Regions face infrastructure delays: McKenzie

A LACK of funding for infrastructure for the regions in the 2023/24 Federal Budget has left Senator Bridget McKenzie reeling off the back of Labor's review of $10 billion in regional programs in last October's budget. Ms McKenzie reported that the government has put a 90–day review on up to 800 infrastructure projects, leaving each project under a cloud of doubt, some of which will be cancelled. She said Labor will also force local communities to wait two years to access regional grant programs, with funding opportunities available in 2022 under the Coalition now delayed until well into 2024. "Labor has pushed back critical funding needed for Indi while only targeting projects worth more than $1 million," she said. "It means smaller projects like sports ovals, playgrounds and libraries will be ineligible for funding in our regions. "Ripping up or delaying investments in roads, rail, bridges, dams and community facilities, while increasing taxes on heavy vehicles and taking away regional grants programs, is not how we build a more prosperous, stronger and sustainable Australia." Ms McKenzie said health access in Indi has been neglected through Labor's failure to invest in bespoke initiatives to deal with shortages in medical professionals. "Labor's changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), allowing 60–day dispensing instead of 30, also risks unintended consequences, such as rural medicine supply shortages and pharmacists in Indi being forced to shut down," Senator McKenzie said. "Indi struggles to find accessible GPs, but Labor is committing just $4.5 million over five years to train rural GPs through its Single Employer Model trials. "Labor is throwing crumbs at increasing access to GPs for families in the North East." She also took aim at Labor's misgivings with childcare, and said Labor's policies have failed to introduce one single new childcare place in Indi. Senator McKenzie said while affordability was impacting families, regional, rural and remote Australia also needed availability. "There is no improvement for regional childcare," she said. "Labor have failed to create one new childcare place, leaving Indi mums and dads no better off." Ms McKenzie said the budget will introduce a new food tax on Australian families, right in the middle of a cost–of–living crisis. She said the new tax on farmers to pay for the biosecurity risk of international importers was senseless and would be passed onto consumers, pushing up the cost of groceries even more. "The Labor Government is shamefully asking farmers to pay for the biosecurity costs of importers from other countries," Senator McKenzie said. "The Coalition proposed a cost recovery model that importers would pay commensurate to the proposed risk. "This model was ready for implementation before the end of 2022."

Regions face infrastructure delays: McKenzie

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