Source: Workplace Gender Equality Agency
On behalf of the Albanese Labor Government, I’m proud to deliver our fourth Regional Ministerial Budget Statement.
I’d like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of where we are today, and pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Mr Speaker, across our first term in Government, our message to regional Australians has been loud and clear – your postcode shouldn’t be a barrier.
Just because you grow up in Bega on the NSW Far South Coast, or in Gladstone in Central Queensland, and just because you live at Mount Gambier in regional South Australia, or in the Pilbara Region in outback WA – doesn’t mean that the services, and the opportunities available to you should be second best.
I say this as a proud regional Member of this place, and on behalf of my fantastic regional colleagues here with me today.
I say this as someone that’s always lived in our regions – from Traralgon in regional Victoria, to Merimbula on the NSW Far South Coast – where I watched my parents work hard every day to build a small business, and to provide our family with a better life.
A regional community where I myself now run a small business with my husband, and where we’re raising our kids.
And I say this as someone that’s had the privilege of spending a lot of time talking to regional people across Australia – both as the Member for the Mighty Eden-Monaro, and as Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories.
From the Hunter region in NSW, Caboolture in regional Queensland, Devonport in Tasmania – to communities across the 42,000 square kilometres in my electorate.
Regional Australia is a great place to live, work, study, visit and invest – and I wouldn’t live anywhere else.
Our regions generate a third of the nation’s economic output, and there’s so many opportunities that our Government wants to take advantage of.
But you’d be living under a rock if you said life outside of our big cities doesn’t come without its unique challenges – it absolutely does.
Unlike those opposite though, on this side of the House we’re not shying away from that.
I’m proud to be part of a Government that across its first term, has delivered record investments to improve the reliability and the accessibility of critical services that regional people rely on.
To support more regional people to work and train closer to home – because you shouldn’t have to pack your bags to build your career.
To build more things in our own backyard, investing in the hard-work and know-how of regional people.
To give regional Australians more support to buy or rent a home.
To support local businesses and local economies to grow – with small businesses in particular the backbone of our regions.
To ensure the local roads we drive every day to drop the kids off at school and to get to work, are safe, and keep pace with growing communities.
To improve our major highways linking our cities to our regions, so more visitors support our local businesses, and experience everything we have to offer.
To keep our regions connected and better prepared for natural disasters – something many regional communities, including across Eden-Monaro, have needed to rebuild from.
And most importantly, to relieve immediate pressures on regional families and businesses.
Which let’s not forget, those opposite talk a big game on – despite opposing every single cost of living measure to date, and committing to tearing apart every measure that’ll support regional Australians into the future.
Because while we’re delivering record investments to Build Regional Australia’s Future, the wreckers opposite are determined to leave regional communities which aren’t the right colour on their spreadsheets behind.
The Albanese Government is delivering better outcomes for every regional community – because we’re addressing the challenges, harnessing the opportunities, and taking the needs of our regions seriously.
Through our Regional Investment Framework, we’re ensuring targeted investments support regional people, the places they live, the services they need, and the industries that stimulate local economies.
With investments through the 2025-26 Budget building on everything we’ve delivered across our first term.
Our number one priority has been easing pressures faced by regional families and businesses today, while supporting more work, training and economic opportunities outside of our big cites.
We’ve delivered tax cuts for every regional taxpayer – a huge impact for taxpayers in my own electorate of Eden-Monaro, putting an average of $1,633 back into their pockets, with another two tax cuts on the way – something those opposite just voted against.
We’ve delivered $300 in Energy Bill Relief to millions of households and $325 to small businesses, along with cheaper childcare and cheaper medicines.
We’ve cut $3 billion in student debt, with a further 20 per cent to be cut if we’re re-elected.
And we’ve supported over 127,000 free TAFE places in our regions – from construction courses to childcare.
We’re getting more people into industries screaming out for workers, after those opposite gutted the vocational education system during their failed decade.
We’ve introduced legislation to make free TAFE permanent – something those opposite have said they’ll repeal, because as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition said in this very chamber – “if you don’t pay for it, you don’t value it.”
But I want my kids and every regional person to know – your postcode and your bank balance shouldn’t limit your potential.
Through this Budget we’ll provide additional cost-of-living relief, along with increased investments to remove study barriers.
$1.8 billion to provide all households, and around one million small businesses, with an additional $150 in Energy Bill Relief.
$800 million to expand our Help to Buy scheme to support more people get into their own home – including in our regions.
This builds on the 32,000 regional Australians we’ve already helped into home ownership, through the Regional Home Guarantee.
$626.9 million to support $10,000 incentive payments for construction sector apprentices – with $7.0 million to increase the Living Away from Home Allowance for apprentices.
As an operator of a small plumbing business that hires apprentices, and having recently spent time with bricklaying apprentices at Queanbeyan – I know that every cent counts when you’re starting out, especially when you’re living away from home.
That’s why we’re boosting apprentice wages and easing cost-of-living pressures – because we value their hard work, and we know that building this workforce is essential to delivering more regional homes.
My mum, dad, brother, sister and husband all went to TAFE, which is why I’m incredibly proud to be part of a Government that’s strengthening the sector – and ensuring more regional people can build a better future.
Through this Budget, we’re delivering $407.5 million to states and territories, as part of the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement.
Record funding to give our teachers, including in our regional schools, more support – to lift education standards, and to better support students from kindergarten through to year 12.
And if you want to go onto further study, existing investments like the 56 Regional University Study Hubs we’re delivering – from Port Augusta in South Australia, to Goulburn in my own electorate – will mean you don’t have to leave the region you love.
A further $33.6 million will also flow to the Clontarf Foundation to support up to 12,500 First Nations boys and young men access better education support.
We’re delivering record investments to continue improving the affordability and accessibility of regional healthcare – because when you need to see the doctor, and when you need to buy your script, your street address and wallet shouldn’t stop you.
We’ve already delivered $3.5 billion to triple the bulk billing incentive, supporting over 2.4 million additional claims across regional Australia.
Through this Budget, we’re investing an additional $7.9 billion to deliver more bulk billing to all Australians, including in our regions.
Having delivered the largest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, we’re now making cheaper medicines even cheaper.
$689 million to bring a PBS script down to $25, keeping more money in the hip pockets of regional Australians – with our pensioners and concession cardholders to continue paying $7.70 for PBS medicines until 2030.
$792.9 million to deliver more choice, lower costs and better health care for women – including the first PBS listing for new oral contraceptive pills in more than 30 years.
Along with more bulk billing for long-term contraceptives, more endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics to treat more conditions, and more Medicare support for women experiencing menopause.
Regional health and aged care were left in crisis under those opposite – a mess the Albanese Government has been cleaning up from day one.
We’ve delivered $17.7 billion to fund increases to the minimum award wage for aged care workers – to not only support and retain these critical workers – but to ensure that our loved ones get the care they need, as they get older.
We’re delivering an additional $1.8 billion to strengthen our public hospitals and to reduce waiting times across Australia, bringing our hospital funding to a record $33.9 billion in 2025-26.
We’ve also increased the number of regional GP training places, along with waiving HECS for doctors and nurses that work in our regions – getting more skilled workers where we need them most.
Through this Budget, we’re investing $662.6 million to grow our health workforce.
There will be hundreds more GP and rural generalist training places to grow the pipeline of future GPs – with fairer salary incentives for junior doctors who choose general practice as their specialty.
100 more Commonwealth Supported Places for medical students a year from 2026, increasing to 150 more a year by 2028 – with a focus on encouraging students to pursue general practice in our regions.
And hundreds of scholarships for nurses and midwives, to help meet our current and future demands.
A re-elected Albanese Government will deliver another 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics across Australia, from Burnie in Tasmania, to Bega in my own electorate – with our $644.3 million investment.
This builds on the 87 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics we’ve already delivered, which are making a huge difference.
With 48 of these 137 clinics to be in our regions– from Broome in Western Australia, Townsville in Queensland, to Tamworth in New South Wales.
The Urgent Care Clinic we delivered in Queanbeyan has already supported over 7,000 fully bulk billed presentations.
Rusty, a local constituent of mine told me about the huge difference it made for him, when he had an infection.
He walked right into the clinic and received the help he needed, for free – a service that’s also supported his children and grandchildren.
As Rusty said, this type of clinic is critical to taking pressure off our hospitals – as we continue to rebuild the health sector.
But regional services like this will cease to exist under those opposite, because you only have to look at the billions cut from Medicare by the Leader of the Opposition when he was Health Minister, to know their only plan for Medicare is cuts.
No government has done more for regional services than the Albanese Government – but healthcare wasn’t the only service completely abandoned during the wasted decade by those opposite.
We’re already investing $2.2 billion to strengthen regional communications, particularly in disaster-prone areas – after programs like the Mobile Black Spot Program were pork-barrelled by those opposite.
Through our record investments in the NBN, we’ve fixed half of some streets being stuck on the unreliable copper network they rolled out, including just 15 minutes down the road at Jerrabomberra.
Because it actually takes a little bit more than a string and a can to run a small business, and to work and study from home.
In this Budget, we’re providing an additional $3.0 billion in equity funding to NBN Co to complete upgrades for all remaining Fibre to the Node premises, including connecting an additional 334,000 regional premises to high speed internet.
A service that we can’t forget, would be sold off to the highest bidder under those opposite.
We’re also introducing a Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation – requiring telcos to provide access to mobile voice and SMS almost everywhere across Australia – which will have huge benefits for regional and remote communities, particularly during emergencies and disasters.
Natural disasters are something my own electorate of Eden-Monaro has felt deeply, which is why I’m proud the National Emergency Management Agency that we launched continues to support regional communities – most recently in Queensland and NSW during Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
That’s on top of our $1 billion Disaster Ready Fund continuing to support regional communities to be better prepared.
And our additional $35 million investment to boost our national aerial fleet – giving regional communities more emergency support when they need it most.
But it’s not just during disasters when our regions need reliable aviation.
Despite the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate telling Sky News just last week that the Opposition had been fighting for a more competitive aviation sector – the reality is they’ve sat idle at the departure gate.
Those opposite did nothing with the Sydney Airports Slot Review handed to them in 2021 – something we’ve responded to with our Aviation White Paper.
And they’ve said that keeping Rex Airlines’ regional routes operating during the voluntary administration process is sabotaging the sale process.
I’m proud the Albanese Government has kept Rex’s regional flights in the air, with an $80 million loan facility to Rex Administrators, and additional support to reduce the debt Rex owes.
Because for regional communities like mine, these flights are critical to our local economy, accessing important health services, and for getting around.
The reality of living in our regions is we need to travel longer for some services, which is why we’ll continue standing up for a strong regional aviation sector.
But travelling by car is generally how we get around, which is why we’ve already increased local road funding for every council.
Roads to Recovery funding is going up from $500 million to $1 billion per year, road Black Spot funding increasing to $150 million per year, we’ve launched our $200 million per year Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program – and we’ve continued investing in major transport projects.
Because every local community should have confidence in the roads they’re driving on.
In his Budget reply last year, the Leader of the Nationals said those opposite would deliver the strong infrastructure funding pipeline that our regional communities need.
But let’s not forget, they were responsible for an infrastructure pipeline that below out from 150 projects to 800 projects, without a single dollar extra being added to the Budget, and without the delivery.
Regional communities deserve better than promises in press release with no follow through, which is why we continue to deliver critical projects to Build Regional Australia’s Future.
Funding through this Budget includes $7.2 billion for Bruce Highway safety upgrades in Queensland, $200 million towards duplicating the Stuart Highway from Darwin to Katherine.
$40 million for the Main South Road Upgrade in South Australia, and $1.1 billion towards upgrades along the Western Freeway in Victoria.
After colour-coded spreadsheets from those opposite, we’ve delivered on our commitment to establish transparent grant programs that every postcode can apply for.
Our $600 million Growing Regions Program is already supporting 112 projects, with 29 projects supported under our $400 million Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program so far.
I had the pleasure of visiting Wagga’s Lake Albert – one of this region’s most popular recreational sites, which will be completely transformed thanks to $4.4 million in Growing Regions Funding.
Projects like this are making our regions better places to live, to work and to invest – but having more housing to attract and retain workers is something every community tells me they need.
We’ve already committed $32 billion in housing measures, including over 13,000 homes nationally under the first round of our Housing Australia Future Fund – many of these in our regions.
That’s more than those opposite delivered in an entire decade – when they had no plan for building, and their only idea for turning more keys was letting people raid their super for a deposit.
To their credit, they’ve now said they’ll fund enabling infrastructure – labelling this a fantastic idea.
So fantastic, we’re already doing it – through our $1.5 billion Housing Support Program.
Including $27.2 million to support upgrading Marulan’s sewage treatment in the Mighty Eden-Monaro – laying the foundations for more housing.
Through this Budget, we’re delivering $54 million to turbocharge advanced manufacturing of prefabricated and modular homes, getting more homes into our regions where we need them most – lifting our total housing commitments to $33 billion.
More housing is a key part of how we’re Building Regional Australia’s Future, as is supporting our regional businesses and regional economies to grow.
Under those opposite, car manufacturers left our shores, leaving our regional people behind.
But Labor has always had the back of regional manufacturing, and we’ve shown that again with our new investment of $2.4 billion with the South Australian Government to save the Whyalla Steelworks.
Supporting 1,100 direct workers, and encouraging more investment into Australian made steel.
This builds on our existing $22.7 billion Future Made in Australia agenda, ensuring we build more in our own backyard – which includes over $500 million to boost Australia’s battery manufacturing capabilities, and $1 billion to supercharge the production of solar panels in our regions.
Our investments are putting regional communities at the centre of industries of the future – unlocking more secure and well-paid regional jobs, and ensuring that we train and retrain regional workforces.
This includes $38.2 million to boost the diversity of our STEM workforce, with a focus on supporting more women secure jobs in these critical industries.
Through this Budget, we’re delivering further investments to Build Regional Australia’s Future – by leveraging the competitive advantages that come with our vast energy resources, world-leading agricultural sector, and regional innovation.
$250.0 million to accelerate the pace of Australia’s growing domestic Low Carbon Liquid Fuels industry – helping to drive economic growth and jobs in regional areas.
$1.0 billion under our Green Iron Investment Fund to boost green iron manufacturing in our regions.
This builds on our existing commitment of $2.0 billion to support aluminium smelters transition to renewables – in places like Portland in Victoria, Tomago in NSW, and in Queensland’s Gladstone region.
From our factories to our fields, we’re backing our regions – with $11.0 million to tackle established pests and weeds in our agriculture and forestry sectors – keeping them productive
An additional $20 million for a new round of the On Farm Connectivity Program so farmers can use the latest technology to make their work more efficient.
And $20.0 million to encourage more Australians to buy Australian-made products, which will have huge benefits for regional economies – because so much of what we love and rely on comes from our regions.
In his Budget reply last year, the Leader of the Nationals said the Opposition will take decisive action to give regional Australians a fair go.
But all we’ve seen since then is those opposite continue to vote against every single cost of living measure, while petrifying regional communities with their Nuclear thought bubble.
An idea that was announced with zero consultation, and most importantly – one that will deliver zero savings for regional Australians and their power bills.
Since my last Regional Budget Statement, the Albanese Government has continued to relieve pressures on regional families and businesses, while improving access to the services and support regional people rely on – regardless of their postcode.
Through our 2025-26 Budget we’re delivering more energy bill relief, making cheaper medicines even cheaper, and providing extra support to get more regional Australians into their own home.
We’re strengthening Medicare and expanding regional health services, delivering further investments to boost regional connectivity, and investing in more support to help build workforces in our in-demand sectors.
That’s because only the Albanese Government is serious about Building Regional Australia’s Future.
MIL OSI News –