THIS week as I bounced along Mallee’s shocking roads to meet constituents at mobile offices at Halls Gap, Great Western, Stawell, Wycheproof, St Arnaud, Dunolly, Maryborough, Rupanyup and Minyip, I reflected yet again on the injustice of Labor’s scorched earth approach to regional Australia.
As Mallee residents and I share half the bitumen each to safely pass each other, I lamented the injustice of how Labor puts lives put at risk in regional Australia.
Whether it’s the crumbling roads and their undulations and potholes, or the lack of investment in regional health services, the May 3 election is crucial for regional Australia.
On Thursday, The Nationals committed that we, in coalition with the Liberals, would create a $20 billion Regional Australia Future Fund to bring the investment to Mallee that we desperately need and deserve.
I brought $2 billion in funding to Mallee in my first term (2019-22) as your elected representative, admittedly due in part to significant Commonwealth support the Coalition provided to get us through the pandemic.
By contrast, Labor has invested just 5 per cent of that in Mallee in the last three years.
Worse still, Labor have had the hide to turn up to a mock opening of the already open $30 million Swan Hill Emergency Department, claiming they – not I – had delivered it.
As Shadow Minister for Regional Health I am thrilled to share with you that the Regional Australia Future Fund will bring the long overdue further investment in regional health that we desperately need.
Our workforce shortages are dire and it is getting harder to see a doctor across Mallee.
This week Mallee residents received their Postal Vote Application forms in the post and I urge everyone who wishes to post their vote to get their forms back to me in their reply-paid envelope to avoid disappointment – time is tight and Australia Post is not as quick as they used to be.
Arriving home yesterday after 68 mobile offices and Field Day visits in the last eight months, I opened the newsletter I sent every household and reflected on how much work The Nationals have put in – and much more we will keep doing – to get our country back on track.
