NO APOLOGIES FOR INVESTMENT IN THE BUSH

Helping rural and regional communities remain strong and sustainable into the future is the number one priority for The Nationals who will not apologise for ensuring the bush gets its fair share of funding, Senator Fiona Nash said today. Commenting on statements made by Labor and Independent MPs following the release of the Australian National Audit Office report into the administration of the Coalition’s highly successful Regional Partnerships programme, Senator Nash said for any politician to question investments into rural Australia is an insult to the more than seven million people living outside the metropolitan areas. “It astounds me that Labor and the Independents would try and score cheap political points by criticising a programme that has injected more than $340 million into our rural and regional communities,” Senator Nash said. “That money has gone towards hundreds of projects within our local communities, from restoring community halls to building new pool facilities to helping extend amenities at aged care hostels. All of these projects have provided countless benefits to the local area they serve yet it appears Labor and the Independents would rather we hadn’t invested in these communities. "Simon Crean, who would be Labor's Regional Affairs Minister under a Rudd Labor Government, stated today that Regional Partnerships projects that had been approved by the Howard-Vaile Government would now be 'reviewed'. There can be no doubt what he really means - funding for important local projects would be stripped away. Mr Crean and Mr Rudd must now tell these communities which projects are going to be abolished under Labor. “We must remember this audit only covered a handful of projects, and what Labor and the Independents aren’t commenting on is the fact that Government Ministers rejected more projects in Coalition seats against departmental advice than they did in Labor seats. “The report highlights approval rates for projects were basically the same regardless of which electorate they were in with the project approval rate the same for Labor and Liberal electorates (72%) and similar for Nationals electorates (70%) and Independents (69%). “Unlike Labor and the Independents, the Coalition believes our rural and regional communities are worthy of investing in and will not apologise for giving unwavering commitment to the long term growth and sustainability of our local communities.” Media contact: Julie Siegert 0429 818 600

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