Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience) Share this | Hansard source

McKENZIE (—) (): Thank you, Senator Canavan, for your long advocacy for regional Australia. Our government has been just focusing on getting it done to ensure our regions are sustainable, prosperous and secure by investing and delivering thousands of projects on the ground and delivering local jobs—projects that build on the natural competitive advantage of our regions and support them to be more resilient in the face of key challenges, whether it's drought, whether it's bushfire or whether it's indeed COVID-19—and it is having a real impact. The Regional Australia Institute has just released a report today that says our unemployment rate out in the regions is at 3.8 per cent, the lowest in decades, and our job vacancies are skyrocketing—70,000. We've got great long-term, well-paid careers right across the regions. Come and join us.

Our key industries of agriculture and mining are booming, with the resource and energy export earnings forecast to hit a staggering $379 billion with hundreds of projects in the pipeline. Ag is forecast to hit $73 billion and is well on the way to its target of $100 billion by 2030. We've invested over $100 billion in infrastructure projects, in roads and rail, to better connect our rural communities and shift our product not just to capital cities but to ports and international markets. We've spent $3.5 billion on dams, pipelines and weirs because we know that we create wealth by adding water.