PRIME MINISTER:
Welcome to the first meeting of our Regional Ministerial Taskforce.
It’s vitally important that every part of Australia benefits from the economic growth and the jobs that our national economic leadership is delivering.
We have three quarters of our exports come from Australia’s regions and they cover the whole vast expanse of our nation.
Some regions are doing extremely well. Others are doing it tough, as the mining boom, in particular, has wound down, as the construction boom has wound down and we have not yet seen new investment to pick up the slack.
So we’re determined and we’re all working together, to ensure that in every single angle - whether it’s education, whether it’s health, whether it’s telecommunications, whether it’s industry and innovation, infrastructure, right across the board, agriculture – everything we’re doing has got to ensure that every part of Australia benefits from the economic growth and the rising tide lifts all boats.
It’s good we’re all here together, focused on this, to ensure that we have the right policies to deliver for all Australians, to deliver for our regions as well as the big cities.
MINISTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Thanks very much Prime Minister.
As this Coalition Government, we want to help build the kinds of rural, regional and remote communities that our children and our grandchildren either want to stay in, or come back to.
And it is tremendous that you are chairing this taskforce, Prime Minister. I think it shows the absolute importance that we as a Coalition place on the future of regional Australia.
And to have cross portfolio ministers as part of this process indicates that we recognise we cannot look at just ‘silos’ in how we approach regional Australia. We need to look from a whole-of-government perspective.
I am very much looking forward to working with Ministers to have that overall approach to regional communities. We will invest in them and we need to ensure that they have confidence in their future, and rural, regional and remote communities, confidence so they invest in their futures.
PRIME MINISTER:
That’s the goal! We’ve got work to do.
[ENDS]