Albanese: ALP can reclaim the bush

Speaking at the party’s Eddie Graham address in Wagga Wagga NSW last night, the Shadow Infrastructure and Transport Minister drew inspiration from former party leader Gough Whitlam to demonstrate Labor’s values of fairness and equal opportunity.

Mr Albanese attacked the government saying said rural and regional Australians were being denied full access to opportunity which his party wanted to reverse.

The charismatic Sydney MP said standards for core policy areas of health and education were lower in the bush than in the cities, as were wage levels, while rural and regional areas often featured high unemployment and poverty levels.

“In decades past, some people accepted inferior services and reduced opportunity as the unavoidable cost of living outside the big city,” he said.

“In the 21st Century, technology offers us opportunities to re-imagine rural and regional Australia in ways that enhance equity and promote prosperity.

“Flawed policy approaches and a lack of vision by the current government are preventing our nation from exploiting opportunities to super-charge economic growth outside our cities.”

Mr Albanese said the need to diversify the national economy post-mining boom offered “huge opportunities” for growth in existing export sectors and to develop new industries.

But he said to make the most of those opportunities, “we need to get the policy settings right”.

“For example, we must invest in infrastructure to ensure our railways, roads and ports can support a broadening of the economy.

“We also need a first-rate National Broadband Network, not the second-rate copper Fraudband system of Malcolm Turnbull.

“We need to fund education and training in rural and regional Australia on the basis of need to ensure today’s children are ready for the jobs of tomorrow.

“And most importantly, if we are serious about re-imagining our regions, we need to accept that unchecked climate change is a threat to our economic future as well as our natural environment.

“We need to tackle it front on, not pretend it does not exist.”

However, Mr Albanese conceded the bush was no longer a stronghold for the Australian Labor Party and it had a challenge ahead to address the party’s vote in non-metropolitan electorates.

“In the forthcoming federal election, and in the years that follow, Labor must seek to reclaim the bush,” he said.

“That will not be easy.

“But my point tonight is that in 2016, Labor’s policies and our willingness to think long-term put us in a great place to take on the Coalition in the bush.

“We need to be positive - we need to show vision - and we need to demonstrate the practical benefits of Labor’s program for those who live outside capital cities.”