Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

It is not a bit more than that. We get no questions on agriculture in this parliament. About 700 questions are given to the government each year—maybe it is several hundred more—and hardly any, if there are any at all, go to rural, regional or agricultural matters. That is a deep disappointment because all on this side representing rural and regional Australia want our issues to be the focus of attention and consideration by not just the government but the parliament.

As for the shadow minister for regional development, I find it very interesting. As I have said, I did not know that the member for Hotham was Labor’s spokesman on regional development. I looked up Simon Crean under regional services on the Labor Party’s website and I found one lonely entry. It is the transcript of a doorstop that the member for Hotham gave in August last year—almost 10 months ago. On top of that, the transcript was criticism of Telstra for announcing its $5 billion fund for the bush. So the only transcript, rambling and disoriented, on the website criticises Telstra for investing in rural and regional areas.

But, to be fair to the member for Hotham, I took it a step further. I looked up regional development. Surely this would be where Labor would hide its interest and engagement in rural Australia. I looked up that website and what did I find? I found a press statement dated 30 May, two days ago, but unfortunately it was from the shadow minister for regional development complaining about the government amalgamating five Melbourne area consultative committees into one organisation. He was complaining about a Melbourne issue. With the greatest of respect to the member for Hotham, I am glad that he is interested in a multitude of issues, but we would rather that he, as shadow minister for regional development, understand that Melbourne is not part of regional Australia. So his latest and most significant contribution for some time has been to issue a press release entitled ‘Labor opposed to amalgamation of Melbourne ACCs’. That is a deep disappointment and a deep worry.

The member for Hotham and the member for Corio, on the few occasions they do come together to live up to the Leader of the Opposition’s empty promise of a new dialogue with the bush, will have a lot in common and will sympathise with each other’s position. They have both claimed that the Labor Party is ‘rotten to the core’. Are we meant to forget that, only a few weeks ago, a number of its backbenchers were overlooked because, stripped of preselection, they do not attract the same attention as frontbenchers? But only a few weeks ago the Labor Party, especially in Victoria—

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