My Government has a vision to Build Australia’s Future, and last week Infrastructure Minister Catherine King and I travelled across the north of our great continent to deliver it.
It’s an ambitious vision to build everything from roads and homes to the health system and education.
In short, all the things that help Australians build the futures they aspire to.
It’s a vision that has at its heart a determination to seize the opportunities that are within our reach, and it begins with Australia’s greatest resource: our people.
After announcing funding to upgrade Queensland’s Bruce Highway, and a visit to the Northern Territory’s Lake Nash cattle station, just one of the many beneficiaries of our resumed trade with China, we flew into Kununurra.
It was a wonderful start to my 27th visit to Western Australia as Prime Minister.
At a community event there, I had the privilege of meeting so many locals.
What it reminded me is that it is people like these who are the lifeblood of our regions.
Their energy, talent and determination are the beating heart of the economy across northern Australia.
And in the words of our Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Madeleine King, a strong north means a strong Australia.
That’s why my Government is doing so much to support regional communities.
Last week we announced a $200 million package to support housing and community infrastructure in regional WA.
More than $90 million of it will go towards the critical infrastructure such as water, roads and power needed for building more than 1360 new homes across the Wheatbelt, Karratha and Lockyer under our Homes for Australia plan.
This plan will see more investment in more social housing and in more private rentals, as well as supporting home ownership through our Help to Buy scheme.
It is a program that is proudly modelled on the successful scheme that has operated here in WA for many decades.
It is important to note that every one of these measures were opposed by Peter Dutton and the Coalition – just as they have opposed all of our measures to help Australians with the cost of living.
While they remain mired in their obsession with obstructing, Labor is getting on with the job of constructing.
We are getting on with building the future by building communities and building opportunities.
As we work to encourage more people to live and work in regional Australia, we know homes are only part of the story.
Northern cities and towns need sporting clubs, parks and upgrades to local precincts – the infrastructure that adds to the liveability that is the heart of any community.
That’s why we are delivering more than $110 million to build and upgrade community infrastructure.
Funding will go to regional areas such as Newman, Kununurra and Carnarvon.
This will encourage more people to live in regional WA and create more economic and business opportunities, and begin writing a fresh chapter in the West’s extraordinary success story.
WA’s success is central to Australia’s success.
We will continue to encourage and foster that economic growth.
That’s why we have granted First Point of Entry to the Ports of Wyndham, Ashburton and Dampier.
This will allow for more direct international shipping, meaning businesses, farmers and other industry in the north will be able to import and export goods closer without having to transit through ports such as Darwin or Fremantle.
Consider the scale of the changes that are possible.
Right now, the volume of exports at the Port of Wyndham is 212,199 tonnes.
With the changes to First Point of Entry, we expect exports to increase to over 1.36 million tonnes.
At the Port of Ashburton, we expect exports to be more than 13 million tonnes of iron ore and rare earth concentrates per year by 2030.
Building Australia’s Future is about so much more than bricks and mortar.
It is about creating a better life for Australians, whether it’s through better education, better aged care, better childcare, and better Medicare.
In short: a better Australia for all Australians.
Since we were elected, that has been my Government’s priority.
With a second term, we will keep working and keep building.
While Peter Dutton has made it clear he wants to take Australia backward, we want to keep taking Australia forward to the bright future within our reach.
This opinion piece was first published in The West Australian on Wednesday, 15 January 2025.