Kevin Hogan
Page · National Party · Australia
“Deputy Speaker, you know and we all know on this side of the chamber that Australian families, Australian businesses and Australians generally are despairing right now. We've had 15 interest rate increases under this Labor government. The average mortgage costs have gone up—not total, they have gone up—by $30,000 a year.”
“As I've said earlier, every member over on that side of the chamber should hang their heads in shame by deceiving every single one of their electorates at the last election. You know that, Speaker, and I know that.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, you said that families will be better off under your government, but, under Labor, interest rates have increased 15 times, meaning an average new mortgage holder is around $30 a year worse off.”
“We have always been the country that has driven trade deals, and we have been very successful at it. Members have been talking about fuel security. I want to remind everyone in this chamber right now that we sell about $650 billion worth of stuff overseas every year, and there are four big ones: coal, iron ore, gas and food/agriculture.”
“This is not me saying this; this is actually in the budget paper, so I assume it's Treasury saying this. Why do you think it's a good idea, when we don't have enough housing stock, that tax proposals you announced on budget night will mean that 35,000 fewer homes will be built over the next 10 years?”
“I have about three or four questions to the government and to the minister, and the first one is: why did you deceive the Australian public? There's an issue of integrity that's really important here. I understand that people might have opinions on certain policies and might want to do stuff.”
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“The Volunteer of the Year award went to Diane Parker, the arts and culture award was given to Mariah Cavnaugh-Roberts, and the Young Citizen of the Year was Lachlan Trease. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners. Debate interrupted. Sitting suspended from 13:30 to 16:00”
“In Bonalbo, the Citizen of the Year was John Johnston, James McCullagh was recognised for achievement in sport, the award for Business of the Year went to Michael and Vicki at the Bonalbo Caravan Park, and Jayden Creighton received the award for achievement in creative arts. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees. I would like to acknowledge and congratulate two people in my electorate who received Australia Day awards in the Coffs Harbour City Council area. The Young Citizen of the Year was Nathan Armstrong, and the Aussie Spirit Award went to Scott Cordwell. Congratulations to both of them. I would like to acknowledge and congratulate people who received Australia Day awards in the Ballina Shire Council area in my electorate.”
“In Kyogle, the Citizen of the Year was Dale Oxtoby, the Senior Citizen of the Year was Patricia Vidler, Tennille Owen was named the Junior Sportsperson of the Year, Maureen Welsh was named Senior Sportsperson of the Year, the Junior Student of the Year was Jocelyn Blackburn, and the Senior Student of the Year was Angus Joyce. Roslyn Knights received an OAM for her service to the community of Kyogle. In Woodenbong, the Citizen of the Year was Wendy Fletcher, the Senior Citizen of the Year was Lynette Downham, and the Sportsperson of the Year was Elke Johnston. The Community Organisation of the Year was the Woodenbong Golf Club and the Business of the Year was McMillan Steel Fabrication.”
“The Australian Fire Service Medal was awarded to Scott Campbell and Garry Reardon for their contributions. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees. I would like to acknowledge and congratulate members of my community who received Australia Day Awards in the Richmond Valley. Neil Burnett was named Richmond Valley Citizen of the Year, the Young Citizen of the Year was Ruby Beckenham, the Young Sportsperson of the Year was Travis Dhu, the award for Young Volunteer of the Year went to Shae Fuller, Steve Humphrys was named Volunteer of the Year, and the award for Sportsperson of the Year went to Scott Lambeth. Congratulations to all these nominees and winners. I would like to acknowledge and congratulate people who received Australia Day Awards across the Kyogle Council area.”
“The late John Buttrum received an OAM for service to cricket and to the community, and Lieutenant Colonel Susana Fernandez received a Conspicuous Service Cross for outstanding achievement during the 2022 floods—and her achievement certainly was outstanding. She helped me personally. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees. I would like to acknowledge and congratulate members of my community who received Australia Day awards in the Clarence Valley. I had the great pleasure to be there at the Clarence Valley awards ceremony. The Citizen of the Year was Gavin Rayward, the Young Citizen of the Year was Nash Crofton, Jenny Vickery is this year's Local Hero, and the community achievement award went to Warm Touch 2460. Julie Hermansen from Woombah received an OAM for service to community health, particularly through dyslexia support.”
“I would like to acknowledge and congratulate members of my community who received Australia Day awards in Lismore. The Lismore City Council's award for Citizen of the Year went to Neville Graham—very worthy. The award for individual services in the community went to Tracy Ward, an inspirational member of our community. The award for group services in the community went to Lismore CWA; thank you. The Volunteer of the Year was Len Ward, who has given great service to a number of organisations, especially in basketball. The award for junior female sportsperson went to Caitlyn Halliday; congratulations, Caitlyn. Alex Sipple received the award for junior male sportsperson for his great efforts. The sports group of the year was Lismore Rowing Club, and the arts and culture award was given to Victoria Collignon.”
“I move: That this House: (1) acknowledges the Order of Australia is the highest national honour awarded to Australian citizens for outstanding contributions to our country or humanity at large; (2) recognises that this year marks the 50th anniversary of Australia's honours system; (3) notes that since being established by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1975, there have been 47,869 recipients of awards in the Order of Australia; (4) further recognises and celebrates the 732 Australia Day 2025 award recipients, including 457 awards in the General Division of the Order of Australia for meritorious, distinguished and conspicuous service; (5) further acknowledges community members recognised through Australia Day 2025 Local Citizen of the Year awards; and (6) congratulates all the recipients of awards on Australia Day 2025.”
“Just last year, he had a remarkable innings, making 105 not out off 115 balls, which included 11 fours and two sixes. Thank you to all the players who are coming along to showcase their skills at Oakes Oval. It is sure to be a great event, and, as I say, it's especially important that this is happening as we come up to the three-year anniversary. I encourage everyone to get along to Oakes Oval this weekend.”
“It's planned around this time of the year because we're coming up to the three-year anniversary of the natural disaster that we had, and it's nice to have feel-good events around this time. Fans can look forward to seeing cricketing stars Steve O'Keefe, Michael Kasprowicz, Jason Gillespie, Dan Christian, Nathan Hauritz, Andy Bichel, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Claire Moore, Ebony Hoskin and Georgia Redmayne in action. Powderfinger's Bernard Fanning and Grinspoon's guitarist Pat Davern will also be putting on their whites. Excitingly, local young cricketers Cooper Williams and Joe Parsons will also be playing alongside these legends. Cooper's just 14 years old and is already playing first-grade cricket locally, hitting his first century just on the weekend. Joe Parsons is also making strides for Marist Brothers.”
“I ran into Karen just two weeks ago, and she told me how much she loved her job, especially how moving it is to run into former students who are now grown adults and contributing to our community. Karen, thank you for everything you've done for our community and for the many children and the many families that you have made an impact on. I know you've left a lasting impact and influence on these children and their families. Thank you very much. This weekend is an exciting weekend in Lismore. There's going to be a Legends of Cricket Twenty20 match at Oakes Oval. I encourage everyone to get along. Lismore mayor Steve Krieg will captain the Mayor's XI and is going to take on Lismore's own Adam Gilchrist's XI. It's the second time the match has been held.”
“I'd like to acknowledge Karen McDermott, who has just retired after 35 years of service to the Jumbunna Community Preschool and Early Intervention Centre in Casino. Karen started at Jumbunna as an assistant in 1989, and, while working full time, she studied for her degree and Master of Education. Jumbunna is an inspirational and much-loved organisation in my community. It is much more than just a preschool; it has an NDIS program, a playgroup and parental education programs. It provides early intervention for around 130 children each year, including children with disabilities and delays in development. Karen was instrumental in securing funding for the new Jumbunna hub. This is an extension of the preschool that offers early childhood support, support into adulthood, health alliance and psychology and counselling.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. When the United States imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium in 2018, the coalition was able to work with the Trump administration to secure an exemption for Australia. What steps has Ambassador Rudd taken to secure an exemption to the tariffs announced today?”
“Peace and tranquillity, indeed! My question is to the Prime Minister. Did President Trump inform the Prime Minister that the United States would be imposing tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium prior to the measures being announced? If not, when did the Prime Minister last speak to President Trump?”
“I can say quite legitimately, that, although they talk about the environment, the environmental damage being done with the new transmission system that is needed for their reckless renewable policy is not okay. I'm going to run out of time, but I'm going to quickly mention some other things about the neglect of regional areas. One of the first things this government did was get up and talk about Medicare. You can't even get doctors in a lot of regional and country towns. One of the reasons is that they changed the definition of a 'distribution priority area', and that took out doctors from regional Australia to the suburbs. That side is a disgrace to regional Australia, and so are the teals and the Greens.”
“I told a story once before in this chamber where the member for Warringah had said that six wind turbines and a hectare of solar panels wouldn't be okay in North Head because of the cultural and historical significance of the environment in that region. So North Head can't take six wind turbines and a hectare of solar panels, but, you know what, all those elite city MPs are okay for regional Australia to—guess what?—get 60 million solar panels and about 20,000 wind turbines. And that's okay—there's no cultural environmental significance with that. That's all fine, apparently, for regional Australia to do that. Again, it's sanctimony and hypocrisy from them on that.”
“I've seen farmland in my region turned into national park. Do you know what happens when you turn that into a national park? It becomes a weed infested debacle and a fire tinderbox filled with weeds and feral animals. We saw that in the bushfires, and also with koalas. Do you know what the first thing koalas do when something is turned into a national park? They leave it because they can't crawl around the ground—there are too many weeds there—and they come onto farmland. There's also a lot of sanctimonious hypocrisy on that side over there and on the crossbenches, when I say they take advantage of regional areas. It's especially prevalent right now, with the reckless renewable policy of those opposite.”
“The other one—I know this has been very important to the member for Gippsland and other members on this side—is hardwood timber. Again, guess what? The ABC doesn't like it; the Guardian doesn't like this; inner-city elite MPs don't like this. We have a great, sustainable hardwood timber industry. There's nothing better and more renewable than when you have trees grow up. If they listened to the forestry industry, they'd know that it's even better for carbon sequestration for a new tree to grow where an old tree was, because it absorbs more carbon, but, again, inner-city elite people know better! You know better, when you're sitting in inner-city Melbourne, what they should be doing with hardwood and where they should be doing that in country and regional areas. And there's the whole national parks story.”
“We actually have really sustainable practices. Our fishermen know how to do this. They know the areas that you don't fish in when it's breeding season. They know the parts you don't go to, because they want to be able to fish every year. In fact, back in the seventies, the fishermen were telling the department the types of areas they shouldn't go to and when they shouldn't go to them. They were educating them about what to do. But now, no, the bureaucrats in the fisheries department and the inner-city elites say, 'That's terrible.' The ABC and the Guardian tell them that we overfish, so we get our fish now from countries that do sometimes exploit their regions, because we aren't fishing places in Australia that we should. We're surrounded by water, and we can't get enough fish to feed ourselves.”
“They say that it's better environmentally. Before we put in a weir and lock system—before you could hold water back—that mouth used to close all the time, because water used to roll out more quickly. But, no, the inner-city elite MP Tanya Plibersek, the member for Sydney, knows better than country people. She knows better than regional people and, again, she has demonised what we do. This basin plan is going to kill towns and communities, which they don't care about. I just want to touch on two other issues, which are more in state jurisdictions, but we obviously have input to them, especially fishing. I don't know if you realise this, but we import over 70 per cent of the fish that we eat in this country. Why do we do that? We do that because fishing is bad as well! We overfish; we do terrible things. So guess what we do? We import fish.”
“These people do this for a lot of different reasons that we shouldn't have judgement on, and we do it in a very humane way with some of the best standards that we could have. The member for Sydney is another inner-city elite MP. What has she done in this parliament? She has taken water from our farmers. She said, 'You're greedy. You shouldn't get as much water as you do.' This water's growing our fibre. This water's growing our food. It is really important to a lot of our communities in the Murray-Darling Basin, but they've said, 'No. You shouldn't have it.' Do you know what they want to happen to that water? They want it to roll out to sea. They have this ideological obsession—again, the Guardian newspaper's on board and the ABC's on board—that the River Murray mouth should never be closed. Why should it never be closed?”
“Because of their leftie media and their inner-city elite opinions, they're going to ban that industry. I've said it before, but I can say that, under a Dutton-Littleproud government, that decision will be reversed. That industry can breathe easy knowing that they're generating wealth for this country and jobs for this country. It's also an insult from them, because what they're also saying to our trading partners, the importers of live exports, is: 'That product that you want to export isn't okay.' That's what they're saying. The Leader of the Greens is saying that any country that imports live sheep shouldn't demand that. They shouldn't have that. So it's an insult to a lot of countries in the Middle East and an insult to our partners in Indonesia.”
“The inner-city elite MPs—the Greens, the teals and the Labor Party—sit in their apartment blocks on their leafy, inner-city streets. One of the things these MPs done in this last parliament which has devastated part of regional Australia is say, 'We're going to ban live sheep exports from this country.' That was a shameful decision. It's devastated a lot of communities, especially in Western Australia. But they know best! They watch the ABC. They read the Guardian newspapers, and they know what should happen or shouldn't happen with live exports in this country. They ignore the fact that we have the best animal welfare standards in that industry. They ignore the fact that those communities have done a great job at improving that export industry because they know best.”
“You might think that the inner-city elite MPs over there and the inner-city elite MPs on the crossbench—the teals and the Greens; I'll excuse the member for Mayo from that—might say thank you. But, no. All they do is demonise it. One of those exports—and I'll go through a couple in a minute—is food. We obviously generate all the food. The farming and agricultural sector is all in regional Australia, as are the mining, the coal, the iron ore, the gas—all those major exports. None of those are in the cities. None of those are coming out of inner-city Melbourne or Sydney, where a lot of city elite MPs on the other side and on the crossbenches live. That's the unfortunate—or the fortunate—reality. Let's go through a couple of examples. There's one thing we've seen.”
“That side, inner-city elite MPs demonise regional Australia. I'll give a whole lot of examples of that later. They then, of course, then go over the top of that and ignore us and neglect us. In some cases, they even take advantage of regional Australia when it suits them. You would think, 'Why would you demonise regional Australia?' I remind this chamber—I do it nearly every time I stand up in this place, when I can—that regional Australia is responsible for over $400 billion of exports of goods and services from this country. As a country, we exported about $660 billion worth of stuff. Over two-thirds of that come from, guess, where? It's from regional Australia. Regional Australia is the economic backbone of this country. You might think that they might say thanks.”
“Before I start, I note the very heart-felt words from the member for Longman on that very sad event. I've said this before in this parliament, but I want to reiterate it. It's a very sad statement, really, but a very real reality for people living in regional Australia. That is that this government has given up and does not show any concern about regional Australia. I can tell you from my patch and a lot of my colleagues', over here on this side—this side of the parliament, with Nationals seats and regional Liberal seats, dominates representing regional Australia. There's a reason for that. It's because regional Australia has given up on the Labor Party and the Greens, teals and Independents as well. Why do I say that? I say that for two major reasons. One is that they demonise us.”