By JONATHON HOWARD
“DAMNED if you do and damned if you don’t”, was the reaction of the Independent Member for New England, Tony Windsor to criticism levelled at him by Senator Joyce in The Weekend Australian (May 18).
His comments related to the New England electorate being successful in receiving Federal Government money in the Budget and in the Regional Development Australia Fund for a number of projects in his electorate.
But Mr Windsor would rather be damned for “doing” than “not doing”.
He says it’s hypocritical of Senator Joyce to on the one hand tell the people of New England that they will miss out if they don’t vote for him at the next election, but then on the other hand argue that New England should not get anything as it would ‘compromise’ the member.
“It’s incredible that Queensland Senator Joyce would argue funding to regional communities should be rejected when nearly 60 per cent of round three of the Regional Development Australia Fund (RDAF) in New South Wales went to Coalition seats allocated through an independent process,” he said.
“Queensland Senator Joyce seems to be having difficulty coming to terms with the job description of a ‘Member of the House of Representatives’.
“MPs are there to represent the people of their electorate and convey their needs and aspirations to the government of the day and to work with the people to bring about what they identify as their priorities and opportunities.
“Does Queensland Senator Joyce argue that Varley Oval in Inverell should not be funded or the Glen Innes Airport funding should be rejected? The Glen Innes project has enormous implications for the region.
“Is Queensland Senator Joyce going to tell the good people of Ashford that they can’t have their medical centre or the Inverell Council shouldn’t get any federal money to go with their contribution to get a new ‘Linking Together Centre’ that delivers many much needed services to the Inverell community or the Inverell RSL that they shouldn’t get help to conserve and present our heritage?
“Will Queensland Senator Joyce tell the people of Werris Creek that they shouldn’t get funding for their Community Shed, or the businesses of Acacia Park in Armidale shouldn’t get National Broadband Network fibre to their premises (nearly forgot – they wouldn’t under the Coalition ‘Fibre to the Node’ – FTTN – proposal).
“The vision of Liverpool Plains Shire Council to drought-proof their communities with the development of a water strategy would also be questioned by Senator Joyce as would the protection of the Hinton and Coventry Art Collections at the New England Regional Art Museum,” Mr Windsor said.
Mr Windsor recalls Queensland Senator Joyce welcoming funding to regional communities from the Regional Partnerships Program that was panned for its lack of process when the Nationals were in charge of doling out money and the Labor Party complaining that Independent seats and Coalition seats were favoured.
