Bush Summit 2026

I have proudly attended Bush Summit every year, starting with the very first one in Dubbo in 2019. It was a great idea by The Daily Telegraph that became a catalyst for an important conversation about regional Australia.

Australia is so much bigger than our big cities. In all their diversity – in environment, character, history and people – the regions give Australia so much of our sense of identity, potential and strength.

Consider the growth of Australian agriculture – up by more than $42 billion in just eight years – and all its flow-on effects.

What’s important is that the agricultural sector, like all of regional Australia, is backed by the Government so that the good times are even better, and the challenging times as short as possible.

Regional Australia often faces significant challenges. At the first Bush Summit, we were in the worst drought in living memory. Its impact was calamitous.

The challenges have kept coming. Floods, fires, a once-in-a-century pandemic, the highest global inflation since the 1980s, a land war in Europe, leading to the biggest international energy crisis since the 1970s.

And a war in the Middle East that has triggered the biggest spike in petrol and diesel prices ever – putting pressure on inflation here and across the world – coupled with a threat to our fertiliser supply.

Our Government has been doing what it always does. We plan, and we act.

During the current Middle East crisis, I have engaged with counterparts across the region, making new energy security agreements to ensure the continued flow of essential fuels.

We unlocked 250,000 tonnes of additional fertiliser from Indonesia, a direct result of the carefully nurtured relationship between our nations. 

There is more fuel in Australia today than when the conflict in the Middle East began. And our Budget is building on that by investing over $14 billion in long- term fuel security, storage and production and diversifying critical supply chains.

Now we are working hard to deal with the arrival of bird flu. In keeping with our Government’s approach, bird flu is something we anticipated with the establishment of a taskforce in 2024.

As we open further funding, we are working urgently but carefully with the states and territories.

We deal with the challenges in a way that anticipates and creates the future we want to build.

That is a future in which we see the towns and communities of regional Australia ever more viable, growing in desirability as places to live. Places where it’s easier for younger generations to stay, and appealing to move to – whether it’s to set up a business or to make a home.

Our Government has been dedicated to making this possible at every level. We’ve been strengthening Medicare through boosting bulk-billing, establishing Urgent Care Clinics and making mental healthcare more accessible.

We’re training more doctors for the regions, and expanding Commonwealth Paid Prac for people training in frontline health professions, making it easier for students to undertake placements in regional areas.

We’ve been enhancing education opportunities and building vital skills through free TAFE (a third of enrolments are in regional and remote areas) and Regional University Hubs. And we’re tapping into a huge pool of talent by making it easier to get more regional Australians into university, helping them study closer to home and building the regional workforces we need.

We’re making it easier for households and small businesses to cut their power bills through cheaper rooftop solar – Australia is a proud world leader – and our Cheaper Home Batteries program, which has seen the regions and outer suburbs leading the charge, installing over half a million batteries.

We’ve been eroding the tyranny of distance by improving the NBN, building better and safer roads, and keeping REX in the air. We’ve focused on jobs as the building blocks of regional Australia’s future, whether it’s through renewable energy projects or support for industry from Whyalla to Tomago.

That is the approach that defines our Government. Working every day to measure up to the energy, ambition and determination of regional Australians. And, for the sake of all Australia, delivering real change for the bush.

PM&C acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past, present and emerging.