NSW Nationals: When it comes to Regional Australia, Labor has No Plan, No Care and No Idea – Senator Ross…

Labor’s first Budget in almost a decade has shown their attitude towards our regions has not changed. They will take your cash and steal our dreams.

Regional NSW’s output boosts our nation’s wealth, whether it be our food, fibre or natural resources. But all Labor want to do is steal our royalties, take our taxes, and spend them on making life easier for the inner-city elite, who presume to dictate how we should live our lives in Regional Australia. Such as giving $9,000 in discounts to electric vehicles, whilst raising taxes on the heavy vehicles that sustain regional Australia.

Our government was investing heavily in growing regional industries and delivering better local infrastructure. Our Budget in March included over $21 billion to develop Australia’s regions, ensuring we had the critical transport, water, and communications infrastructure we need to improve housing, factories and farms across our communities.

Labor call our competitive regional funding programs “waste and rorts,” yet they use the budget to announce “closed grant programs” to fund their election spending splurges.

Labor’s decisions, as always, will lead to a two class Australia. While Labor celebrate cheaper childcare for the cities, the Bush has trouble accessing childcare at all.

What Labor has delivered is higher inflation, higher electricity prices, higher gas prices, higher petrol prices and higher mortgage repayments. Under Labor everything is going up, except your wages.

Labor’s Minister for Regional Development, Catherine King, announced on Monday that they’re scrapping the $250 million round six Building Better Regions Fund, denying our local councils and community groups the funding they so desperately need.

It was this program that delivered critical funding for projects like the upgrades to the Cooinda Coonabarabran Nursing Home, Canowindra Town Centre, Sawtell and Woolgoolga community pools, the new Forster Surf Life Saving Club, Belubula River Heritage Walk, and Broken Hill Central Business District Revitalisation.

Other programs that have been junked include our Energy Security and Regional Development Plan, Regional Accelerator Program, Community Development Grants and our Regional Dams package, which was funded through the National Water Grid Authority.