The Allan Labor Government has abandoned the needs of regional Victoria, doing nothing to explain an alarming disparity in spending in city and country areas.
Under heavy questioning at a Public Accounts and Estimate Committee hearing on Regional Development Victoria, Minister for Regional Development, Gayle Tierney, failed to provide genuine answers on the worrying funding gulf.
Labor has spruiked a $2 billion investment for regional Victorian infrastructure services and programs, yet that is a tiny slice of a total $98 billion in state infrastructure expenditure.
Regional Victoria contributes 25 per cent of the state’s population, but in the State Budget receives only two per cent of funding.
This allocation is a mere fraction of what is needed to support our communities adequately.
Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Peter Walsh, emphasised Labor’s lack of care.
“This budget is a blatant disregard for the needs of regional Victoria. The government is clearly prioritising metropolitan areas over the communities that make up 25 per cent of our state’s population,” Mr Walsh said.
“The numbers are astounding and the Minister did nothing to explain the gap.
”Labor can’t manage money and Victorians are paying the price.”