Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned against creating "two Australias" between regional and metropolitan parts, saying the nation must avoid economic and social splits seen in the United States, in a speech making a major pitch for votes in the regions.
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Pledging to create an additional 450,000 jobs in regional Australia by 2027, Mr Morrison on Wednesday said divides between cities and country areas across the globe had created "incredibly fractured" societies in which regional people felt left behind.
Speaking in central Queensland, where the government is looking to head off threats from the United Australia Party and One Nation, Mr Morrison said he feared for the "way of life" of regional Australians if his government was not returned on May 21.
Mr Morrison told a Rockhampton-based chamber of commerce that growing rural Australia's economy was vital to avoiding fractures seen in the US, where he said large cities like New York and Washington had pulled "away from large parts of the American heartland".
"Economically, definitely, but also socially and also culturally, causing great divisions in their country," he said.
"And so today, as we observe, many Americans in rural areas feel left out, the places they called home spoken of dismissively as 'flyover country'.
"Many rural people in European communities feel a similar disconnect in the wake of decades of the industrialisation and drift of people to the big cities. They feel looked down on, spoken down to. Their jobs and lifestyles derided or seen as somehow unsophisticated, in a world where the big talkers all seem to work in government, or finance, or the tech industry, or the media."
Mr Morrison said Australia had been one of the most successful countries in the world in spreading opportunities in regional areas, but described it as "a constant task".
The federal government claims 450,000 of the 1.3 million jobs it has pledged to create will be in regional areas.
"We don't want two Australias with two different levels of opportunity," he said.
"That means respecting people who work in regional industries so vital to our national prosperity ... This means investing in communities so Australians in our regions can access essential services they need.
"Our vision is an Australia that grows together regions and our cities, not apart."
The Prime Minister has consistently framed a vote for Labor as a vote for a Labor-Greens alliance, and said an anti-Adani coalmine convoy to central Queensland, led by former Greens leader Bob Brown before the 2019 election, was proof the two parties were out of touch with regional Australia.
"This was the green left in this country basically saying 'we're more virtuous than you and we think you need to change'. That's what they were saying," he said.
"That's not a country I know and nor is it a country I want Australia to ever be."
Mr Morrison said he feared for the economic future and way of life of regional areas if Labor won government, supported by the Greens.
"I fear for a growing polarisation between the regions and rural areas of our country and our cities," he said.
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Mr Morrison listed the Coalition's funding promises and programs for regional areas, including inland rail, $464 million for hydrogen hubs and the $2 billion regional accelerator program, while claiming Labor would attempt to introduce a "sneaky carbon tax" that would hurt regions.
The Prime Minister, speaking at the event with National Party leader Barnaby Joyce, said the Liberals and Nationals worked "strongly together ... to ensure that rural and regional Australia is paramount in how we are developing our economic plans, but also importantly the services and needs of regional Australia."
The Coalition is campaigning heavily in regional Queensland this week as it pushes to retain seats crucial to holding onto government, promising and promoting policies for electricity cost relief for small to medium-sized businesses, an extended asset write-off scheme, and grants for northern Australian businesses.
Doug Dingwall
