Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very confident in the processes that we have in place to determine funding for regional communities and for communities right across the country. Labor has some nerve coming into this place and lecturing this government about funding for regional Australia. Indeed, Labor's former regional development minister, Catherine King, was slammed by the Auditor-General for her handling of the Regional Development Australia Fund. The Auditor-General's report showed that the minister refused her own panel's advice on 74 separate decisions in round 3 and round 4. In just round 4 alone of the RDAF, the minister at the time, Catherine King, made 34 decisions that diverged from the recommendations of the panel—a whopping 80 per cent of the 42 projects that were funded in that round. Interestingly, those on the other side don't want those sorts of facts raised because they know it's only this side that's delivering for regional Australia.