Dear Editor
Regional Victorians deserve their fair share — and The Nationals will fight to deliver it.
The Nationals have announced our Fair Share Guarantee: a commitment to ensure regional Victoria receives at least 25 per cent of all new government infrastructure spending, reflecting the fact that one in four Victorians live outside Melbourne.
25 per cent of the population should mean 25 per cent of the funding.
This is not just a promise — it’s a guarantee.
Right now, regional Victorians are getting less than 50 cents in infrastructure investment for every dollar spent in Melbourne, despite our regions contributing enormously to the state’s economy and prosperity.
At the same time, country communities are being asked to pay more while receiving less — with potholed roads, overcrowded hospitals, delayed school upgrades and worsening housing shortages becoming all too common under Labor’s financial mismanagement and soaring debt.
To make matters worse, Labor has imposed more than 60 new or increased taxes on Victorians, including the unfair emergency services tax.
That is simply not fair.
The Nationals’ Fair Share Guarantee will ensure regional communities receive the investment they deserve in roads, rail, hospitals, schools and other critical infrastructure.
We will also scrap the emergency services tax and many of Labor’s other unnecessary taxes to help make life more affordable for Victorian families.
It’s time regional Victoria got its fair share.
Danny O’Brien MP
Leader of The Nationals
