Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

If the senator is concerned about electricity prices he might have a chat to the Premier of Western Australia about the price increase seen there as a result of state government decisions. That is something he should raise with his colleague. In relation to what the government is proposing, I again remind him of the substantial assistance that we have committed to—it is permanent and the government will review the adequacy of the assistance each year and increase it further if necessary. In the 2011-12 budget and the 2012-13 budget this government is providing a very large amount of investment into regional investment—far more than when the doormats were in coalition government. There is far more investment into health and hospitals in regional Australia, investment into education in regional Australia and investment into the Regional Development Australia Fund, and there are priority employment area initiatives. So there has been substantial investment by this Labor government into regional Australia. (Time expired)