Pat Conaghan
Cowper · National Party · Australia
“Yesterday, we heard Labor spruiking their changes that came into effect with the new financial year, and there was a lot of chest beating and oversimplified statements around the standards of living that would make anyone not living in the real world think that things have never been better.”
“Small businesses, we haven't forgotten you. We know that your input costs are already through the roof and your profit margins are even slimmer. We know that the number of annual insolvencies has tripled this financial year when compared with 2022.”
“Insurance is up 42 per cent. Household electricity bills are up 38 per cent. Gas is up 37 per cent. Rents are up, and your weekly food shop is up 17 per cent.”
“Australians deserve honesty. They don't deserve to be treated like mugs by their own government. But yesterday we saw the Prime Minister call those on this side of the floor 'the axis of grievance' while evading giving an actual answer to any question posed by the opposition on behalf of those we represent.”
“As representatives, we are here to make sure that the collective grievances of our constituencies are heard by those opposite—that their legitimate and real pressure points are being expressed and considered in the policies we create and not swept aside by spin and gaslighting.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister: I refer to another mean-spirited act by the Prime Minister—cutting the private health insurance rebate for Australians aged over 65.”
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“Listen to what they want; listen to what they need. Otherwise, in 12 months time, August 2026, I'll be standing here saying the same thing.”
“For a tiny little town at the top of the Great Dividing Range, looking down over the sea, where do they find that money? Where does Peter Feros have to go, and what does he have to cut to find that money? I'll tell you what he has to cut; he has to cut a staff member. This is replicated all around Australia, whether it's in hospitality or in retail. What we need is good government intervention—not bad government intervention but policy that works. We just saw a roundtable—I predicted that the booklet was printed before we had the roundtable—and nothing will come out of it. It will have been a talkfest. I say, to this government and those people who are making the policies that are hurting our businesses and forcing them to close down, get out of the way or listen to the people on the ground.”
“But then government comes into your life uninvited, with policies created by people who have no understanding of how they affect those little people. Small and medium businesses make up 98 per cent of our economy, and the people in the regions—the rural people, the regional people—quite often do the hard, heavy lifting for those in the cities. You see policies on power or energy being brought into this place, sometimes by bureaucrats with no understanding and sometimes by well-intentioned members of parliament—I'll give you the example of the Heritage Hotel Motel Dorrigo, which celebrated its 100 years only last week. I went up and I spoke to Peter Feros; the hotel has been in the Feros family since they built it 100 years ago. Peter's now 82. In the last 18 months, his electricity bill has gone up $40,000.”
“A lot of members here—and I'm not having a go at them—have never been in business. A lot of people come into this chamber and speak about businesses, particularly small and medium businesses. But until you've sat in the seat, until you've run a business, employed people, filled out a BAS at one minute to 12 the night before it's due and then paid the people who work for you and gone home to the wife and said, 'We're a bit light on this week; we'll have to just tighten the belt'—until you've done that, you don't understand how hard it is to run a small business. Whether or not that's a farm—in my case it was three law practices—you're dealing with the everyday issues of running a small business and your cash flow.”
“I rise to speak on this motion about small business. Ironically, I stood here a year ago—almost to the day—and I made a few predictions of what was to come for small business. It gives me no pleasure, because I know people out there are hurting—business people, small-and-medium-business people, are hurting—to once again stand here with those very predictions which have now come to pass. If you'll indulge me, Deputy Speaker Wilkie, I'll quote myself: … the Labor-Green-teal government, is now the worst government on record for Australian businesses, having surpassed the 10,757 businesses collapsing under the government of 2011-12. Well, that record's been broken again. Annual insolvencies have been rising steadily across all sectors since 2022, as ASIC data has shown.”
“It's an Australian first, and not one to be proud of, Mr Prime Minister. Without indexation, millions more will be targeted in years to come, but Labor don't care because, by freezing the threshold, they can make the budget look much better on paper. It's no more than accounting trickery to cook the books to mask their impending decade of deficits. This isn't about catching tricky rich folk; it's a desperate move by a tricky treasurer. We all know that, when Labor run out of money, they'll come for yours.”
“On this side of the floor we believe in aspiration, a reward for effort and a super system that encourages responsible saving for your own retirement. We support farmers, businesses and entrepreneurs, and we recognise their contributions to the economy. But that's not a belief held by those on that side. Their new dangerous superannuation tax's $3 million balance threshold might make for easy sound bites—they're professing to tax the rich—but the reality is that thousands of family farms, start-ups and small businesses are the ones who will be punished. By taxing unrealised capital gains, they will be taxed on things like rising land values, even if the businesses or farms haven't made a cent. Many will be forced to sell up to pay the bill. It's a real tax on imaginary income.”
“That's why, while we will not oppose the bill, it should go to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, not to delay it but to make sure the details are right and taxpayer funds are properly protected. Australia will always stand with the Pacific, and the coalition will always stand up for Australian taxpayers. Debate adjourned.”
“The announced $2 billion, 10-year guarantee for ANZ is the first of these guarantees. The coalition strongly supports the principle of this bill, but we want to be upfront with taxpayers about what the bill provides—an uncapped, open-ended appropriation with no end date. Yes, Treasury has advised the risk of a call on these guarantees is low, and, yes, we expect future guarantees to follow the ANZ model being time bound and financially limited. But proper safeguards and oversight are essential. This is taxpayers' money. We're being asked to underwrite the international operations of our banks, and Australians deserve to know exactly what risks are involved. We want confidence that these guarantees will work, and we want to know why the bill must have an uncapped appropriation with no date.”
“When it's lost, trade, payment processing and investment become so much harder, so much slower and so much more expensive. But these relationships are under pressure. Regulatory costs for major banks have increased and, for many, the returns from servicing these markets no longer stack up. Since 2011, correspondent banking relationships in the South Pacific have fallen by 60 per cent. This creates openings for alternative financial networks, some of which may lack transparency or fall outside global anti-money-laundering standards. If trusted Pacific nations lose access to Australian banking, others will fill the void, right on our doorstep. We cannot afford to let that happen. This bill supports Australia's financial presence in the Pacific by underwriting Australian bank operations in the regions.”
“We will continue to work constructively with the government on these issues because, when our mates need help, Australia steps up. The Pacific Islands Forum has made it very clear that debanking poses a serious threat to the Pacific economies. Debanking occurs when major international banks withdraw services from local institutions, disconnecting them from the global financial system. Many Pacific economies rely on correspondent banking relationships to stay connected. For example, a construction business in Tonga might import building equipment from Brisbane. Because their local bank doesn't have a direct link to Australian banks, a larger institution, like ANZ, steps in to process the international payment. That's a correspondent banking relationship.”
“I rise today to speak on the Pacific Banking Guarantee Bill and note that Australia has always stood by our neighbours in the Pacific and we always will. We share a region and deep enduring ties, from early trade between Indigenous Australians and Pacific islanders to the courage shown along the Kokoda Trail to standing together after natural disasters. The coalition has a proud record in the Pacific. In 2021-22, we delivered a record $2.7 billion in support, including loans across aid, security, health and financial programs. Under the coalition, we became the only country with diplomatic missions in every Pacific Islands Forum nation. We deepened maritime cooperation through the $2 billion Pacific Maritime Security Program, delivering 14 of 21 Guardian class patrol boats.”
“My question is to the Minister for Small Business. This government's economic mismanagement has delivered a record number of small-business insolvencies that are now double the levels seen in 2020 and 34,000 job losses in the last quarter alone. Will the minister admit this government's economic agenda has failed small business?”
“We had a laugh, and, a week later, he took his life. I didn't see it. I didn't see it coming. We need to be able to identify these things and be able to talk to each other as men. He was a great bloke—ex-copper, lawyer. He had everything going for him, kids—everybody loved him. He was the first one to offer his hand. He was the quintessential Aussie larrikin, but, as a lawyer, he was a consummate professional. That's the problem. We won't talk to each other. I sat with him a week before, and all he talked about was me winning the election. I wish he'd talked about how he was struggling, because we could have made a difference. So we have to look after each other. We have to do more. I commend the member for Hunter for bringing this on. Thank you.”
“We need to look at that as a government and not point fingers but say, 'What are we going to do to improve that outcome and the outcomes of men's health going forward?' Let's face it: we've probably got ourselves to blame in some circumstances. We live hard sometimes. We don't look after ourselves. When something does go wrong, we say, 'It'll go away, and, if it doesn't go away, I'll get to the doctor's sooner or later.' We take one those old adages. 'Toughen up. Have a cup of concrete,' et cetera. We need to change that way of thinking. More importantly, I do want to talk about the suicide rates in this country. Three out of four suicides are men. That's nearly 3,000 a year. I'll get through this. I've got it. After the last election, I met up with a mate and had a beer. I'd known him for 25 years.”
“I spoke about domestic violence as well. Mentally healthy men are in healthy relationships, and it makes a difference. Despite all agreeing in a bipartisan fashion that this should occur, governments on all sides have failed over a long period of time in relation to the funding for men's mental health. In this year's budget—and I commend Labor for doing this—there was an additional $550 million for women's health. That takes the contribution in this budget to nearly $900 million for the National Women's Health Strategy 202-2030, but the former figure is from this year alone. Men's health is $70 million. It is a fraction of the funding for women's health. There is something significantly wrong there.”
“I'd like to thank the member for Hunter for bringing forward this motion on men's health and men's mental health. Last year I had the privilege of being at the launch of Movember's annual report into men's mental health, The real face of men's health . It is a report well worth reading. I commend the work that Movember have been doing for a very long period of time and the inroads more recently they have made into men's health and men's mental health. The report, though, is confronting. We stood in that room, and Mark Butler gave a very impassioned speech. I followed him with a similar speech about men's health and men's mental health and how we all agree in this place that we need to do more in relation to both of those, that we should work together and that good, healthy men become part of a good, healthy society.”
“Concerningly, the 50 per cent travel cut has already severely eroded practices' ability to maintain in-house visits for those unable to travel—in other words, those with the most severe disabilities in electorates such as Cowper. Despite urgent pleas from every National Party MP and senator, peak industry bodies, allied health providers and thousands of affected NDIS participants calling for a hold on these changes, no official response has been provided by the minister. I ask the ministerial teams for a reversal of this decision until appropriate consultation has been completed.”
“Over the past month, I've been inundated with messages from my constituents describing the negative changes that have recently been announced in relation to the NDIS and what impact they will have on regional allied health practitioners and their patients. While the current NDIS model is unsustainable and plagued with rampant waste, the changes that came into effect this month are not the solution. I've met with members of the Australian Physiotherapy Association as well as passionate allied health providers to discuss what these changes will mean for the outcomes of their patients most in need of regular treatment to manage their condition. In short, these cuts have already begun to negatively impact the industry's ability to assist those high-needs patients.”
“I know I have missed many birthdays and many celebrations, I come home tired and cranky, and you put up with me. So thank you. Of course, you know that I love you, and we will continue to ride this crazy ride for the next few years.”
“I intend to look at my portfolios through the lens of regional and rural Australia because I think the focus has been on city areas and city agendas for far too long. Considering that the regions around Australia provide so much—the agricultural industry alone contributes $100 billion to our economy—they deserve the respect of a lens being placed on our economic portfolios and policies to ensure that they are as productive as they can possibly be. I am very pleased to be back here. I will continue to work extremely hard for my community. And I'm glad I have 40 seconds left, because I forgot to thank my family—my wife, Ilona, and my two boys, Hugh and Hamish. We hear that saying, 'I'm a volunteer, but you are conscripts.' Thank you for putting up with me. Thank you for putting up with our lifestyle.”
“It is an enormous privilege to serve in those roles. The National Party has not had an economic portfolio since, I think, the days of Black Jack McEwen, back in the 1950s. I've said this to the dozens of industry representatives and stakeholders I've met with already, here in Canberra and in Melbourne and Sydney: 'Economics is not my background—my background's in law—but I will work constructively with you. I've got my feet under the desk, and I will continue to work with you.' What I will also continue to do is to try to work constructively with the government. I've met with Minister Mulino, and we've had very productive, constructive and—I think—good conversations about what will go ahead. I look forward to working productively with him to ensure that our country is successful.”
“People who didn't know the homeowners just turned up with shovels and Gernis. This is what my community does, and that's why I love it. I'm not demeaning city or metropolitan communities; I just don't think you see that unless you are in rural or regional areas. I'm sure city areas have that good community support, but, having spent the best part of my life in Cowper, in the electorate, I know that community spirit and I know that it will always be there. Whether it's for five years, 10 years or 50 years, when I'm no longer here, that community spirit will endure. Finally, I'll very quickly touch on the huge privilege that I have been given with the shadow portfolios of shadow Assistant Treasurer and shadow minister for financial services. I'm sure they didn't look at my HSC maths results before they gave them to me!”
“They were doing drops around Kempsey to ensure that people who couldn't get to Coles and Woolworths, because they were flooded in at the time, had food for a week. It was simply incredible. Tunstead Oysters in Port Macquarie got wiped out in the floods. It will take three years for them to germinate their oysters again so that they can grow and make a profit. Their crew were out in their tinnies the very day of the flood, saving people from flooded homes. For the next week and a half they were transporting people from Port Macquarie over to the north shore. Again, it was at their own expense in fuel and time. It was just an incredible effort. There were also people going over and helping people on the north shore literally shovel mud and faeces out of their homes.”
“Since 2019 we've seen the catastrophic Black Summer fires followed by the unprecedented one-in-1,000 year floods followed by another set of floods followed by more fires and then floods again. Throw COVID in between them. At one stage we were handing out grants for fires, floods and COVID at the very same time. Every single time, my community has stepped up and stepped out to help each other, and this time was no different. You had organisations in Kempsey. IGA was flooded, probably to chest height, and there were new owners there. Everybody pitched in to clean up, and any goods that weren't damaged were handed out to the community. The owners gave them away at their own expense. Rather than just crying about it—which they did do; it was devastating for them—they handed out all the remaining stock, which was substantial.”
“All of them bar one has been with me since the beginning, and I think that speaks volumes about how we work together. We love each other, we rib each other and they let me think that I run the show. They worked as hard if not harder than I did during the last election. I know every single one of them has got my back. Liz Newberry, Matt Field, Jodi Blackmore, Amanda Donald, Jennifer Dowd and Amy Johnston, thank you very much for everything that you do for me and continue to do for me. We are a successful office because we treat each other with respect and we work well together. I love my community. I love Cowper. I grew up in Kempsey. I'm a country boy, and I understand country values. We saw that again just recently, with the floods that we saw not only through Cowper but also through the electorate of Lyne.”
“To the federal and New South Wales Nationals head offices: thanks for your direction, your drive, your patience and your passion for every seat that ran candidates. It's like herding cats, and I appreciate that. I wouldn't do the job. It is extremely difficult, but we do appreciate the work that you do working with every single candidate. This was a big election. It wasn't the result that we thought, overall, we would have, but we've seen it in the past. John Howard had a majority of 93 or 94 seats. This is democracy, and it's why I stood up at the very beginning and congratulated everybody, because everybody deserves to be here. With democracy, swings and roundabouts and the pendulum, it will change because you believe, and we'll continue to work to do the job. I would like to thank my staff, who have been incredible.”
“We don't always agree on everything—we're like a family; we won't always agree on everything—but if anyone from outside comes in we will fight ferociously to protect each other, and that's what we do. Some 700 of my volunteers and supporters came out during this campaign and said, 'Pat, do you need some help?' Again, you stood out there for hundreds of hours, you worked with me and you worked in the campaign office to make sure that the Nationals—most of the volunteers and supporters were not members. You were there because you believed in what we believe in and believed in me—that I would come down here and advocate on your behalf. Thank you to the volunteers and to the members.”
“We were being told that I was going to get wiped out. We were told that in 2022 and we were told that in 2019, but here we stand in 2025, and I'm grateful for all the work that you did. Some of you spent literally hundreds of hours over the election period manning campaign offices, doorknocking letterbox dropping and basically supporting me—literally hundreds of hours. Then coming to the pre-poll and on the day of the election we had some horrible weather. In wind, rain and sleet—we probably didn't have sleet—you stood out there in the horrible weather, and you did it for the greater cause. You did it because of what you believe in. Thank you to all the members. Thank you to all the branches—not just for the last six months but for the past six years.”
“I say to that community that I will continue to fight because you shouldn't still have pits in your backyards that overflow when it floods. When it floods that raw sewerage goes into your waterways and affects your primary production on pastures and the oysters in the river. We shouldn't be facing that in 2025 in regional villages. There's the Tuffins Lane sporting fields, the Coffs Coast tourism information facility, RISE Coffs Harbour and the Thrumster high-performance football centre. I will continue to advocate on their behalf. I would like to thank all of my branches: Port Macquarie, the Macleay Valley, Nambucca, Dorrigo, Bellingen and Coffs Harbour. The work that you did over the past six months leading up to this election was just incredible. We knew it was going to be difficult.”
“They do that on the smell of an oily rag. Fatty and Jill, I will continue to advocate on your behalf. I will continue to meet with the minister to fight for that funding to ensure that you are still in our communities for our young people, making sure that they have a life. They are predominantly young men. I know there are some young women in there, but they are predominantly young men. If we can give young men and women hope for the future then it is worth every single cent. There's the Kempsey Family Day Care centre, our local veterans and families hubs, Sawtell pool and Bellingen Shire's Sewering Coastal Villages project. The mayor in Bellingen and the community have been advocating for this. Steve Allan, the mayor, and I have sat down on numerous occasions.”
“Whilst it's difficult for me to say to those proponents, 'I'm sorry; we didn't get into government,' it's all the more difficult for them because they are such good community projects. They are such good organisations that you wish you could cut a check for them. You wish you could just go to the minister's door and say: 'Come on. This is a great project. It doesn't matter that it's in the regions. It doesn't matter that it's on the Nationals side of the ledger or the coalition side of the ledger. Have a look at it. Sign it. It's a good thing.' I would like to acknowledge ShoreTrack in Macksville, who do so much great work with young people. They describe the work that they do as 'engaging with youth at risk of being at risk'. They get those young people who are out of school or not engaging with school and give them life skills.”
“We saw that in 2022 when the funding for the Wrights Road roundabout was swept away, when the funding for the veterans centre was swept away and when good projects such as Argyle Street or the Valla urban growth area were rejected. We could have seen 1,200 homes built. So often we do not see equity between the cities, the metropolitan areas and the regional areas. That is why I am proud to be here. I'm proud to fight for our regional people. There are so many people I need to thank for sending me back here to continue the work that we have done over the past six years. Before I recognise those people, I would like to just speak of the community projects that I took to the last election. We all know if you're not successful in a campaign then those election promises fall flat.”
“Those people in regional and rural areas are the people that put the food on the table and put the fibre on your back. They're the small and medium businesses that support Australia's economy—not local economies but Australia's economy. Those people in small and medium businesses are the people who pay the taxes to ensure that you have the infrastructure in city areas, to ensure that you have the schools and to ensure that you have the hospitals. And yet so often they are forgotten, so often the funding doesn't flow to regional and rural areas and, unfortunately, so often when governments change that funding is swept away.”
“I've had careers as a police officer and as a lawyer but, I have to say, these last six years have been the most rewarding of my working career. I love getting out and talking to our constituents, and I love working and trying to get those solutions for those people. But regional MPs sometimes have a much different job than those in metropolitan or city areas. Those in city areas take for granted, I think, services like roads, water, sewerage, day care, child care and aged care, whereas in the regions we have to fight for those. We have to make sure that the government of the day give us that funding and provide that infrastructure for our people to have those basic services. Sometimes those not in the know, or those not from regional and rural areas, say it's a First World problem. It's not a First World problem.”
“I was new and I didn't have name recognition; he was well known throughout the electorate of Cowper and throughout Lyne. In the last two elections, I faced a very well funded Climate 200 teal candidate, where, on both occasions, they spent three to four times the amount that we had. But I think—or I hope—the result was reflected in the work that I've done over the past six years, particularly the work which I call my 'mobile offices', which quite often consist of sitting in small town pubs or community halls and meeting two, three or four people over the space of two hours but having hundreds of people seeing me in those areas and saying: 'Well, at least he's out there having a crack. At least he's out there listening.' That's our job. Our job is to listen to our communities and come back here to advocate on their behalf.”
“I'm pleased to rise to speak in reply to the Governor-General's speech. We should all be very, very proud to be here, because we have been sent here by the Australian people. Whilst it's somewhat confronting sitting on this side with the numbers that Labor has, I congratulate all members, whether newly elected or re-elected into this place, because we, as I said, have been sent here by our constituents to act on their behalf in the best interests of our communities. This is my third term, and I would have to say the win for the 2025 election is the sweetest victory of them all. I am incredibly proud to have been elected for a third time. I've never had an easy election—in 2019 I had a very formidable competitor in Rob Oakeshott, who had stood in this place previously.”
“By the time you finish your working life, in 45 or 50 years, you will be caught up among the almost eight million Australians who will be paying unrealised capital gains—a tax on a tax—when you're retiring. That is why the coalition will always fight for our people and against unfair taxes.”
“I don't have that money because my property was damaged and I haven't made any income over the last few years, so what am I to do?' And, without a doubt, the taxman will say, 'You must sell your property.' Similarly, with business owners, again in my electorate and down the line, they're inundated with flood, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair their commercial property, and they will then have to pay this unrealised capital gain. It is a first, and it is a first that we should not be proud of—to break the convention of basic 101 tax where we're taxing those unrealised capital gains. I say to young people out there who may be listening and thinking, 'Well, that won't apply to me,' it will, because not only are they taxing unrealised capital gains; they are not indexing the amount.”
“In my electorate of Cowper, only recently we saw devastating floods. Those floods will take 18 months to two years for those farmers to get back on their feet, and, whilst the government hands out $75,000 for them to fix a few fences, they're in fact paying $200,000 to $400,000 in infrastructure damage, fixing that infrastructure and then not making any profit over the next two years. The government is intending to turn around and say to them: 'Well, your property has just increased by $500,000 over the $3 million cap. We are now going to tax that.' And the farmer says: 'I'm sorry.”
“Some people might be thinking, 'Well, $3 million will never apply to me.' Let me talk about the average person who will be affected by this. They are our people. They're our farmers, our primary producers and small-business owners who, in the past, the government has said to them: 'You can do this; you can put your farm in your superannuation fund or your business, your commercial property, in your superannuation fund. You're allowed to do that.' In fact, they were encouraged to do that. But now the government's moving those goalposts. Why? It's because of the budget, because we're seeing a decade of deficits, and they see an easy grab. Those farmers who have put their properties into their self-managed superfunds, in some years, will make a loss. I'll give you an example.”
“I grew up with my father telling me that, if I worked hard, I'd get ahead—get ahead to raise a family; get ahead to have a good life when I got older—and that's why today I'm speaking on the intended superannuation changes that Labor are going to try and bring in. We call it a tax against getting ahead, a tax on aspiration, because what they're trying to do is take your money, the money that you have earned and worked hard for and have put into your superannuation so that you can have an easier life as you get older. Those intended changes are increases in taxes over $3 million, but the punch here is that the tax is on unrealised capital gains. I'll say that again: the punch here is a tax on unrealised capital gains.”
“Not only do they provide our goods and services; they employ our workers and train our young people. Without them, our communities wouldn't survive, let alone thrive. Those businesses most heavily impacted deserve our support. I do recognise the work of the member for Eden-Monaro. I appreciate her transparency and support, and I understand that she cannot pull the trigger without the request of the NSW Premier. So, with that, I call on the Minns government to do the right thing: stop the drip-fed torture and apply the maximum business thresholds now.”
“Today I speak on behalf of small businesses in my electorate that have been left behind in the wake of the catastrophic floods in May. It's been over two months since primary producers, businesses and residents were left devastated by the flooding right across the mid-north coast. Since that time, government supports have been drip fed with cruel delays and partial announcements. They finally received a category D declaration weeks after the event, only to see the lowest threshold of $25,000 applied, which was torture for most of those impacted. While our primary producers received a reprieve two weeks ago with the threshold increased to $75,000, this was only after thousands gathered at community rallies. But our ravaged businesses were left out. Family owned businesses are the lifeblood of regional communities.”
“Rewind three years, and the then opposition leader Anthony Albanese was telling everybody that no-one would be left behind. Fast forward three years, and the addendum to that is 'unless you live in the regions' and 'unless you live in a National Party seat'. What we saw immediately after Labor was elected into government was a 90-day review of infrastructure projects across the country.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Given the cost-of-living crisis Australian families are facing, with the price of everything going up, will the Prime Minister put politics aside and join with the opposition's plan to give immediate relief to family budgets by halving the fuel excise?”
“The regions matter. Regional people matter, and they have been ignored. Only a coalition government will cut the waste and curb inflation to address our cost-of-living crisis. Only the Nationals in government will allocate critical infrastructure funding to the regions where it is desperately needed. Only the Nationals in government will prioritise regional communities for better access to health care, aged care and child care. I urge Australians to think carefully about what their vote and preferences mean. And to regional Australia: you know we cannot afford another three years of Labor.”
“In May, the Australian people will have a choice to make—a choice that will affect the future of our country. They will need to choose a government that they believe will take this country in the right direction. Every Australian will need to ask themselves, 'Am I better off today than I was three years ago?' The simple answer for the vast majority is no. Our country needs a government that is focused on the right priorities, both for today and for future generations. We need a government that is dedicated to meaningful change, not empty ideology and tokenism. We need a government that will not be distracted by the whims of a few and that is dedicated to governing for the needs of the many. And regional Australians, the people I represent, need a government that doesn't treat them as an afterthought or second-class citizens.”
“Instead of recognising all of this and reducing red tape, stripping away barriers to growth and providing the right incentives for small business to thrive, Labor have doubled down on their administrative and input-cost pain. This is not only pushing already fragile businesses to the brink of closure; it is ensuring that costs continue to be passed on to the consumer and adding to inflation. It's time to cut the waste, cut the tokenism and focus on getting the budget and our country back on track.”
“You have to ask, 'How could a program aimed at setting troubled youth up for a prosperous future not be considered valuable by this government?' Our communities are rife with youth crime and desperately need more gold standards like ShoreTrack. Essentially, every one of Labor's funding promises around housing, sustainability and safer communities has been solely aimed at their own metropolitan seats. This budget solidifies the fact no-one will be left behind—that is, of course, if you don't live in the regions. The Stronger Communities Programme, the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, the Growing Regions Program and the Regional Precincts and Partnership Program are all critical to building community infrastructure in regional Australia, and there has been absolutely no acknowledgement to this.”