is what this government has done for a decade. We will actually deliver the programs, as we did when we were last in government. We will actually increase the amount of investment in rail—in particular, in freight rail and across regional communities. We will increase the investment in roads, as we did in government, right across the country but particularly in regional Australia, making sure we have a national freight and supply strategy that actually works for the country and works for of our port system and that is not just a disconnected set of National Party announcements.

An Albanese government wants to govern for all the regions, whether they are held by the National Party, the Liberal Party, by independents or members of the Labor Party. We recognise the diversity of our regions, we recognise the economic powerhouse of our regions and we want to govern for all Australians and make sure that nobody is left behind.