Simon Crean, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government spoke today at the National Press Club on regional Australia.
"Labor would have us believe that while they have lost their majority, they have found regional Australia" Senator Joyce said today.
"The fact is Labor still struggles to define where regional Australia is”.
"Mr Crean trumpeted a $6 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund, yet $480 million of this has already been allocated to the Perth Airport”.
"Mr Crean even claimed that the deal with the independents only covered non-capital city parts of Australia. But this fund was part of this agreement, and the last time I checked, Perth was a capital city”.
“Mr Crean claimed that “regional Australia is all of Australia … including the capital cities”, so who exactly in the Labor Government is the Minister for Country areas? It looks like they don’t have one”.
"Mr Crean hopes that some smooth words on "local empowerment" will convince regional Australia that Labor can reform”.
"But, as Mr Crean admitted today, he wrote Labor's 2007 regional policy. Once they got into government Labor abolished Area Consultative Committees, and made local communities navigate the labyrinth of State Government bureaucracies”.
"Mr Crean spoke a lot about how Labor is going to talk a lot more about regional Australia. So who has Labor been talking to for the last three years?”
"This is a very clear admission that this Labor Government has gone missing on regional development."
"This is just more talk and no action from a government that really has no idea about the people in the regions who achieve so much for this country in return for very little attention or services from their tax dollars."