Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about regional Australia and what it looks like when a government shows up for it. I want to talk about the electorate of Nicholls in my home state of Victoria, where I had a visit recently. What I saw was a region not waiting around. The coalition talk a big game in regional Australia; it's a shame they can't seem to hold onto their seats in it. As we saw in Farrer, the carpet can be pulled out from under you in an instant, and, when you can literally stand with one foot in Farrer and the other foot in Nicholls, the coalition should be very worried because here's what showing up for regional Australia actually looks like. Funnily enough, it aligns with what the Labor government is delivering. It looks like traditional owners sitting at the table on clean energy projects, not as an afterthought but as partners, on the Gangarri Solar Farm. It looks like Cobram Anglican Grammar School, a community that fundraised for years to give their students a trade facility they deserve, finally cutting the ribbon with a Labor government backing them in. It looks like communities building things, connecting with each other and asking the right questions about what comes next.

Local Labor legends like Bommer, Narelle and Alan told me about the work they're doing on the ground to engage with community and the issues they are hearing from people who genuinely care about where they live. None of that happens by accident. It happens because the Albanese Labor government has made a deliberate choice to invest in regional Australia—in clean energy that creates local jobs and makes bills cheaper, and in school infrastructure that tells students that 'we believe in you'. There is more to do. I know that, the Albanese Labor government knows that, and the community of Nicholls knows that. But what I know is that the Albanese Labor government will keep showing up because, when those in opposition fail to deliver to regional Victorians, the Albanese government will always show up.