Nationals question Labor’s commitment to the bush as infrastructure programs face axe

The federal opposition has raised concerns about Labor's "commitment to regional Australia", with former Nationals ministers Barnaby Joyce and Bridget McKenzie unhappy at reports the Labor government may cut funding for major Coalition infrastructure proposals.

The infrastructure minister, Catherine King, has previously criticised "largesse" doled out under Joyce's reign in that portfolio, and this week signalled the October federal budget could alter funding to the $7.1bn regional energy security package and $2bn regional accelerator program, both announced in the Coalition's last budget.

Joyce said he hoped the Albanese government would not drastically alter his plans.

"The projects we came up with were driven by people of the area, not designed by me," he said.

"The Labor party taunted me that we hadn't built a dam, so I got money put aside for dams. Let's see if their rhetoric matches their actions, or if that was something Anthony Albanese said in the chamber and didn't really mean."

Nine newspapers reported this week that King's office had indicated likely reductions to the energy security and regional accelerator programs, announced in the Morrison government's last federal budget in March. King's office said that spending was "subject to review" and decisions in Labor's upcoming budget.

King's office did not respond by deadline to Guardian Australia's questions about potential cuts to those programs.

The Coalition's March budget contained $21bn in regional infrastructure and development spending, including the energy security plan for projects in the Northern Territory, north and central Queensland, Western Australia's Pilbara and the Hunter region of New South Wales. It included logistics hubs, sealing thousands of kilometres of remote and rural roads, upgrading highways, upgrades to chemical plants and ports, and water supply projects.

The spend largely targeted National-held or targeted seats. Guardian Australia analysis found just 15% of projects announced were endorsed as priorities by Infrastructure Australia.

King said in July the Labor government would scrap some Coalition infrastructure commitments. She said it was the subject of "complex" discussions, alleging some projects had been announced despite a lack of available land or in the face of community opposition.

King accused Joyce of showering Nationals seats in taxpayer-funded "largesse", and "shameful" distribution of funding.

In a speech on Tuesday to the Regional Australia Institute, King said regional spending "must be equitable, transparent, and responsive to genuine need and opportunity."

"Ensuring fairness and transparency in grant administration is a key element of our government's approach to regional investment," she said.

Labor had pledged to match Coalition funding promises for Darwin's Middle Arm wharf and energy projects in the Hunter and was in July examining the Pilbara proposals.

Despite concerted Nationals' campaigning to win seats in the Hunter and the Northern Territory, Labor held on to retain their seats in both areas but failed to pick up any seats in northern or central Queensland.

Joyce, now shadow veterans affairs minister, said the energy security package would have had "massive benefits" for those areas.

"It will be hard [for the government] to explain to those people why they were stripped of major investment," he said.

Joyce implored the government to invest in infrastructure to help transition mining and manufacturing regions.

"If we're going to move to a zero-emission economy, we have to go to areas that have heavily carbon-reliant economies and invest in a way that we don't have unemployment," he said.

"For renewables, you need critical minerals, which means you need sealed roads to mining precincts like the Outback Way. You need roads to connect Indigenous communities."

McKenzie, former minister for regionalisation and now shadow minister for infrastructure, was similarly critical of potential cuts by the new government.

"Will they be supporting regional communities to overcome the challenges and seize the opportunities in a low emissions economy or not?" she said.

"There are growing concerns about the Labor government's commitment to regional Australia in the budget. The government is accelerating its climate ambitions, while apparently simultaneously reducing its investment in the most impacted communities."

McKenzie said it was "concerning" the accelerator and energy security programs could be altered, adding she had "grave concerns" about potential changes to the Building Better Regions Fund.

An auditor general's report into that $1.15bn grants program found Liberal-held seats received twice as many grants as Labor electorates, and that Nationals seats got $104m more funding than a merit-based process would have allocated.

The audit office said its review found that two-thirds of the projects that were awarded funding were not those assessed by the department as having the highest merit, and warned there was an "increasing disconnect" between the program's published criteria and the allocation of funding.