News

Nats promise regions a bigger chunk of the infrastructure pie

By Louie Cina

Sep 15, 2026

Victorian Nationals leader Danny O’Brien said regional infrastructure projects should receive a share of funding equivalent to the percentage of the state’s population living regionally. Photo by Geoff Adams

The Nationals have made one of their biggest campaign announcements yet, promising a quarter of Victoria’s infrastructure funding will go to regional projects if the Coalition is elected in November.

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The party’s state leader, Danny O’Brien, said regional Victorians had been left out for too long.

“Regional Victorians make up 25 per cent of Victoria’s population, so they should receive 25 per cent of the funding, it’s that simple,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Our Fair Share Guarantee ... locks in regional Victoria’s share of new infrastructure investment and makes sure our communities are no longer at the back of the queue.”

At the last census, nearly 1.6 million Victorians were identified as living regionally — about 24 per cent of the state’s population.

The Nationals claim despite this, regional Victoria receives less than 12 per cent of new infrastructure investments.

The report this figure comes from found 12 per cent of asset investment in Victoria went exclusively to regional projects, 57.6 per cent went exclusively to metropolitan projects, and 30.4 per cent went to those not exclusively classified as either.

The Victorian election will be held on Saturday, November 28.