QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Ms McBAIN (Eden-Monaro—Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories and Minister for Emergency Management) (14:58): I want to thank the member for Gilmore for her staunch advocacy for her regional communities. She's a stellar performer in this House. As a member of a regional electorate, I'm incredibly proud to be part of a government delivering real change for our regions.

Our government has progressed practical investments that support people living and working in rural and remote communities as well. We're boosting housing supply with $361 million provided under the first two streams of the Housing Support Program to enable housing growth. We've committed an additional $2 billion in the Local Infrastructure Fund in our last budget as well.

That's in addition to supporting 84,000 regional homebuyers to get into their first homes using our five per cent deposit scheme, because we know how incredibly important housing is. But we're also investing in the services and the infrastructure our regional communities need to grow. Through the last budget, there's an additional $750 million for future rounds of Growing Regions and Thriving Suburbs.

There's much-needed community investment, like the Cannonvale Community Hub in Queensland, and construction has started there thanks to $15 million from a Growing Regions grant—a major investment to help that regional community reach its potential. Our regional Precincts and Partnerships Program is backing important projects like the Langhorne Creek Discovery Trail in South Australia, which broke ground this month, thanks to a $7 million Australian government investment.

I'm asked about alternative approaches. What are the risks of those alternative approaches? Those opposite would be a real risk to regional investment, because I don't know how remote or regional the North Sydney pool is, but those opposite used a grant designed to upgrade pools in regional and remote communities to fix it up.

That was a closed grant—invitation only—meant for regional and rural communities. On this side of the House we've just announced we're backing Wingham pool. They announced they were going to support the North Sydney pool.

So all of those regional and rural members over there sat at the cabinet table and said, 'You know what? North Sydney sounds remote enough. Surely, North Sydney sounds remote enough.' Seriously?

They dudded regional Australia while they were in government, and they'd do it again because they don't respect our regions at all. I remember when the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Senator Hume in the other place, said she'd have to 'speak a lot slower' if she had to represent people in regional Australia. Let me make this crystal clear.

We respect regional Australia and we are committed to investing in projects that deliver real change. And, as the local member for Eden-Monaro, I'm incredibly proud to represent Goulburn.