DRIVING long distances to family and friends for your holidays, chances are you got stuck in roadworks somewhere.
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Although frustrating, roadworks are a good thing. It means work is happening. It means the road is becoming safer. Across the nation, that's what the Liberal and Nationals government is doing.
In places big and small our investment in infrastructure is making an impact on people's lives.
Whether it's investing $10b billion in making the Bruce Hwy safer, or smaller, yet no less important projects such as our investment of $2.58m to seal parts of the Cloncurry-Dajarra Rd, we are helping Queenslanders get home sooner and safer to their families.
But making life easier for Queenslanders and their families does not stop there.
We want to invest in capturing water and giving Australian agriculture the boost it deserves. That means building dams.
The Federal Government investment under the National Water Infrastructure Fund now totals more than $1.3b to help deliver major water infrastructure projects in regional Australia.
We are also investing in the social infrastructure around the state, including in central Queensland to help country kids train the next generation of sporting champions.
Sport in Mackay – famously home to Olympic gold-medallist Cathy Freeman – is set for a big win thanks to a new sporting precinct at Central Queensland University's Mackay campus, complete with an Olympic pool and an athletics track.
Something which used to be quarantined for the city is now a reality in country Queensland.
These investments change lives and they are possible thanks to a strong economy.
But we cannot take these things for granted. We have seen what life was like for the regions under Labor.
Only the Liberal and Nationals' Federal Government – with country voices at the Cabinet table – will put regional Australia at the forefront.
Only we focus on making sure country roads are safer, cutting taxes for small businesses and families, and building the infrastructure the regions deserve.
And that will never change.
Michael McCormack is Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of The Nationals.