The Labor Government had one chance to deliver for regional Australia last week and failed, not once, but twice.

Two days after the Federal Budget wiped $2.1b from spending in rural areas the Albanese Government sneakily slipped through its ‘signature’ infrastructure spending policy for the bush cutting $100m from promised funding in the process.

$300m was committed under the first round of the Growing Regions Program – on Thursday Minister Catherine King announced just over $200m to deliver 40 projects.

In the last round of the Coalition’s BBRF policy, seven projects in Farrer received a total of over $5m out of $300m committed nationally to 298 recipients.

I know of some fabulous applications from Leeton, Wentworth, Hay, Darlington Point, Moama, Berrigan & Mulwala which were depending on this new Labor program to help deliver much needed projects in their community.

Labor’s inability to manage the economy, while redirecting so much funding to their urban priorities, means we’ve ended up with donuts!

There are some very disappointed councils and local organisations in Farrer right now.

Adding to the insult, Albanese Government spending cuts has seen mobile phone blackspot funding vanish, an end to the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, the dedicated Agriculture Visa torn up and an end to bipartisanship on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

When the Prime Minister was elected two years ago, he said ‘no one would be left behind’.

It’s now obvious he didn’t mean the 30% of Australians who live and work in regional Australia.