Andrew Willcox
Dawson · Liberal National Party · Australia
“I recently was honoured to visit the wonderful Domenica in the Burdekin, who celebrated her 100th birthday. To hear her deeply moving story of her arrival in Australia as a nine-year-old was amazing.”
“We all know Whitehaven, the best beach in the world, was completely robbed, but we'll let them off the hook this time with a cheeky warning. If you head further down south in Dawson to Yalboroo in the Mackay region, you can find Hold It Flats, which took out a well-deserved second place for the best camping and four-wheel-drive spot.”
“In our local businesses where you can get warmed up, Mal's Pies and Pastries in Oonoonba took out silver, fuelling an army of tradies for 30 years with beaut pies while also backing our community.”
“As a former tomato farmer, I know firsthand that the agricultural sector would be completely lost without the visas that allow international workers to fill critical gaps. Without them, crops would literally rot on the ground.”
“Giving a family a $5 weekly tax cut when their mortgage has skyrocketed by thousands of dollars is like tossing a glass of water onto a roaring bushfire. By continually fuelling government spending, the Albanese Labor government continues to stoke the inflation fire. Let's be real; $5 in this economy doesn't even cover a cup of coffee.”
“Under the Albanese Labor government, this delicate balance has collapsed into chaos. Labor's migration numbers have been far too high, and the entry standards have been far too low. The government allows unmanageable numbers to flood our capital cities, putting immense pressure on housing and infrastructure.”
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“This mechanism has been aggressively exploited by bad actors, who treat a participant's plan like an unregulated ATM, triggering unnecessary reassessments purely to skim additional funds for services that they've either grossly inflated or never actually provided. I recently met with a registered NDIS providers group in Townsville, and their frontline audit of this decay is confronting. They've encountered numerous examples of unregistered, completely unaccountable operators actively raiding the piggy banks of vulnerable participants, blowing an entire year's budget in a matter of months. Once the cash is completely drained, honest registered providers are directed to step in and deliver life-saving care for free, because, without them, these people would die.”
“Finding a GP appointment can take weeks, and despite this Prime Minister claiming that all you will need is your Medicare card, everyday Australians are still paying massive out-of-pocket expenses just for the privilege of seeing a doctor. The waiting lists for specialists are months, and sometimes years, long. We are deeply hopeful that people with significant and permanent disabilities are not about to be put through the wringer, forced to provide a multitude of new, highly expensive medical reports just to continuously re-prove a lifelong disability. This bill also takes direct aim at unscheduled plan reassessments, which currently average 12,000 every single month. Each mid-plan adjustment results in an average funding variation of around 20 per cent, costing taxpayers a projected $6.4 billion over the forward estimates.”
“This lack of transparency has caused a massive wave of anxiety throughout the community, where respectful consultation has been completely lacking. From 1 January 2028, all existing NDIS participants will progressively be reassessed over a three-year period, stretching to 31 December 2030. With over 760,000 participants currently on the books, that represents an absolute mountain of bureaucracy, and it begs a massive unanswered question: if these people are forced out, where do they go? Our state and territory health systems are already bursting at the seams. In regional areas, our emergency departments are overwhelmed and our hospital services are having to turn people away daily.”
“This bill shifts the foundational goalposts. Eligibility will now be based on a person's substantially reduced functional capacity—and that is certainly a mouthful—introducing a strict centralised definition. The government tells us this will create a consistent, objective and evidence-based assessment process. But in regional communities like mine it is currently creating fear. Parents are staying up at night, wondering if their autistic child will suddenly be deemed too functional for support. Individuals who have spent years building a life are terrified that their independence is about to be stripped away. While this bill establishes the legislative mechanism to create the assessments, it provides zero detail on what these new assessments will actually look like.”
“Today, the scheme supports over 760,000 participants, and it continues to expand daily. The cost for this financial year alone is sitting at a massive $50 billion, and on its current trajectory it is projected to blow right out to $70 billion by the end of the decade. This is simply not sustainable. No economy can bankroll a runaway trajectory like that. Something has to give way. Let us examine the specific mechanisms of this bill, the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026, starting with eligibility and access. This legislation seeks to establish an entirely new legal framework for determining who gets into the NDIS. Until now, eligibility has been based primarily on the person's medical diagnosis. You had a condition, and that condition opened the door to support.”
“They are just trying to survive the challenges of everyday life. Those with real, profound, structural needs should be getting every single bit of help that they require without having to fight their own government for the privilege. However, we must also confront a cold, hard financial truth that ensuring the long-term sustainability of this scheme is absolutely vital. If we do not secure its foundations, the entire structure will collapse under its own weight, and the people who will suffer the most are the very participants who rely on the NDIS just to live. Let us look plainly at the staggering numbers. The rapid expansion of this scheme has completely outpaced the original forecast. When first established, it was expected to support around 410,000 Australians at a total cost of $13.6 billion.”
“It is the support worker who provides a parent with a few hours of much-needed respite. It is the home modification that allows a young person to move freely around their own domestic sanctuary. It is the specialised equipment that grants a child the ability to communicate with the world. Because of the sheer human importance of this scheme, we in the coalition affirm our strong, unshakeable, bipartisan support for the NDIS. We believe in its core mission, and we want it to succeed for generations to come. But, because we want it to succeed, we are deeply concerned that this government's heavy handed cuts are on track to hurt the wrong people. We know that the vast majority of participants are honest, true-blue Australians who simply need a helping hand. They're not rorting the system.”
“I rise today to speak on a matter that cuts straight to the core of our national conscience, the National Disability Insurance Scheme. A civilised society is judged by how it cares for its most vulnerable citizens, which is why we must get the NDIS right. In the coalition, our foundational wish is for every single Australian to live an absolute best life. It is a human baseline that every person in this chamber would want. To understand the true value of the NDIS, you must look at the immense emotional, physical and financial strain borne daily by individuals and families living with disability just to survive and thrive. For these families, the NDIS is a lifeline. It is the absolute difference between surviving in isolation and thriving in a vibrant community.”
“Labor call this trust reform, but the public has absolutely zero trust in this government. Now, with the public backlash, the PM is panicking. Instead of admitting that these taxes are toxic, Labor is doubling down, acting like a backyard butcher, hacking out messy little carve-outs. They hope that the public won't notice that their economic butchery is slaughtering our economy. It's time for the Albanese Labor government to drag this broken agenda back to the economic chopping block.”
“This budget represents the forced liquidation of Australia's economic future. It's a shonky ledger of broken promises, skyrocketing debt, lower living standards and fewer homes for Australians. At the very centre are toxic taxes, a fast-track formula to economic stagnation and a sneaky raid on anyone trying to get ahead. Pushing Australia towards the highest capital gains taxes in the world is a brutal assault on aspiration. It is a direct tax on saving, a tax on investing and an act of intergenerational theft. By spending more and taxing more, this Labor government is pushing up inflation, increasing interest rates—higher for longer—and leaving the next generation with a compounding liability. This government wants to tax Australians from the cradle to the grave, sneaking in a death tax on family assets.”
“Labor must stop the reckless public spending that is actively fuelling this inflationary firestorm. We must dismantle the green bureaucracy that is strangling manufacturing, and we must start backing the aspirational Australians who are trying to build a secure life for their children.”
“Labor hold some sort of misguided belief that every single economic problem can be solved by seizing more money from the pockets of working Australians and spending it on vanity pet projects. It's an absolute insult to the intelligence of our people. This government has spent billions of dollars on consultants, billions on international climate frameworks, billions on expanding the Public Service, while the hardworking people who keep the wheels of the nation turning are left to drown in their bills. This cannot continue. A nation that systematically penalises effort, crushes the aspirations of its youth and abandons all semblance of physical discipline is a nation that is actively engineered to its own economic decline. We need an immediate, unconditional return to economic common sense.”
“They are deeply frustrated because they feel completely invisible to the Prime Minister, who promised them a better future and delivered nothing but broken words and shattered trust. They were promised a better life. Instead, they've been hit by consecutive interest rate rises that have stripped hundreds of dollars out of their disposable income every single month. And what is this government's response to the widespread regional suffering? The answer is always the same from Labor: tax them even more. The Albanese Labor government is increasing the tax burden via bracket creep. They're hitting our small business with an investor tax bomb, they're targeting our primary producers with unfair biosecurity levies and they're swinging a green hammer down on our heavy industries.”
“When a government deliberately drives up the cost of that energy through ideological inventions, it makes Australian manufacturing completely unproductive. We are seeing iconic regional smelters, processing plants and chemical facilities across this nation pushed to the absolute edge of operational survival, requiring emergency government interventions and bailouts just to survive. The fundamental failure of these appropriations is the complete and total lack of basic human empathy. This government simply does not understand the depth of the pain its policies are causing. People are facing genuine, terrifying desperation. The people of regional Australia are angry, and they have every right to be angry.”
“Without cheap, reliable, continuous baseload energy an industrial economy simply cannot function. Labor's green energy spending is a multibillion-dollar monument to waste, a policy that locks regional Australia into structural disadvantage, while everyday Australians pay the price through sky-high electricity prices. This brings me straight to the total hypocrisy of this government's big slogan: Future Made in Australia. The hard reality on the ground is that, in heavy industrial hubs like Paget, this policy is an absolute sham. You cannot build, maintain or expand a sovereign manufacturing sector if you do not have access to cheap, reliable, continuous power. It is a physical and economical impossibility. Heavy engineering, advanced steel fabrication, automated assembly and mineral processing require massive amounts of energy.”
“If you want to see where our national wealth is being completely wasted, look no further than the multibillion-dollar black hole of Labor's net zero obsession. Billions of taxpayers funds are being funnelled to green corporate welfare, while giant wind and solar projects destroy our regional forests, lock up our farmland and fracture our communities. Let us examine the complete economic failure of this energy transition. The government has spent billions of dollars on transmission lines, foreign engineered wind turbines and overseas made solar panels and batteries, yet power bills for ordinary families have jumped by around 40 per cent. It is an extraordinary display of financial incompetence. This Labor government has managed to spend record amounts of public money to make electricity more expensive and less reliable.”
“They face skyrocketing utility bills and they face the constant looming threat of endless rent rises thanks to soaring inflation. They are taking on second jobs only to watch their hard earned cash get cannibalised by bracket creep. The game is completely rigged against them. No-one is safe from the Albanese agenda to increase taxes on the people of this country. When a worker puts in overtime, this government treats them like a target to be plundered. When will this government learn? When you penalise effort, you simply get less of it. This budget completely crushes the ambition of youth, trapping them in a permanent rental cycle and telling them having a go is no longer worth the struggle. The Albanese Labor government is taking the tools that make wealth away from our youth.”
“Across the country, business leaders have reacted with equal fury to this tax-heavy agenda. They have blown the whistle, warning that this budget drops an absolute tax bomb on small business. They are pointing out that the changing tax rules overnight will completely destroy local confidence, especially when our small-business operators are already battling a brutal surge in their everyday running costs. You cannot tax a nation into prosperity, and you cannot stabilise an economy by dropping a tax bomb on the very people who take the risks and create local jobs. The most cynical, damaging aspect of the budget is the way it systematically snuffs the light out on aspirational young Australians. Think about a young worker in Dawson today. They aren't doing it tough; they are trapped on an economic treadmill they cannot outrun.”
“At the exact moment inflation is peaking, Labor is still printing and spending more money, throwing debt fuel on a fire that is already burning through family budgets. The Reserve Bank of Australia itself has dropped diplomatic subtlety in an assessment of this fiscal recklessness. The Reserve Bank's own board minutes show that they are deeply worried that the government's spending is sabotaging the fight against inflation. The writing is on the wall, and the RBA have warned that, if this reckless spending doesn't stop, high inflation will be locked into the economy. Financial models are now forecasting a further cash rate increase in the upcoming September quarter of 2026, a move that will automatically push repayments even higher for families who are already at their absolute breaking point.”
“Labor's only solution to the widespread desperation of the people of this great nation is to tax them even more and introduce sweeping changes to capital gains tax, negative gearing and the taxation of trusts that will penalise investment and drive a knife through the heart of domestic productivity. Don't take my word for it. Some of the most respected independent economic minds in the country are looking at this budget with absolute contempt. They see a Labor government who's completely abandoned fiscal discipline. In a sobering post-budget analysis, the economic team at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said that this budget represents a massive missed opportunity in the fight against inflation.”
“It is spending record amounts of public money, while leaving our economy weaker than ever. Does this government simply not understand that people are hurting? People are facing genuine, raw desperation. They are angry. They are frustrated. And they feel completely abandoned by the Prime Minister, who promised them a $275 reduction in their electricity bills, a promise repeated 97 times, which—surprise, surprise!—was an untruth. Broken promises have been the theme of this budget, because, in the Labor playbook, every single time a promise is broken, the taxpayer is the one who picks up the tab.”
“Regional Australia has done the heavy lifting to line the pockets of this Treasury. Yet where has that record revenue gone? It has vanished, into the insatiable appetite of the Labor government's coffers. It has been spent on absolutely nothing that helps the ordinary family survive this crisis. Instead of using this windfall to structurally repair our economy, pay down our massive national debt or build wealth-generating infrastructure in the regions, the Treasurer has locked in an aggregate deficit of a staggering $150.5 billion over the forward estimates for the period 2029 to 2030. The underlying cash deficit for this immediate period starts at a staggering $28.3 billion and climbs even higher over the forward estimates. This government has pulled off a disastrous double.”
“It's ridiculous. The capital gains tax discount again—younger people who can't get into the housing market and who are trying to save for a house deposit are buying shares and other investment streams. Now the capital gains tax discount is going to be taken away from them. It's going to be harder for them. That's just the cold reality of investing and how it is. The Albanese Labor government is taking away all the wealth creation tools that are being used by my generation. It's an assault on the youth. And in this budget, mining investment falls to zero by 2028. Mining is our biggest export. Iron ore!”
“This budget is a high taxing, high spending budget only a Labor government could be proud of. The broken promises include the promise was no change to negative gearing, capital gains tax and trusts, but here we are. When the government, when Mr Albanese himself, our prime minister, the Prime Minister of this great country, was asked are there going to be any changes, he said, 'How hard is it' 50 times. Well, I can tell you, it is very hard and people are doing it tough. The whole budget is anti-aspiration. It's an assault on young people. For negative gearing, when changes are made, an investor can't then claim the interest as a tax deduction. They've got to get their money somewhere else, so they'll put their rent up. That is going to make it harder for the young people then to afford, once they pay their rent, the deposit.”
“I'm very concerned that, if some of these veterans have got to make a choice between physiotherapy, podiatry and potentially psychology—I don't want to see one more veteran suicide. That would be an absolute disgrace. When I first got elected in 2022, one of my election commitments was to get a wellness centre, an RSL in Mackay. Mackay is home to about 4,000 people, and they do not have one. Fortunately, the Labor government got elected, and that was quashed. To make it worse, The Oasis in Townsville, another place in my electorate that was looking after veterans, has had their funding cut. But let's just look at the promises. 'No new taxes' was taken to the election. But this Labor government's budget has just brought down a list of broken promises.”
“Before I start highlighting the litany of promises broken by the Albanese Labor government, I would like to offer my big thanks to the member for Herbert, Phillip Thompson, for standing up for the veterans. This budget would be the cruellest budget that I've ever seen. Those opposite want to cap veterans allied health at $5,000. It's an absolute disgrace. These fine men and women have put their bodies on the line. They put their lives on the line. They put their minds on the line for this country so we can enjoy the fantastic life that we have. These freedoms and liberties, they've been hard-fought for by our Defence Force personnel. The very least that those opposite can do is support these veterans when they come home. I'm concerned.”
“The foundational deal in this country used to be simple. If you worked hard, if you had a go, you could get ahead. But, under this prime minister, the great Australian promise is dead. I think the Prime Minister should come into this chamber and say, 'I apologise to the Australian people.'”
“But recent reports are showing that they could be up to 250,000 to 300,000 short. And the Prime Minister said, 'My word is my bond.' Well, I certainly wouldn't like to take that bond to the bank. I give you that tip. And this is probably the biggest, most famous one of them all: 'Under Labor, if you vote for Labor, you will be $275 better off on your power bill.' That little story was reproduced 97 times. That wasn't a slip of the tongue. That was repeated, repeated, repeated. Australia has just witnessed a trial of broken promises, and they've shattered families' budgets. This is in a Labor created cost-of-living crisis. A federal budget should be a road map and an opportunity, but this Labor government has turned it into an economic dead end. This budget doesn't reward effort. It punishes it.”
“Allied health is capped at $5,000. I ran into a veteran on my last trip to Townsville. He said: 'Andrew, when you have allied health for veterans capped at $5,000, that is only enough for 15 weeks! What am I supposed to do for the rest of the year? So, if the Prime Minister could answer that and look the veteran straight in the eye and tell him what he should be doing, when this veteran's been good enough to put his life and his body on the line for this country, what should the Prime Minister be telling him? And what about the private health fund changes for the over-65s? After working their whole lives and at a time they probably need some more health care, there are changes to that. That will put more pressure on the ED. That is absolutely crazy. And there's housing, with 1.2 million homes promised by 2029.”
“We buy retail prices. But, anyway, that's another learning curve for a new member—fair enough! Rental prices are up. Gas prices are up. These are all broken promises. Let's unpack the promises a little bit further. The promise: no new taxes—and yet, let's have a look. The Treasurer has just brought down the highest taxing, highest spending budget in history. The new taxes: capital gains tax, negative gearing tax and a tax on trusts. When asked about capital gains tax and negative gearing tax, the Prime Minister said, 'How hard is it? For the 50th time'. Prime Minister, let me tell you, it's very hard. People are doing it tough—and, let's be honest, you haven't been. And what about the sneaky death duty hidden in the budget? Oh no, it's not called death duty; it's called inheritance tax. Let's have a look at the cuts for veterans' welfare.”
“In this place, I represent the good people of Dawson. In Dawson, we trade in three commodities: honesty, integrity and truth—and, let me tell you, under the Albanese Labor government, truth is in very, very short supply. So let's talk about the broken promises, and let's be honest, the Albanese Labor government breaks promises hell, west and crooked. The promise: no Australian is going to be worse off. But the truth of it is that every Australian is worse off. Grocery prices are up and are becoming nearly unaffordable. Mortgage rates are up and, by all reports, are going to go higher. Insurance prices are up. Electricity prices are through the roof, which is in stark contrast to the gentleman who was speaking just before, saying how fantastic it is that wholesale electricity prices are down. I don't know how you buy wholesale prices.”
“Let us be entirely clear about where the money is coming from. It is not coming from the clever ideas of economists sitting in Canberra offices. It is being dragged out of the ground by the hardworking resources and agricultural sector in regional Queensland. Debate interrupted.”
“This budget proves that Labor treats the hard-earned money of Australian taxpayers like a bottomless credit card. Labor is pumping billions of dollars of additional demand into an economy that is already running over the speed limit, fuelling the inflationary firestorm and ensuring that Australian families will suffer for years to come. This budget does not offer relief. It delivers a systematic, tax-heavy burden that snuffs out the great Australian dream of having a go and getting ahead. This is not a fair go for Australia. People are working harder for longer to go backwards. What makes this appropriation bill so deeply offensive to the people of my electorate is that it comes at a time when the Albanese Labor government is enjoying historic, record-breaking revenue windfalls.”
“They're looking at the bills in absolute despair, trying to balance household budgets. They have been completely shattered by this Labor government, by the decisions that are made in this very building. When a family in Dawson sees their costs go up, they have to make immediate, painful choices. They cut back on meat at the butcher. They cancel the family camping weekend away. They turn the lights off early and go to bed just so they can afford to pay their electricity bill. They operate under the brutal laws of financial reality. If they do not have money, they do not spend it. Yet, while the people of my electorate are making these gut-wrenching sacrifices, this out-of-touch Albanese Labor government refuses to display a single shred of restraint.”
“I rise today to speak to the brutal reality of what this Labor government's budget has delivered. This budget is a formal declaration of economic surrender. What we're seeing is an administration that has completely run out of ideas and run out of money. As we all know, when Labor run out of money, they come after yours. Just over a week ago, the Treasurer delivered a budget that completely abandons everyday Australians at a time when they're facing the most acute financial pressure in a generation. These appropriation bills represent a written testament to the fiscal recklessness of this Labor government. Every single week I hear from families, small business owners, farmers and manufacturers across my electorate of Dawson. They tell me the same thing: they are financially drowning.”
“Peter is the hardworking Australian who sacrificed everything for their retirement, while Paul is a bloated government spending spree that is out of control, a government that wastes billions on net zero and fuels a migration surge that it simply cannot house. This government is setting itself up to take on the people who have worked the hardest. This budget isn't looking like reform; it's looking like a raid. Labor is burning the floorboards to keep the furnace going, and it's starting with the incineration of every single Australian's future.”
“Tonight, it appears the cost of ambition is about to go up. Based on what has already been leaked to the media, tonight's budget is looking like a direct tax on success and a calculated betrayal of the people who do the heavy lifting. Think of the small-business owners, the people who have skipped holidays, worked through the night and salary sacrificed every spare cent to build a future. For them, their assets are their superannuation. It is their reward for a lifetime of risk. Now, Labor wants to slash that reward the moment they cross the finish line. This budget is set to be framed as a hand up for the next generation, but it's more like a government robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
“And to our staff: it truly does take a village to run this big house, and we appreciate everything you do for us. Have a magnificent Easter, everyone.”
“Our families and their small businesses are already wearing the burden of this economic pressure and we cannot ask our volunteers to shoulder the rest. A commitment must come from the government to support these essential services. We must ensure that the most vulnerable people in Dawson are not left stranded, because, in our region, we can simply not afford to let the wheels stop turning. As we head home to our electorates, I hope that the only division this weekend is whether fruitless hot cross buns should be banned from the oven. To my coalition mates, to the government, to the crossbench and to the Senate, I wish you all a holy renewal and unity and peace. I also want to give a massive shout-out to the legends who keep Parliament House ticking: our clerk, our attendants, our cleaners, our security and our hospitality staff.”
“At the same time, the Kidney Support Network is seeing a measurable drop in donations as families struggle to manage under this Labor created cost-of-living crisis. They are now facing the heartbreaking reality of having to turn away new clients. If their expenses continue to climb, they may be forced to pause these critical services altogether. The coalition led the charge in calling for the fuel excise to be halved, and while I'm pleased the government followed our lead to bring some reprieve, it is clear that it does not go far enough for our charities. Our charities are so important for us. We need an immediate release of emergency relief funding and further fuel subsidies for transport-reliant charities where it is truly a matter of life or death.”
“I rise today to address a silent crisis unfolding in the heart of my electorate. The Kidney Support Network in Mackay has detailed the critical challenges currently threatening their essential transport service. This lifeline operates six days a week, from 6 am until 9 pm. It ensures that renal patients across our region never miss the treatments they need to survive. For these patients, the service is quite literally their lifeline. But right now the lifeline is fraying under the weight of this fuel crisis. The service is volunteer led, and as prices at the bowser remain at record highs, these dedicated drivers are being forced to prioritise their own survival over their volunteer roles. They simply cannot afford to stay on the road.”
“It is a time for deep reflection on the ultimate sacrifice made on the cross and the profound miracle of the empty tomb. The resurrection is a message of eternal hope and the victory of light over darkness. The reality of the risen Christ is the truth that anchors our lives, provides the foundation for the strong family units and makes our communities so resilient. In a world that can often feel divided, the Easter message of forgiveness and renewal remains a constant. It's a time to pause, to gather with our loved ones and to give thanks for the blessings we share in this great nation. I wish every person in Dawson a safe, happy and holy Easter. May your homes be filled with peace, and may the true spirit of this season bring everlasting hope to us all.”
“This is a 'whole new world' for regional tourism, with rare artefacts, costumes and props from the Disney archives, including the legends of Star Wars and Marvel. This is a magical opportunity for our families. For all our local cafes, hotels and small businesses, this is a 'zip-a-dee-doo-dah' day for our economy. To the rest of the nation, I say, 'Be our guest.' Come to Mackay and see the magic for yourself, because in Dawson the dreams you dare to dream really do come true. While we look forward to the magic storytelling that Disney will bring to Dawson, we are currently approaching a season that tells the greatest story of all. For my family, and for so many families across Dawson, Easter is more than just chocolate and bunnies.”
“It was Walt Disney himself who said: It's kind of fun to do the impossible. For the people in my electorate of Dawson, the impossible has become a reality. While the big cities might think that they have a monopoly on magic, I'm here to tell the House that the red carpet is being rolled out so much further north—not Melbourne, not Sydney, not even Brisbane. The spotlight has shifted because a world-class global showcase is making its Australian premiere in Central Queensland. Mackay has been hand-picked to host the legendary collection and bring Disney : T he E xhibition - A C entury of M agic straight to the regions. This exhibition has enchanted audiences in London, Munich and Paris, yet, it chose the heart of Central Queensland to be its Australian home.”
“We're also told that this will force electrification. This may shock the teals, but you can't run a D11 dozer or a cane harvester on a battery. The nation's heavy industry runs on molecules not on electrons. To force a phase-out of fuel credits before there is a viable, affordable and proven technological alternative—that's not a transition; that is a shutdown. The net zero fantasy is a tax on the prosperity of every Australian. We need a system that reduces energy costs not one that bankrupts the nation to satisfy a city-centric agenda. We either are to be a sovereign power or an economic disaster. This motion, if supported, will be an economic disaster.”
“It is hypocritical, nonsensical and a betrayal of the national interest. If this Labor government really cared about the environment and our sovereign capability, we would be taking ownership of our own resources. We would be extracting, refining and using our own fuels. We should be encouraging our resource industry, not penalising it. In this motion, the member for Bradfield suggests a $50 million cap to protect small business, but this is a hollow gesture. In my electorate of Dawson, the large-scale mines of the neighbouring Bowen Basin are the engine room of our local economy. They provide jobs that support local grocery stores, our mechanics and our schools. When you penalise the big end of town in the resources sector, you're effectively cutting the throat of every small business that services them.”
“Furthermore, the environmental logic behind this motion is nothing short of laughable. This motion suggests we will phase out these credits to meet net zero targets. Net zero is killing Australia. All we are doing is exporting our emissions along with our jobs and prosperity. Right now, Australia is forced to have diesel refined overseas because the Albanese Labor government has made domestic production almost impossible. But here's the kicker: when we import fuel, we are adding to global emissions through massive shipping distances and processing in countries with far lower environmental standards than our own. This House is being asked to adopt a not-in-my-backyard attitude, pretending that as long as the smoke isn't coming out of an Australian chimney it doesn't count.”
“Why would you ask people who are not using the roads to pay for a tax on the roads? That is just nonsensical—a total false premise. The heavy machinery, the harvesters, the tractors and 400-tonne mine haul-out trucks that power our economy do not drive on our highways. To tax their fuel is like having a double tax on production, a move that would drive up the cost of every single thing that is grown, mined or made in this country. Let us talk about the total fiscal lunacy of this motion. We're talking about the fuel tax credit here, an expense of $11 billion. The FTC is a vital lubricant for a $1.2 trillion industrial engine. To suggest we save $11 billion by handicapping the sectors that return over $60 billion in mining royalties alone is dangerously naive. Is anybody ever going to trip over a dollar to pick up a cent?”
“If you wanted to design a policy for deliberately sabotaging the Australian economy, bankrupting our farmers and paralysing our mining industry, you would look no further than this motion. We're currently standing in the middle of a national fuel emergency, yet here we are debating a motion that treats our most productive industries as if they are a problem to be phased out. What we're seeing here today is the height of illogical nonsense, a motion that places ideology above the wellbeing and prosperity of our nation. The member's argument rests on a false premise that the fuel tax credit is a subsidy. Let me be crystal clear—it is not. It is a mechanism to ensure that businesses are not taxed for the road infrastructure they simply don't use. Isn't that fair enough?”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. The Kidney Support Network in Mackay says volunteer drivers are being forced off the road by the national fuel crisis, putting renal patients at risk of missing dialysis. Why is this Prime Minister always last to lead in a national crisis?”