OPPOSITION leader Tony Abbott says he offered the three country independents an "historic new deal" for regional Australia, and will now hold the Government "ferociously" to account following the declaration of support for a Labor Government by two out of the three MPs.
While Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor flagged broadband as one of the key policy areas which got them over the line, Mr Abbott this week maintained Labor's National Broadband Network would not offer a good system at the best possible price.
Nevertheless, he admitted the Coalition would reconsider its policies over the course of the next parliament, including in the area of broadband services.
"I’ve got to say that I am very confident that the policies that we took to the election were the right ones," Mr Abbott said.
"My strong suspicion is that the National Broadband Network is going to turn out to be school halls on steroids.
"I think it is going to be a mine field, an absolute mine field of waste and incompetence and you can be absolutely certain that the Opposition will be hyper-vigilant in this area.
"No competent Government would commit $43 billion in public funding to a project without a full cost-benefit analysis. The fact that this Government has done so I think is a very bad sign for competent government in the coming term."
Nationals Leader, Warren Truss, said while Labor's big $10 billion regional Australia sweetener secured by Mr Windsor and Mr Oakeshott may look appealing, there were many other policies – past and present – which he believed revealed country Australia was not at the heart of Labor's politics like it was for the Coalition.
He said the independents' support of Labor was a "lost opportunity" for regional Australia.
"The Labor party did particularly poorly in regional Australia," Mr Truss said.
"There was an enormous swing against Labor right across regional Australia.
"That was a clear message - that people living in regional Australia were disappointed with the performance of this Government and have felt left out."
"Labor took a billion dollars in their first budget from regional Australia, about another billion in the following budget.
"They've cut back the department of agriculture and there's only a part-time minister.
"They've slashed services in regional Australia."
Mr Truss said he hoped the Prime Minister was genuine in her hope to "reconnect" with regional Australia.
"I'd appeal to her to visit country towns where a 737 can't land," he said.
"Go to a place where they just want one doctor, not a super clinic or where they want to keep their hospital open…
"Where they was a bitumen road, not a national freeway.
"Those are the people that have been let down by this government and I'm not confident there will be any change in direction as a result of the negotiations that have occurred."
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