1.
Regional Australians deserve results-driven leadership from the federal government.
2.
The terms of reference of this inquiry were broad, and subsequently did not allow the Committee to examine detailed policy proposals in all manner of policy areas of immediate concern to regional Australians – from the economic opportunities available through climate action in the regions to rural health, telecommunications, and aged care issues.
3.
It must also be noted that this inquiry is the only work of the Committee over the entire course of this three-year Parliament. While the COVID pandemic did impact our ability to do our work, many other Committees were able to conduct multiple inquiries into specific policy issues, including bills and other concrete reform proposals.
4.
While I support the majority report of this Committee, I want to place on the record a disappointment in the lack detailed reform-driven work from this Committee and provide concrete examples of the kinds of urgent issues facing regional Australians that could have been addressed.
Regional renewables
5.
Regional Australians are on the forefront of the impacts of climate change. Devastating droughts and bushfires will affect us first. And we know that if the world fails to tackle climate change, the benefits we cherish about our lifestyle in the regions will be at risk. The Black Summer bushfires and the devastating floods unfolding in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales are cases in point.
6.
Regional Australia also has the most to gain from smart, practical action to lower emissions and create new industries. Renewable energy is the cheapest form of power, and our country is blessed with the world’s best supply of it. And we could be world leaders in green manufacturing. The opportunities are there if we are clever enough to seize them. The next 50 years could be the brightest ever for regional Australia.
7.
I was disappointed to see this near 200-page report dedicate only three pages to regional energy security and environmental issues, with no specific recommendations. There are countless policy initiatives this government could explore and accelerate to ensure regional Australians reap the economic rewards of our clean energy transition, including those I have proposed as an independent which I offer again below. Instead, we have seen inaction.
Locally owned regional renewables
8.
Renewable energy could be the next gold rush for regional Australia, bringing new jobs and new sources of income for decades to come. But to really make that happen we need more funding to boost local ownership of renewable projects of all sizes, so they deliver those social and economic benefits locally. In my own electorate of Indi, we’ve seen towns like Yackandandah develop community batteries and install solar on community buildings. I want every town to have those opportunities.
9.
When I was elected to Parliament, I consulted with communities across Indi and the nation to develop a plan to drive locally owned renewable energy across the regions. Through that process, we produced the Local Power Plan, which laid out a clear roadmap to building the world’s best renewable energy sector right here in the regions and to make sure regional people are the first to benefit.
10.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy recently held an inquiry into my Australian Local Power Agency Bill 2021, and backed the fundamental parts of my policy. Specifically, the proposal calls on the government to establish a $300 million Local Power Fund to help every regional town build its own solar and community battery projects, a new mechanism to attract private investment in locally owned renewable energy projects, and a top-to-bottom review of the Government’s existing energy agencies to give regional Australians a seat at the table. The Government is yet to deliver.
Supporting agriculture to achieve net zero
11.
Farming is the lifeblood of regional Australia. But a disrupted climate could threaten entire industries or render large parts of the country unviable for farming. Our best scientists project that by 2050, if we fail to act on climate change, Australia could see cotton yields decline 17%, beef production down by 33% and overall agricultural productivity dropping 17%. If we continue on our current path, accumulated agricultural losses from climate change are projected to exceed $19 billion by 2030 and $211 billion by 2050. For Indi’s precious dairy, beef and sheep country, our wine country, and our horticulture sector, this would make life much harder for our primary producers.
12.
At the same time, we know that countries around the world are right now drawing up plans to slap tariffs on Australian agricultural exports because our government has not done enough to reduce emissions. This would be a double hit for our farmers – a harsher climate and less access to markets.
13.
The Government has ‘committed’ to net zero emissions by 2050 right across the economy – including in agriculture – but has not laid out any form of plan for how to get there, or provided any assurance that we will actually meet that benchmark. Farmers tell me they want to reduce their emissions – both to maintain a safe climate and also to protect their access to markets – but the Government has not outlined how they expect farmers to do this. We have heard very little from the Government about real policies to actually reduce on-farm emissions in a way that boosts farm productivity and makes life easier, not harder, for farmers. While some pilot work to transform agriculture is underway, it is too little and not part of a larger plan.
14.
We need specific programs that help farmers to adopt the technologies, practices and products that will both reduce emissions and drive their businesses forward. We need to know exactly how those initiatives will ensure the Government meets its net zero commitment. Farmers are some of the smartest and most innovative people around. But to keep our agriculture sector strong for the next thirty years while we hit net zero, we need to back them in with 21st century extension programs, not leave them out to dry.
Regional health
15.
For decades, federal and state governments have underfunded our regional health services. The stark reality of this was laid bare during the pandemic. Regional Australians have to wait longer and travel further to find the care and medical attention we need. We’ve also got fewer doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and other health workers per capita compared to our city cousins. The latest data from the National Rural Health Alliance shows regional Australians are $4 billion worse off each year because our regional health services are underfunded.
16.
The outdated facilities in my own electorate of Indi are an excellent case in point.
17.
Albury Wodonga Health runs one of the busiest regional health services in the state. It is also the only crossborder health service in the nation. Within 15 years, the population on the border will grow by a third. By 2040 we will need a hospital capable of handling 150,000 emergency presentations, 40,000 surgeries and 1,900 births every year. The current outdated hospital infrastructure is set across two sites, which creates unnecessary delays and limits its capacity to serve our growing community.
18.
Albury Wodonga Health needs approximately $1 billion in federal and state funding to realise its masterplan for a new, world-class, single-site hospital on the border. I have stood with doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other allied health workers on the border calling on the federal government to commit $300 million towards that and bring together both state governments to make it a reality. Small rural hospitals in my electorate like Mansfield, Bright and Benalla face the same issue, with no dedicated federal fund for them to approach to fix long-standing infrastructure and capacity issues. Hospitals in rural areas across the nation have the same challenges,
19.
In addition to the opaque channel of funds delivered to state governments, the Commonwealth administered a one-off $1.25 billion Community Health and Hospital Fund around the last election, which has since been earmarked by the Australian National Audit Office for investigation over concerns about whether the fund achieved value for money and if the selection of projects was merit based. The only other direct Commonwealth program that funds regional health infrastructure is the Building Better Regions Fund which has spent less than 2 per cent of its $1.38 billion allocation on regional health services since its establishment. The ANAO is currently conducting a performance audit into the Building Better Regions Fund as well. It’s clear that federal investment in regional health infrastructure is not occurring in any evidence-driven or step-by-step systematic fashion to ensure our services and access in the regions improve over time.
20.
Our rural health workforce is also in desperate need of investment from the federal government.
21.
The rural bonded medical program has been roundly criticised, and while the recent announcement to forgive the HECS debt of those who choose to relocate to regions is a step in the right direction, the government still fails to acknowledge the talent we already have locally in the regions. Our young people have enormous potential, but we often lose them to universities and hospitals in the cities because we do not have enough opportunities here for their education and training in health careers.
22.
The Murray Darling Medical Schools Network program at La Trobe University in Wodonga in my own electorate is a great example of such success, but 15 new doctors a year is nowhere near enough. We should dramatically increase the size of programs like this, and expanding them to include nursing, pharmacy, oral health, allied health, mental health and so on.
23.
The recommendation in this report that flags the need to expand our rural health workforce is a step in the right direction, but after a three-year inquiry the Committee would have benefited from an opportunity to interrogate real practical steps the government could take.
Regional telecommunications
24.
Mobile coverage and access to quality NBN services in regional areas remain unacceptable, and deserved closer attention throughout the inquiry. Strong telecommunications are vital to the success of regional businesses and the health and safety of our communities.
25.
The Minister responsible for the delivery of the NBN believes the build is finished, but this is far from the daily reality for regional Australians.
26.
In September 2020, NBN Co established a $300 million Regional Co-Investment Fund (RCIF) ‘to deliver highspeed broadband to households, businesses, and communities primarily in regional and remote areas currently served by NBNs Fixed Wireless and Satellite footprint’. If the build was complete, this would be unnecessary. Many regional LGAs have expressed serious concern that the RCIF is just a cost-shifting exercise onto small regional councils to finish the NBN build out. In effect, regional Australians will have to pay for the NBN build twice, and still receive a poorer service on average.
27.
The draft Statutory Infrastructure Provider standards for the NBN released by the Government over a year ago would also not deliver for regional Australians. The standards would mean that regional Australians must access slower NBN connection times and fault fixing times. Nationally, the government would also be permitting the NBN to achieve a minimum speed of 25 mbps once per day to meet its performance benchmark.
28.
This does not reflect anywhere near what is needed for our regional economies to thrive in a new century digital marketplace, and essentially gives a free pass to the NBN for underperformance in the regions where it faces little to no competition. In response, I introduced the Faster Internet for Regional Australia Bill 2021 which would mandate much higher standards – from all time average internet speeds of 50 mbps, to connection and fault fixing times that are on par with standards in the cities.
29.
Mobile connectivity is also critical to regional communities. While Indi has been the most successful electorate in Victoria under the federal Mobile Black Spot Program, there are many mobile black spots which still require urgent attention, specifically those that are consequential in emergencies like bushfires. The Committee had an exceptional opportunity to dovetail with the Regional Telecommunications Review and recommend concrete improvements to our mobile and internet connectivity issues.
Regional deal
30.
The inquiry did contemplate the implementation and effectiveness of the Regional Deal program, which was formulated in response to the Regions at the Ready Report.
31.
The Regional Deal under negotiation in my own electorate in Albury Wodonga has been subject to major delays after it was announced in March 2019. The federal government has repeatedly missed its own deadlines to deliver on the deal after extensive consultation and raising of community expectations.
Regional budget honesty and accountability
32.
I note the recommendations relating to the development of a national Regional Development Plan and the establishment of a dedicated federal authority for regional Australia.
33.
I also note the government has chosen not to act on the recommendation of the Regions at the Ready Report by the Select Committee on Regional Development and Decentralisation last Parliament which specifically called upon the government to deliver a White Paper process to outline the policies and steps we should take as a nation to build, invigorate, and strengthen regional Australia and its communities.
34.
Regrettably, I was forced to issue an Order of the Production of Documents through crossbench colleagues in the Senate in July 2020 to reveal that the government had ignored the advice of an expert panel to proceed with a White Paper process. The national Regional Development Plan proposed by this report is much less detailed and collaborative than a White Paper process, and open to higher levels of political intervention.
35.
Regional Australians are crying out for a long-term vision for the regions that is based on year-on-year indicators that demonstrate, in quantitative terms, how federal investment in regional Australia is improving social, environmental, and economic conditions.
36.
A comprehensive White Paper process or the Charter of Budget Honesty Bill I introduced in May 2020 would give regional Australia an assurance that it is getting value for money from federal investment, and not scatter-gun or pork barrel funding over the short term. I am not convinced, at this stage, that the national Regional Development Plan and requirement for the responsible Minister to deliver an annual address to Parliament does this.
37.
The failure of the government to deliver on a commitment to establish a robust federal integrity commission this Parliament further exposes a national Regional Development Plan process to short term political exploitation and corruption.
38.
I also note the recommendation to make this Committee a permanent feature in future Parliaments. This is a first step towards ensuring we do not repeat the shortcomings of this Committee and continue to take a light-touch approach that simply describes the issues facing regional Australians at a superficial level.
39.
Regional Australians deserve results-driven leadership from the federal government, and it’s time this Committee sought to deliver that.
Dr Helen Haines MP
Member