Trish Cook (Bullwinkel, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about a fundamental shift in how the government serves the people who live outside of our major cities. I represent the electorate of Bullwinkel, which of course has a peri-urban section and also a rural section. For nearly a decade, regional Australians watched a coalition government treat regional investment like a game of political pork-barrelling. They would drop a chunk of money into a selective seat, issue a breathless press release and call it a day. The tragedy is that so many of those promised projects were never actually delivered. They left behind a mess of unfulfilled promises and neglected infrastructure.

The Albanese Labor government are doing things differently. We don't just build a single road or hand out a single grant and walk away. We believe in systemic, lasting progress. We are delivering across every single program and across every single portfolio to ensure that regional Australians are structurally considered in everything that we do. Our guiding principle is simple: no-one held back and no-one left behind.

Nowhere is this holistic approach more critical than in regional health care. We have committed to the largest investment in the history of Medicare to ensure quality, affordable care is a right and not a privilege, and is not dictated by your postcode. We have expanded bulk-billing incentives, and the results speak for themselves. Before our reforms, only about 2,000 general practices nationwide fully bulk-billed patients. Today that number has grown by 1,300 practices, and it increases every single day. By 2030, nine out of 10 GP visits will be bulk-billed.

Furthermore, our Medicare urgent care clinics have been an absolute game changer. All 137 clinics have been opened across the country, and 47 of them are located right in regional, rural and remote areas, and they are providing free top-tier care to families where they need it the most. I'm also very proud to have opened a Medicare urgent care clinic in my own electorate of Bullwinkel, in the Shire of Mundaring and in the suburb of Mundaring. That has now seen well over 3,000 patients since opening only three months ago. Located near the Great Eastern Highway, it services a lot of the peri-urban and regional suburbs where they need it. We know that attracting healthcare professionals like myself to the regions is a long-term challenge, and that is why we're investing more than $600 million to grow the regional workforce, training a record number of GPs and waiving HECS debt for doctors and nurses who commit five years to working in our regional communities.

Our support doesn't stop at health. We are tackling the housing supply crisis head on. In the 2026-27 budget, I'm proud to highlight our new $2 billion Local Infrastructure Fund under the Housing Support Program. This includes $500 million specifically dedicated to local enabling infrastructure in regional Australia. This is real, practical support to unlock regional housing supply. We are backing this up with significant infrastructure investments: $7.2 billion for the Bruce Highway, $2.8 billion for the ARTC freight rail projects and a doubling of Roads to Recovery funding to $4.4 billion, with 85 per cent of that funding going directly to our regions.

In my own electorate of Bullwinkel, I was incredibly proud to announce an election commitment to deliver an early childhood education centre in the Shire of Mundaring. For-profit providers often ignore regional areas, but our government is stepping up with capital grants to build not-for-profit centres where they are desperately needed, giving regional kids the best possible start to life.

We know that regional families are feeling the squeeze of the cost of living. This is why our cost-of-living relief is broad and impactful. We have delivered tax cuts for every single worker, every single taxpayer, with another round of relief hitting our pockets in July. We've supported a wage rise for minimum and award wage workers. We've delivered a 20 per cent cut to student debt, helping young people in particular. We've capped all PBS medicines at $25 a script or less. We've also provided a 30 per cent discount on home batteries, to permanently drive down power bills.

For our regional industries and older Australians, we are delivering. We have unlocked a landmark $10 billion fuel security and resilience package to safeguard our energy and fertiliser supply sovereignty, and we're investing an additional $3.7 billion in aged care, supporting the 500,000 older Australians in rural and remote areas with better facilities, including more home-care packages and reduced waiting times.

Productivity and prosperity rely on working smarter. We've invested in regional fee-free TAFE, establishing 56 regional study hubs, including the one at Northam, which I was proud to open with Minister Jason Clare. We're also upgrading digital connectivity through our $1.1 billion Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia, and we're investing heavily in health, housing and education. We're securing the future of regions.

The Albanese Labor government isn't interested in cheap press releases. We are interested in long-lasting real delivery. We are cleaning up the mess of the past—when the regions were forgotten—and building a stronger, fairer regional Australia for tomorrow.

I'd like to add that I have invited ministers to the rural section of my electorate of Bullwinkel, and at least 16 ministers have come out to the region to see it for themselves, including Minister McBain; Senator Don Farrell, to talk to Northam people about trade; Minister Jason Clare, who, as I said, opened the Northam Study Hub together with the York Study Hub; Minister for Agriculture Julie Collins, to see and talk to the grain growers and the farmers in that area about the fuel crisis and the fertiliser issue; Ged Kearney, to look at social services and women's health and refuges; Patrick Gorman, to look at Services Australia; and Jenny McAllister, to talk about the regional aspect of the NDIS program and their outreach program. The Albanese Labor government are getting out and about into regional areas and delivering. I commend these achievements to the House.

Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about the Regional Ministerial Budget Statement 2026-27. We are seeing a great divide in this country between metropolitan Australia and regional Australia, and no greater is that gap between regional South Australians and metropolitan South Australians than in health care, particularly healthcare outcomes. We're all familiar with the Indigenous healthcare gap and the 14 metrics that this government has set, the majority of which are actually going backwards. But we're seeing a significant growing gap in regional health care. Whether that is access to GPs, access to surgeries, even access to things like pharmacies, we are getting left behind under the Albanese Labor government. Only last week, the birthing services in both Jamestown and Crystal Brook stopped; they are being diverted to Port Pirie. At the same time, we saw a state Labor minister say that your postcode shouldn't determine your healthcare outcomes. Well, that flies in the face of what we're seeing in South Australia right now. We had birthing services close in Kapunda only two months ago, and now we understand that it's permanently closed.

As I said yesterday in the House, I'm calling on Mark Butler and the state health minister to address these issues we see in regional South Australia immediately. It is completely unacceptable that if you grow up in and live in the regions, you have worse healthcare outcomes. You do not live as long if you grow up in regional South Australia today as compared to our city cousins.

Child care is an enormous handbrake on the economic growth in our regions. The electorate of Grey has the lowest access to child care in the entire country. One-third of families in Grey do not have access to child care. As I said before, we have a shortage of nurses in the electorate of Grey. Well, there are plenty of nurses that can't get into the workforce because they can't get their kids into child care. The Albanese Labor government talks about universal child care. Well, it's certainly not the case in my region. The problem is that the economic model of our childcare system is based on fees per kids in a centre. A childcare centre cannot be profitable unless you have a minimum of 60 kids in your centre. Well, in my electorate, we have a lot of towns with between 100 and 500 people. In those towns the childcare model simply does not work. That is why the electorate of Grey has the lowest access to child care in the nation. It's simply not good enough. The one-size-fits-all approach to child care does not work in small communities. We have a universal education system in this country, and I'm proud of that. When a community gets smaller, even if there are eight kids left in that community, we still seem to keep the school open, but it does not apply to our healthcare system. It's not good enough.

I condemn Labor's 2026 budget. For regional South Australians, this is the budget of broken promises. Regional Australians face at least $11 billion of cuts to vital sectors such as infrastructure, trade, drought funding and critical communications. This budget is a clear illustration that Labor has forgotten regional South Australia. It is disappointing to see Labor axe critical communication funding for regional Australia. The previous coalition government delivered 56 mobile phone towers in the electorate of Grey. Two have been delivered in the last four years—two versus 56. They have cut the Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia by reprioritising funding. This comprises $116 million in 2026-27 and a further $49.6 million in the forward estimates. The plan included future rounds of the Mobile Black Spot Program, the Regional Connectivity Program, the On Farm Connectivity Program, disaster and telecommunications resilience measures, the Regional Tech Hub and the National Audit of Mobile Coverage. Regional Australians are crying out for better connectivity, and Labor are not listening.

At a time when we need support for our regions struggling with the impacts of the fuel crisis, Labor has made massive cuts to regional funding. This includes $191.6 million from pest and disease, regional trade and drought funding. There is a $52 million cut to the Future Drought Fund alone, just as farmers battle difficult seasonal conditions across South Australia. Meanwhile, Labor allocated zero additional support for regional tourism operators who are vital small-business owners to small country towns severely impacted by this fuel crisis. I want to add that I recently went up to the northern parts of the electorate, up to Innamincka, to Oodnadatta and to Coober Pedy, and the tourism numbers are much lower than they otherwise would be. And it's not because the price of fuel is keeping away our grey nomads; it's because of the anxiety around access to fuel. Well, to all the tourists out there, there is plenty of fuel up in these remote towns. Get in your camper trailers, get in your Winnebagos and go visit the outback. There is so much water up in Lake Eyre at the moment. It is beautiful. It looks like Florida with the amount of water and greenery up there right now.

Despite receiving a comprehensive, sensible report from the Australian Grape & Wine advocacy group, Labor dedicated no funding to our wine industry. Rather, they decided to phase out the $10 million Wine Tourism and Cellar Door Grant package. This is the opposite of what they should be doing right now. The wine industry is absolutely on its knees—particularly in the Riverland but also in my electorate in the Clare Valley. This increases the pressure that our regional wine growers are facing. Looking at infrastructure specifically, less than two per cent of the infrastructure projects in Labor's budget are dedicated to the regions. Only two per cent of the budget being dedicated to the regions is absolutely outrageous. Yet Australians will pay $40 million in tax for Labor's Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement, which is not free at all. It's just more carve-outs, including $38.6 million over four years, then $7.1 million annually to implement an agreement that sells out our farmers.

I am pleased that, due to my advocacy, Labor increased supplementary road funding for South Australian councils in line with indexation. However, even with supplementary funding, South Australia remains the lowest-funded state in the nation on a per-kilometre basis. And it shows: the roads in regional South Australia are completely unacceptable. I want to call out a few areas. At the bottom end of the Yorke Peninsula, the roads down there are absolutely terrible. In the Adelaide Plains, the roads are absolutely terrible as well. And, of course, the Flinders Highway, the road that runs from Ceduna down to Port Lincoln, is very narrow and unsafe for the road trains that travel on that road very regularly.

Regarding the Nyrstar lead smelter in Port Pirie, this budget initially contained no new funding to ensure its long-term viability, leaving workers hanging in the balance after the previous $57.5 million package expired on 1 May 2026. I was pleased to see the announcement of a $105 million transitionary funding package for Nyrstar's Hobart and Port Pirie facilities. While this does bring a massive sigh of relief, smelter workers in Port Pirie should never have been left in a state of limbo for over a month, wondering if they had a future. The delay in communications was totally unacceptable. Minister Tim Ayres only found time last week to brief me through his advisers. Premier Malinauskas confirmed this package sustains operations until the end of November, and I hope the next negotiations are resolved before then so Port Pirie avoids another period of uncertainty.

In contrast, Angus Taylor's budget in reply is a much more rounded and commonsense approach to the issues that matter to regional South Australians. He will back small businesses to invest in vital assets through a permanent $50,000 instant asset write-off for anyone with a turnover under $10 million. Furthermore, we will establish a future generations fund to ensure resource windfalls are used responsibly to ensure the future of our children.

Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

For too long, regional Australians have seen governments make big announcements, pose for a photo, issue the press release and then roll on out. Well, the regions aren't just an afterthought for the Albanese government. They're not just a bolt-on pork-barrelling press-call opportunity. Whether it's in Maitland, Port Stephens, Beresfield, Chisholm, Rutherford, Heddon Greta, Anna Bay, Medowie, Lemon Tree Passage or any of the suburbs in my beautiful electorate of Paterson, this government believes in our regions and we are delivering for them—and we're going to continue to do that.

People want practical support that improves their daily lives. They want better roads, better health care, affordable housing, quality child care and secure local jobs. That's what the Albanese regional budget delivers, because Labor understands that supporting regional Australia is about far more than a single infrastructure fund or a handful of announcements—or the odd colour-coded spreadsheet that was a bit of a pork-barrelling exercise. Supporting regional Australia means making sure regional communities are considered in every portfolio and in every policy decision. You don't just tack them on at the end and try and win a few votes; you make sure they're central. It means investing in health, investing in housing and investing in education. It means investing in infrastructure, child care, aged care and regional industries. And it means recognising that, no matter where in Australia you live, you deserve to access the best opportunities and services to help you get ahead. That is the principle at the heart of this budget. We say 'no-one held back and no-one left behind'. We believe in aspiration and we believe in a hand when you need it.

Families across Paterson will benefit from further tax cuts, putting more money back into household budgets. They'll benefit from cheaper medicines through Labor's continued investment in Medicare—something that Labor created and that we stick by and we back. For many families, every trip to the pharmacy matters. Every dollar saved on essential medicines is a dollar that goes back into paying for groceries, school shoes and bills. More than 3.5 million people in my electorate of Paterson have already benefited from these savings, keeping more money in their pockets or more money on the card—these days, it's usually that way; I know, sometimes, people don't carry much cash anymore, but they still do—and that eases the pressure on household costs.

The budget also supports households through Labor's home battery program, helping families lower their power bills while strengthening our energy system. Many of my constituents have shown me the apps on their phone, and they say: 'Meryl, I've got the battery. I can see what's going on at my place.' They show me the energy that's running around in their little house on the app. I love seeing that. More than 2,000 families in my electorate have already installed these more affordable batteries and are benefiting from the lower energy savings. These practical measures make a real difference to regional families.

Health care is another massive issue, and it is where this budget is delivering for our community. One of the achievements I'm most proud of is that Paterson has an urgent care clinic. It's at 555 High Street, Maitland, if you don't know. The clinic is providing free urgent health care close to home and helping take some of the pressure off the very busy emergency departments, including at Maitland and John Hunter, in our region. Parents with a sick child, older Australians needing some urgent treatment or workers who may have been injured can access health care when they need it without worrying about the cost. That's what strengthening Medicare in the regions looks like. This budget continues Labor's investment in Medicare urgent care clinics and bulk-billing and also supports the training of more doctors and healthcare professionals in Australia.

Infrastructure is critical when you live in a regional area, especially a beautiful regional area that is really undergoing a lot of growth, like our region is. One of the most significant projects in my patch is the M1 Pacific Motorway extension to Raymond Terrace. This project will be transformative, not just for the Hunter but for the entire eastern seaboard of Australia. For goods going between Melbourne and Brisbane, this is a game changer. For decades, this section has been the missing link between Sydney and Brisbane—the final pinch point in one of Australia's most important freight corridors.

I want to take you back to 2019 because that was the year when the then shadow minister for infrastructure, transport, cities and regional development, a bloke called Anthony Albanese, now the Prime Minister, backed me in one thousand per cent when I said: 'Mate, we have got to fix this road. It is criminal what's going on here. The whole place has been shut down time and time again, and it's just got to change.' And he said, 'You're right.' We loaded the pressure on the Morrison government. Finally they put it in a budget—actually, they went to the 2019 election with it—and we just absolutely mounted that pressure. Now, I know the Prime Minister loves being the Prime Minister—and he's doing a good job—but, let me tell you, his passion project was infrastructure. He knows the roads and byways of this country like the back of his hand. He backed me in for that M1 extension.

When we came to government in 2022, Catherine King, who then became the infrastructure minister—actually, before that, when she was still the shadow minister, we came to that piece of road and we said, 'Not only are we putting the money in; we're going to do it faster.' In 2022, when we were elected, that's exactly what we did. In the coming months, that piece of road that cost over $1.6 billion with a b will be open because not only did we commit the money, again; we then fast-tracked the project. The project will be over 12 months early in its completion, and it's on budget. That's a testimony to what happens when you back regional Australia.

I want to take a moment to thank all of those people who've worked on that road. It is amazing. People talk to me about it all the time, saying: 'Gee, the road's coming along. We can't wait till it's open.' I know there's been a lot of congestion in places like Raymond Terrace and around the region while we wait for the road to be finished—thanks for your patience on that. The workers who've helped construct that piece of critical national infrastructure have done a great job, and I know our locals are very excited about it being finished.

It matters to the businesses of our region as well. It matters to locals, who are just trying to get about their business, whether it's going to work or taking the kids to school. This is a massive piece of infrastructure, and this is what it looks like when you've got a government who is serious about regions, serious about big pieces of infrastructure and serious about keeping our regional economies growing and moving with the people who are moving to our area.

Again, I am so proud to say that this project will be delivered more than a year ahead of schedule. When do you ever hear of projects coming in over a year early and on budget? Well, this is. It means less congestion, safer journeys, stronger freight connections and better economic opportunities for our region. It means finally completing a nationally significant transport corridor that Australians have waited decades for. It is an Albanese government that is getting on and delivering this.

We're also continuing to invest in safer local roads too, because that matters. Through the Black Spot Program, communities in Raymond Terrace, Anna Bay, Aberglasslyn and Chisholm are benefiting from important safety upgrades that will make local roads safer for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. It is so important.

Housing is the other thing that's so big on the minds of people from the regions. We know the regions are a beautiful place to live. It turns out other people have figured that out too. Since COVID, our region has been absolutely the hottest ticket in town. People have moved there because, thanks to technology, they can work from home more now. A lot of people have moved to the Hunter, and we're glad for that, but we know we need to continue to provide more housing, and we know that that's got to be matched with infrastructure. That's why we've invested $2 billion in the Local Infrastructure Fund. That's important because it's going to help unlock new housing supply by investing in the roads, the engineering and the infrastructure that will be required to build these new communities, which are so important.

In closing, stronger communities need strong local jobs. I also want to say that the Hunter is one of Australia's industrial powerhouses. Our region's workforce, skills and manufacturing capability help drive economic growth across not just the region or the state but our entire nation. That's why supporting businesses like Tomago Aluminium is so important. I am so proud of our federal government for doing that. We are going to continue to back in our regions, back in our industry and say thank you to those people who work so hard to make sure they are a great success.

I want to acknowledge that we work with all levels of government, especially local government. Councillor Race Barstow from Maitland City Council joins us in the gallery today. It's an honour to have you here today, Councillor. Thanks for the hard work that you do in delivering for our communities. More power to the regions.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

As special envoy for northern Australia and the federal member for Solomon in the Top End, I'm very proud to speak on our government's focus on building a much stronger and more prosperous regional Australia and, in particular, a much stronger and more prosperous northern Australia. In order to achieve that aim, we are investing over $30 billion in the sustainable and resilient development of northern Australia, which is really important as we play a critical role in delivering on our government's agenda, including delivering a Future Made in Australia, supporting our nation's transition to a net zero economy, developing the critical minerals industry and all the work we're doing in defence as well.

Our government's Northern Australia Action Plan 2024-2029 has a renewed focus on economic opportunities, housing, education and infrastructure in the regions of Northern Australia. We're collaborating with the Queensland, Western Australian and Northern Territory governments through the Northern Australia Ministerial Forum on key issues. In recent times, these have included housing, which everyone agrees is a critical issue, and research, which leads to commercial opportunity, better livelihoods and the all-important economic development, particularly for regions where there are First Nations communities that have traditionally not had access to opportunities in the market. I did attend the Northern Australia Ministerial Forum in April, and our discussions also included insurance affordability, which is a critical issue for us; fuel security; labour data; and future collaboration across northern Australia. Ministers received jurisdictional updates across priorities such as disaster recovery, energy security, critical minerals, tourism, resilience, defence investment and those First Nations employment and housing initiatives that I mentioned previously.

In November last year, our government announced the 10-year extension of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, the NAIF. It will continue to invest in projects across Northern Australia well beyond the current investment deadline of 30 June 2026. The continuation of NAIF for another decade will reassure communities and stakeholders in the north, many of whom contributed to the review. The NAIF is here to stay! The 10-year extension will be safeguarded by reviews every five years to ensure that the NAIF remains fit for purpose. It really has seen a great development in opportunities across Northern Australia. They are really important regions of Australia—from Queensland, through the Northern Territory, to north-west WA. We have worked to ensure that the Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility is supporting projects that deliver tangible benefits to northern communities.

It was great to meet with the new CEO, Neil MacDonald, in Cairns very recently. He is an impressive bloke who is really getting after the great work that Craig Doyle did as CEO. I acknowledge Craig's fantastic work from when he was the CEO. The NAIF has provided, under Craig's leadership and now Neil's, $4.5 billion of the $7 billion through financing infrastructure developments across the north of Australia to support 35 projects. This includes 16 projects in Queensland with concessional loans of around $1.7 billion, 10 projects in Western Australia with loans of around $1.7 billion and nine projects in the Northern Territory, where I'm proud to represent Territorians, with loans of almost $1 billion. Those projects are forecast to generate more than $33 billion in public benefit and more than 18,000 jobs, which is a big deal for northern Australia. Over $3 billion in NAIF funds has now been drawn down by proponents to deliver on key infrastructure projects in northern Australia. The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026, introduced in March, amends that The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Act to extend NAIF's investment decision-making period, strengthen accountability for compliance within the investment mandate, establish joint responsibilities for the responsible ministers and refresh statutory review requirements to allow for two future reviews on the operation of the NAIF Act.

I'm sure honourable members will forgive me for talking a bit about the NAIF. When you talk about regional Australia, the north is such a vital engine of resources and of talented humans who really want to make the north stronger and more resilient; we know, in turn, that that will make our nation stronger and more resilient. When it comes to regional Australia, our government—the Albanese Labor federal government—is working collaboratively with states and territories and, as we've seen this week, with local government as well as industry to create the environment in which the regions of Australia can thrive. I'm proud to be part of those efforts.

Debate adjourned.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 12:51