- Delivered a win on the ‘Backpacker Tax’ ensuring our agricultural industry remains competitive and maintaining Australia’s status as one of the most competitive destinations for working holiday makers.
- Delivered the first Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land Register report to protect Australian farmland.
- Investing $100 million under the Northern Australia Beef Roads Programme bringing the total funding to improve roads in Northern Australia to $700 million.
- Ruled out the sugar tax.
- Delivering our $2.5 billion water infrastructure programme including feasibility studies across Australia.
- Committed to establishing the Regional Investment Corporation to deliver $4.5 billion of farm business concessional loans and water infrastructure loans.
- Securing Australia’s borders with $15.9 million to better target biosecurity risks to our agricultural industries, the environment and economy.
- Commenced decentralisation of government agencies into the regions.
- Delivered the dairy industry rescue package.
- Progressed the establishment of a commodity milk price index.
- Approved Round 3 of the National Stronger Regions Fund, delivering 67 projects worth $126.5 million across the nation.
- Launched 65 new mobile phone towers with a further 434 to be delivered over the next 2 years.
- $94 million over four years to develop a medical training pathway in rural and regional areas to attract more doctors to the bush.
- New guidelines under the Building Better Regions Fund to ensure funding is directed to the rural and regional parts of Australia.
- Launched the second Sky Muster satellite which is connecting 2,000 remote regional customers a week.
- Reached 100,000 regional connections on the fixed wireless broadband network. Now more than 1 in 4 Australians can connect to the NBN, 70 per cent of these people in regional areas.
- More than $360 million for new road upgrade projects in Northern Australia across QLD, NT and WA.
- Commenced work on the $1.6 billion Toowoomba Second Range Crossing viaduct, as well as 135km section of the Pacific Highway between Woolgoolga and Ballina.
- Created the office of the $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and appointed its board.
- Appointed a National Rural Health Commissioner who will advocate for regional, rural and remote health issues.
- Supporting 5000 jobs for Indigenous jobseekers through the Vocational Training and Employment Centre initiative.
- Driving our regional economy by securing Australia’s 25th consecutive year of economic growth. Our growth is faster than every other G7 economy.
- Making banks answerable to regional Australia by requiring their CEOs to make regular appearances before Parliament and answer questions, when necessary, on rural finance issues.
- Legislated to protect volunteer firefighters from union takeovers.
- Growing our industries with record commodity prices.
- $23.7 million for Carbon Capture and Storage Research which will fund greenhouse gas reducing technologies.
- Driving regional economies through access stronger ties and greater access to new world markets include with East Asia, Singapore, Europe and the United Kingdom.
- Introduced the Ten Year Enterprise Tax Plan to Parliament, which will reduce the company tax rate for small business and reduce company tax rate to its lowest level since the late 1960s.
- Secured an agreement with the states on energy security and reforms for affordable,
reliable power.
Senator Bridget McKenzie
Nationals Senator for Victoria
