Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster MP says she is horrified at Labor’s utter contempt for Mallee by making just one election funding pledge, including nothing for the seat’s largest population centre, Mildura.

“In my first term as part of a then Coalition Government I was proud to deliver $2 billion in funding to Mallee, however in this second term up to this election, Labor has reduced that spending by 95 per cent,” Dr Webster said.

“I made commitments this election at Avoca, Beulah, Boort, Dunolly, Horsham, Kaniva, Nhill, Rainbow, Robinvale and Wycheproof, plus three major commitments for Mildura – Labor have made just one, at Maryborough.”

“Labor is stunningly brazen in their contempt for Mallee, that they would not offer a single cent in Sunraysia, nor in the Horsham or Swan Hill shires and indeed, in total, 11 of the 12 shires in Mallee.”

In Mildura, Dr Webster has committed $12 million to upgrade Mildura Airport’s runway, $8.7 million to establish an undergraduate medical school at Monash University to guarantee end-to-end doctor training in the region, plus a $5 million feasibility study as the critical first step towards a comprehensive bypass and freight arrangement to get B-double and B-triple trucks out of Deakin Avenue.

“None of the other candidates have made election pledges at all, and Labor just one – The Nationals have made a genuine, concerted effort this campaign to demonstrate we represent all Mallee residents and will fight for them and their communities,” Dr Webster said.

“Labor’s contempt shows, yet again, their scorched earth approach to regional Australia.  What we ought to have got over this last term, and what ought to have been promised this election, has been diverted to capital cities. 

“Labor robs regions to buy votes in the inner cities – not just taking away the funding we deserve, but turning Mallee into an industrial wasteland, a pincushion of 1,000 more wind turbines, hundreds of kilometres of huge high-voltage transmission lines, blanket solar panels and mining pits railroaded through communities without genuine consultation.”

The Nationals have committed to a $20 billion Regional Australia Future Fund – funded in part by defunding Labor’s $20 billion ‘Rewiring the Nation’ program for 28,000 kilometres of regional transmission lines.  The Fund will guarantee $1 billion per annum, in perpetuity, to be given to local shires to spend on priority projects in health, childcare, community infrastructure and – critically – roads. 

The Nationals will also inject an additional $1 billion into the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program that Councils rely on to build local projects of their choosing every year, and revive the much-loved Building Better Regions Fund with an initial $250 million over two years to deliver community projects the regions deserve.

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