After four years of Labor, regional families are still doing it tough.
Since 2022, the Albanese Labor Government has delivered four Budgets — and for regional communities, life hasn’t gotten easier. Families are still battling rising grocery bills, higher power prices, expensive rents and mortgages, and a housing shortage that’s locking young people out of their own towns.
Billions of dollars in promised regional road, water and transport projects have been cut, delayed or re-announced. Community infrastructure has stalled. Access to bulk-billed GP appointments in the regions is patchy at best. Childcare shortages remain a daily stress for working parents. And too many families are travelling many hours for specialist care that should be available close to home.
Regional Australians deserve better than being an afterthought.
The Nationals put regional families first.
We’ll tackle cost-of-living pressures by fixing the fundamentals that drive higher prices. That means boosting reliable energy supply to put downward pressure on power bills. It means cracking down on supermarket price gouging with stronger competition laws, real penalties, and fairer deals for farmers at the farmgate and families at the checkout. And it means working with all levels of government to cut red tape and increase housing supply in regional communities.
We’ll back regional healthcare with stronger incentives to attract and retain GPs, specialists and nurses in the regions — so families can see a doctor without a long drive or long wait. We’ll support practical, community-led childcare solutions to ease the pressure on working parents and local employers.
We believe regional Australia is full of hardworking small businesses, innovators and industries that just need government to get out of the way. Our plan will back local strengths, remove unnecessary hurdles and create more local jobs — so young people can build a future in the communities they love.
We’ll also invest in clearing the backlog of rural road and bridge maintenance, and deliver the transport links regional communities rely on every day — to boost productivity and help families get home safely.
By listening to local communities and backing common-sense solutions, The Nationals will make life easier for regional families and build a stronger regional Australia for the years ahead.
Our priorities are building stronger regional economies and secure communities, delivering opportunity and prosperity for all regional Australians, and ensuring a sustainable environment.
Stronger, more secure, sustainable local communities that provide the opportunity for everyone to prosper will deliver a stronger, more secure and sustainable nation.
The Nationals commitment to the national interest does not stop there. The Nationals provide a considered and common sense perspective on all elements of Government policy and a balance between Australia’s political extremes.
