THE HON KRISTY MCBAIN MP
MINISTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TERRITORIES
MINISTER FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
MEMBER FOR EDEN-MONARO

Liberal Senator Jane Hume has today revealed the Liberals’ true feelings about regional Australians.

When asked if she’d join the Nationals Party, Liberal Senator Hume talked regional Australia down, saying she’d have to “speak a lot slower” and that she “likes good coffee and free markets too much” to represent regional Australia.

Senator’s Hume’s attempt at humour clearly shows who the Liberal Party of today is – out of touch, arrogant, and completely focused on themselves.

It’s one thing to have a crack at their Coalition partner, it’s another to insult the entirety of regional Australia.

Labor is focused on delivering for our regions and now represents many more seats in regional Australia than the Liberals or Nationals.

Regional Australians have chosen the Albanese Government to represent them in 24 regional seats across the country – including Ballarat, Bass, Bendigo and Blair, Corangamite, Corio and Cunningham, Leichhardt, Lingiari and Lyons and of course Eden-Monaro.

We are investing in infrastructure in our regions with $600 million Growing Regions program and $400 million for the regional Precincts and Partnerships Program (rPPP). We have doubled Roads to Recovery to $1 billion per year, increased the Road Black Spot program to $150 million per year, and established the $200 million per year Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program, which is $50 million more than was available for the two programs it replaced.

We are giving young people a chance to study closer to home through regional university study hubs and free TAFE, and opening 48 regional Urgent Care Clinics, taking the pressure off our regional hospitals.

Labor will continue to invest in our regions, create jobs and opportunities for people on the land or in our great regional towns and cities.

It’s up to the Liberal Party to explain why they don’t respect the contribution regional Australians make.

Quotes attributable to Kristy McBain:

“Regional Australians are hardworking people who are raising their families and keeping our country running.

“People in Geraldton, Geelong and George Town don’t need smarmy lectures from arrogant Liberals who think once you step out of an inner-Melbourne laneway we are all slow-talking drongos.

“I’d be happy to have Senator Hume in my electorate and shout her an excellent chai latte from my local cafe Infuse in Tura Beach, a macchiato from 4th Seed in Queanbeyan or a croissant from Honorbread in Bermagui.

“People who live in the regions are proud of where they live, and Labor is proud of the contribution regional Australians make.

“We’re backing those communities every single day.”

ENDS