Federal Member for Flynn, Colin Boyce has labelled the Labor Government's 2024-25 Budget as a betrayal to regional Australia.
Mr Boyce said Labor's Budget has stripped funding for nation building infrastructure in regional Australia and failed to provide new money for regional programs, while refusing to fix its self-made cost-of-living crisis.
"Labor's decision to slash funding to restore Paradise Dam is a kick in the guts to not only the Bundaberg area but the agricultural industry as a whole," Mr Boyce said.
"Instead of addressing the causes of Labor's homegrown inflation, Labor's spending is up by $315 billion. That is $30,000 of extra spending for every Australian household.
"Spending does not take pressure off inflation. In fact, it makes it worse which will affect families across the Flynn electorate.
"There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered about Labor's Future Made in Australia (MIA) Bill.
"This includes $13.7 billion in taxpayer funded subsidies for business, which doesn't address the source of Labor's cost-of-living and cost of doing business crisis.
"Labor's focus should be dealing with high energy costs, high inflation, and out-of-control red tape.
"Instead, Labor continuously fails to address the fundamental realities facing most Australian businesses.
"One of the few positives that I have seen in this Budget is the continuation of the $20,000 instant asset write off until 30 June 2025. However, I would have liked to see the instant asset write off increased to unlock investment and create more jobs.
"Overall, regional Australia has been betrayed in Labor's Budget. Sadly, it is clear Labor has no plan to fix its cost-of-living crisis and regional families will feel the pain in their wallets. Under Labor, regional Australians are poorer and being hit with higher taxes, higher mortgage repayments and higher grocery and energy bills."
