Well, thank you very much for that warm Ballarat welcome.
And I do want to begin though on a sad note. Of course, here in Victoria, Victorians are mourning the loss of Detective Thompson and Senior Constable De Waart.
This is a tragedy that has impacted particularly people in, in the local community, but it's also, of course, impacted people in the police family as well.
It's a reminder that the men and women who put on the blue uniform to protect our local communities take a risk each and every day. We thank them for their service and we pay our respect to them at this difficult time.
The Australian Federal Police have joined the work that's being undertaken to hunt down the perpetrator of this crime because we do want to see this issue resolved so that people who are traumatised in that local community can once again feel comfortable as they should be in their day to day lives.
I also want to give a shout out to three people who last night at the dinner that was held here in Ballarat, I had the privilege of hearing their stories, the Bush Champions.
A young fellow, Jarib Branfield-Bradshaw from Cunnamullah in Queensland. Amazing young man doing incredible things to help his fellow young Australians. And he gave a powerful speech about it being not so much him helping them, but putting them in a position where they feel better about themselves as being the key as well. And an extraordinary mature 21 year old, I've got to say.
Grace Larson doing incredible work as well in the community.
And the person who won the big prize was Ben Wundersitz. He's formed an organisation in South Australia called Fat Farmers, which was about his experience as someone who was perhaps not as fit as he should be, going to the local gym and discovering that all 30 members of the local gym were women. There were no blokes, it was across the road from the pub.
So, he, in that most Australian of ways, had a barbecue, got people out of the pub and got them talking to each other about joining the gym. They joined up and it was a real, I guess a different equivalent of a men's shed and the role of that they play as well.
And Ben was fantastic last night and all three of them were very worthy winners and it was a pleasure to be there last night.
I'm glad also to be in Ballarat at a time that coincides with the Ballarat International Photo Biennale, which has grown into a big part of the cultural life of this great city.
I do want to acknowledge the local member firstly here as well, Catherine King, the fantastic part of my Ministerial team, but a great local member and advocate for this local community and someone who's brought me to this local community on a regular basis.
Julie Collins, the Minister for Agriculture as well.
I know that the Leader of the Opposition will be here today and other members of Parliament will be here today participating as well.
And you'll hear from the Premier soon, who I think, I've had more conversations over the last few days due to this tragic incident with the Premier, and we continue to cooperate in the interests of this community.
Ballarat is central to the story of our modern nation.
Through the Eureka Stockade, it gave us the first flowering of the democratic instinct that remains a deeply ingrained part of the Australian spirit.
Ben Chifley described Eureka as “the first real affirmation of our determination to be masters of our own political destiny”. Mark Twain called it “the finest thing in Australian history”.
It took place amid something that was no less extraordinary – the gold rush that transformed Victoria, and ultimately transformed our continent.
It was a magnet that drew in people from across the colonies and across the world, from China to Europe to the Americas. And its great dam burst of wealth made so much possible.
It turned Melbourne into a true global metropolis and transformed Victoria’s goldfields towns into beacons of opportunity.
With their proud and substantial histories, Ballarat, Bendigo and Castlemaine stand as proud testament to a pivotal moment in our history when, given the chance and the means, Victorians chose foresight.
They didn’t just build, they built to last.
That is the living legacy that surrounds today in Ballarat, every part of its beauty and opportunity a reminder of the importance of building for the future.
We come together in a time of significant global economic uncertainty, but also what – for our nation – is a moment of profound opportunity.
And so much of that opportunity begins in regional Australia.
I thank News Corp for bringing us together to continue the ongoing conversation that is Bush Summit. The Bush Summit that I've participated in each and every year since the first one was held in Dubbo in 2019. And to which, this is my second Bush Summit in the last three days, having been in Wagga Wagga just a couple of days ago.
The communities that make up regional Australia are as diverse as our landscapes. Each with its own challenges and opportunities, each one powered by the greatest resource possible – its people.
Everything I talk about today is a reflection of our Government’s commitment to all Australians, wherever they live.
And it is informed by one incontestable fact: When regional Australia does well, the whole nation does well.
To build Regional Australia’s Future, we need to make it easier for younger generations to stay and build their lives in the communities they grew up in.
So many times when I've been around our regions over the years, one of the regrets that people have, as they say, ‘my children weren't able to stay here. They had to move to the cities for jobs and opportunities’.
We want to make sure that people can stay in local communities.
That is why Labor went to the election committed to building more homes and making it easier for young regional Australians to buy their first home. And we are delivering.
On Monday, we announced that we are bringing forward the start date for the 5 per cent first home owner deposit scheme from 1 January to 1 October.
This will open doors metaphorically and literally.
The scheme will make it possible for the average first home buyer in Ballarat to save the deposit in a couple of years, rather than the eight years it would take to save a 20 per cent deposit.
The scheme will also save them the nearly $25,000 they would have had in Lenders Mortgage Insurance.
Since coming to office, the Government has helped more than 38,000 first home buyers in regional areas to buy a home.
Current income caps will be removed and price caps will be increased in nearly all regional areas across the country, making it even easier for regional Australians to buy a home in their area.
Ensuring regional communities aren’t just viable but desirable as places to call home is an ongoing project of many parts.
It means keeping people safe and connected, which is we’re investing $1.1 billion to upgrade Victoria’s Western Freeway, bringing our total investment in the Western Freeway corridor to $2.1 billion.
We’re delivering $325 million towards the Melton line upgrade, to increase the rail capacity by 50 per cent
And in just over a fortnight, trains will begin rolling on the Gippsland Rail Line upgrade.
We’ve doubled funding for road upgrades under our Roads to Recovery program to every council.
In Victoria alone, $900 million is allocated for the current five-year period under Roads to Recovery for current projects – a 67 per cent increase for regional local roads in Victoria that goes directly to local councils to determine where it’s needed most.
In the Ballarat region, over $45 million has been made available, an increase of nearly $20 million. This is allowing the delivery of projects such as the upgrade of Gilles Road in Bald Hills and Ascot.
We have increased funding for blackspots, local bridges and heavy vehicle routes, too.
Meanwhile, as communications technology continues to erode the tyranny of distance, making the move to the regions is becoming an increasingly logical choice for people and businesses alike.
This month, NBN Co – a proud Labor creation – signed a deal with Amazon to bring quality broadband to the bush.
It will deliver faster and more reliable broadband to up to 300,000 homes and businesses through the new Low Earth Orbit satellite technology deployed 600km above Australia.
We have also prioritised keeping communities connected in emergencies, strengthening local radio broadcast services across the country through the $20 million Broadcasting Resilience Program.
All 131 projects have now been completed and delivered.
These services are critical.
We are also investing significantly in telecommunications infrastructure through the Mobile Black Spot Program, delivering up to 1,400 new mobile base stations across Australia.
And under the Mobile Network Hardening Program, we are upgrading and boosting the resilience of mobile telecommunications, including permanent generators, transmission upgrades and greater battery back-up.
For much of regional Australia, the viability of communities is tied in no small part to the strength of our exports.
One of the good news stories of the past couple of years is that we are back in business with our biggest trade partner.
China has removed all trade impediments without Australia compromising on our interests or values.
Every loaded ship leaving an Australian port for China is a victory for a regional community.
Last year, Australia exported $19.5 billion of previously affected products to China – from coal to rock lobsters, from wine to wool.
China is also far and away our biggest purchaser of wool.
Later today, I’ll be visiting Lal Lal Estate, home to a lot of very fine merinos and owned by Mr Wen, the owner of China-based Tianyu Wool Industries.
Tianyu is one of Australia’s biggest purchasers of Australian wool, buying 11 per cent of the national clip in the 2024/25 season alone.
The Australia-China trade relationship is extremely valuable to regional Australia, and it is one I worked to strengthen when I went to China last month with a delegation of representatives from government and business.
To underpin the farming sector on which the nation depends, the Government is also committed to ensuring Australia’s long-term agricultural productivity and food and fibre security.
We’re providing funds to state and territory governments to drive the implementation of the National Soil Action Plan and to the National Farmers’ Federation to develop and implement the Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework.
We are supporting emissions reduction efforts in the agriculture and land sectors and providing funding to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Science to give the agricultural sector better access to climate, economic and market insights.
This all builds on our other investments, including: $470 million in matched funding delivered to our 15 Rural Research & Development Corporations, and $519 million allocated in this next phase of the Future Drought Fund.
I have seen firsthand the toll that natural disasters take on regional communities.
That is why the Government is providing ongoing support to farmers experiencing hardship by continuing the Regional Investment Corporation.
Today I announce our Government will commit to the future of the RIC with an additional $1 billion in funding, and expand its focus to include climate adaptation and resilience.
This will ensure the RIC can continue to support farm businesses in hardship, including those managing through and recovering from current drought conditions.
This $1 billion in loan funding demonstrates the Australian Government’s continued commitment to the RIC beyond what the previous government had slated as the end of this financial year.
I have stood with locals affected by natural disasters and extreme weather events, and I have listened their stories. And I thank the farmers who this morning over breakfast I was able to have a chat with them. I thank them for producing the breakfast as well.
While we can always be proud that the worst of circumstances brings out the best in Australians, no community should ever have to stand alone.
As we look to the future, we are working to make it easier for Australians to have good access to healthcare.
We’re doing it through our record investment in Medicare, slashing the price of medicines on the PBS, which just yesterday passed the Parliament in the House of Representatives, bringing the price of medicines down to just $25 that are listed on the PBS.
We often say that things don't ever fall in price. Well, this is a fall in price down to the same price it was in 2004. And we're frozen the cost for concession cardholders to just $7.70 for the rest of this decade.
In addition to that, we're prioritising mental health, including in our regional communities, with the opening of Medicare mental health centres, and also the work we're doing through headspace and its expansion, aimed particularly at young people.
We’ve opened the first of our 50 new Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, adding to the network of 87 we opened in our first term.
We now have 31 up and running in remote, rural and regional Australia – including one here on Sturt Street – with another 17 to come.
And we are working to make easier to get ahead and stay ahead.
Our legislation to cut student debt by 20 per cent was the first bill since the election to pass the Parliament.
And since the advent of Free TAFE in 2023, nearly a third of the 650,000 enrolments have been in regional Australia.
We have also more than doubled the number of University Study Hubs across the country. There are now 49 Regional University Study Hubs up and running, with another seven expected to open by year’s end.
And a child born this year, who goes on to attend regional and remote Government schools will attract an average of nearly $32,000 more Commonwealth funding due to our new agreements with states and territories, fulfilling the Gonski education reforms.
At the end of last year, when the fires were raging through the Grampians, I visited the control centre there. And I had the honour of meeting everyone from local volunteers to professional firefighters.
People had come from all over Australia, giving up their summer holidays because they wanted to help. It’s what Australians do.
I saw the same thing on the mid north coast of NSW during the recent floods. And I've seen it whenever there have been fires or floods, natural disasters, cyclonic activity in Queensland. We see Australians standing together, better together, stronger together because of that.
That is what drives my team.
Our Government is focused on delivering for all Australians, repaying and building the trust they again placed in us at the election.
We are ambitious for Australia and we look to the future in the way Ballarat has so famously shown us – with optimism and vision.
It is a future we will build together – and it begins in regional Australia. Thank you very much.