I rise to speak on the motion by the member for Wide Bay on the National Stronger Regions Fund. The member says the fund is having a significant and positive impact on rural, remote and disadvantaged regions of Australia. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially in my electorate. While the Turnbull government were handing out funding under the National Stronger Regions Program, at the same time they were starving local councils of funding through the financial assistance grants indexation freeze. Government MPs have supported the decision of their ministers and their government to reduce funding to local government by close to 5.2 million of the 5 million black hole in a $17 million project. Who will pay for that?
The tip at Mount Vincent Waste Management Centre is near capacity, so this project simply has to go ahead. We have five people moving to the Maitland area every day. It is one of the fastest-growing areas in the state. Who will fund the shortfall? The ratepayers of Maitland? If the National Stronger Regions Fund were really as significant and positive as the member for Wide Bay would have us believe it would have granted the sought-after contribution to Maitland City Council's Mount Vincent Waste Management Centre, but it did not. It is hardly a success story.
