Our regions are the life blood of our great and vast land. Feeding the nation, building the nation and powering the nation. Home to more than 30 per cent of our population we punch above our weight when it comes to our contribution to economic growth.
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The Albanese government believes in strengthening our regions, right across Australia.
And our first budget does just that, funding all our regional election commitments, increasing our investment in regional road and rail infrastructure, and creating new opportunities for regions to grow.
Our investments in the regions came from across government. Over 760 programs specifically designed to boost productivity and livability in every region. From health funding to programs for First Nations communities, from improving regional communications and assistance from the Foreign Affairs and Trade Department to boost tourism and help exporters to biosecurity measures.
And regional Australians will benefit from the significant measures to deal with cost of living pressures. Cheaper medicines, cheaper childcare, building affordable housing, getting wages moving again and expanding Paid Parental Leave to six months.
From a skate park in Launceston to sealing the Tanami road, which runs through the heart of the outback, the Albanese government is committed to supporting our regions, in big ways and in small.
We are investing in roads in every state and territory and big rail projects to help freight move more and move it quicker. We're helping people get home safer and earlier, at the end of the working day and we're building infrastructure for economic opportunity like ports and industrial hubs that can adapt to net zero emissions and harness the jobs opportunities these will bring.
What we will do is pay attention to what communities want and need with long term, strategic planning that knows each and every region has different strengths, weaknesses, needs and possibilities.
Our government's role, my role, is to identify what these strengths are. Invest in them, build on them, and support regional Australia to reach their full potential.
This is what has driven investment in the October budget.
There are big transformative investments such as the Cairns Marine Precinct, logistics hubs in northern and central Australia which will support the investment in Middle Arm in Darwin, enabling infrastructure in the Pilbara, the Central Australia Plan and key highways in Tasmania and South Australia.
We have a long-term plan for lifting up our regions and, as the Prime Minister so often says, making sure no one is held back and no one is left behind.
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This means supporting regional communities to build the infrastructure that you need.
Our new $1 billion regional infrastructure programs are about connecting people.
The Growing Regions Program will do just that, grow our regions, making them more livable and delivering the infrastructure local people need, such as projects for arts and culture, sports and recreation, libraries and community learning.
The regional Precincts and Partnership program will see the government working with states, local councils and other organisations like regional universities to invest in larger scale place-based projects aimed at transforming regional and rural centres.
I know that our decision to replace the Building Better Regions Fund is challenging, but the former government's administration of this program left no alternative
While it delivered meaningful outcomes for some, it did not work for the vast majority of regional Australia.
I want better for regional Australians, and I want you to have confidence when you apply for a grant that the rules are clear and you know the decision is based on the merits of a project, not whether you live in a Nationals, Liberal or Labor electorate.
We saw how the previous government viewed our regions - as a prop for its electoral prospects. Our government sees you as more than that and we want to work with you to harness the opportunities you have.
As the Treasurer has said, we have had to make some difficult decisions, but we are making sure our decisions help with the cost of living, not put pressure on. We are taking sensible decisions, making sure that we deliver the best value for taxpayers and communities.
And we will be right alongside you, making sure our investments are the right ones for our regions.
- Catherine King is the federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.
