Labor welcomes tomorrow’s opening of Mary’s Farm Cottages in Kukerin, Western Australia, a new eco-tourist retreat funded with the help of a $250,000 grant from the former Labor Government.

I congratulate the Nenke family on the opening of this exciting project.
Mary’s Farm Cottages received $250,000 matching funding under Round 1 of the Tourism Industry Regional Fund, which the former Labor Government introduced to support job-boosting tourism projects and lift visitor demand in regional Australia.
But upon being elected the Abbott Government axed Round 2 of the Tourism Industry Regional Fund leaving 450 tourism operators across Australia out of pocket for applications they had already submitted.
This includes 61 businesses in Western Australia.
Last week local paper the Wagin Argus reported that Trade Minister Andrew Robb and his Coalition colleague, the Member for O’Connor would attend the opening tomorrow.
If Mr Robb and his Coalition colleagues are happy to support projects funded under the former Labor Government’s Tourism Industry Regional Fund, they should do the right thing and proceed with the $7.5 million funding that had been allocated for Round 2.