"I am flabbergasted that it took the government 16 months to finally make it public and only after I worked with Senator Rex Patrick to force its publication through a Senate order," Indi MP Helen Haines said.

More to come.

EARLIER:

Indi MP Helen Haines and her predecessor Cathy McGowan have joined forces to question why the recommendations of an expert panel examining the plan for regional areas has not been released as promised.

The expert panel - chaired by former Victorian Nationals leader Peter Ryan and including Wodonga mayor Anna Speedie - was appointed in February 2019 to review the Regions at the Ready report and completed their work a month later.

Their verdict on the report was due to be released this week, but that did not happen.

"The report was widely acknowledged for setting out a robust framework for strategic regional development and decentralisation," Dr Haines said.

"Among other recommendations, the Regions at the Ready report proposed a white paper process to outline the policies and steps we should take as a nation to build, invigorate and strengthen regional Australia and its communities."

IN OTHER NEWS:

She said the government was getting in the way of genuine action, calling the move "duplicitous".

"Time, money and the skills and good faith of the expert panel has been spent for no outcome," she said.

"It shows a complete lack of respect for the panel's work and demonstrates the government's inability to deliver a plan that builds a positive future for rural and regional Australia."

Ms McGowan was on the Parliamentary committee that wrote Regions at the Ready back when she was the MP.

"I had the personal commitment of Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison, two successive Liberal prime ministers, for this inquiry and its major recommendation was for a White Paper policy process," she said.

"But the Nationals don't want to deliver it ... I'm not sure why they would be reluctant to release the report from the expert panel. It's very disappointing."

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said said the government's primary concern was dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and was waiting on findings from other committees including the Inquiry into Regional Australia.

"The world is a very different place now to what it was in early 2019. This is especially true for regional Australia, which experienced more localised crises such as drought and bushfires even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit," he said.

"The government is committed to ensuring regional Australia can remain strong and resilient as it recovers from these events.

"The government's primary concern for regional Australia right now is to keep regional Australians in jobs and businesses operating as we face the continuing effects of COVID-19.

"We have taken decisive action to support regional Australia at this critical time, including establishing the $1 billion COVID-19 relief and recovery fund."