GOVERNMENT BACKS DOWN ON REGIONAL INVESTMENT CORPORATION

The Turnbull Government has accepted Labor amendments in the Senate which will help prevent further political exploitation of the proposed Regional Investment Corporation.

 

The Amendments were narrowly rejected by the Senate last year and the Regional Investment Corporation Bill has been stalled in the Senate.

 

The Regional Investment Corporation is a poor piece of public policy.  It was driven by National Party raw politics rather than the interests of our farmers.

 

How else would you explain the decision to locate the Corporation in Orange, the place where the National Party lost a local parliamentary seat for the first time in 69 years?

 

The case for the expenditure on tens of millions of dollars on this new entity has not been established and Labor continues to reject what we believe to be a political stunt and a shocking pork barrel.

 

But we are pleased that although the Bill has now passed the Senate (33-31), we can at least be more confident about its improved governance arrangements and that new safeguards provided by Labor’s amendments will protect against further political abuse of the new entity.