Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to lament the government's culling of the Building Better Regions Fund. True to form, Labor, at its first opportunity, has slashed this visionary program, round 6 of which would have benefited regional and remote Australia and my electorate of O'Connor. The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government claims the program was pork barrelling. Minister, tell that to the communities across O'Connor that have benefited from the many, many projects funded under the previous five rounds.

My electorate has the most local government areas in any electorate in Australia. As minister for local government, Minister King should ask those 57 LGAs what they think of her decision. Feedback that I've received is they feel the minister's move is reprehensible. More than 20 LGAs and community groups in O'Connor prepared applications for round 6 of the fund. They all committed precious resources to the application process, which closed on 8 December 2021. In the country town of Corrigin, Juanita McGregor formed a group called 1922 & You and spent 50 hours on an application to help restore a century-old community hall to create a youth mental health space. Ms McGregor's work and that of the committee she works with is now in vain, and the time-ravaged building is not getting any younger.

I will now work with O'Connor communities to seek alternative funding for their very worthwhile projects. I will resist any move by Minister King to reclassify Labor seats near capital cities as 'regional', in whatever her pale version of 'regional development' might end up being.