Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great pleasure of mine to be able to stand up today and talk about the Prime Minister's and, indeed, the government's achievements in our first 12 months, because there are many. I know, Deputy Speaker Whiteley, that you are aware of many of them. I am going to start local and talk about the achievements that this Prime Minister and this government have delivered to my local community.

The first one is that the government said they would, and have, delivered infrastructure and delivered the roads for the 21st century. One of the biggest infrastructure projects in the country is the Pacific Highway dual duplication, not least, because of the fatalities that it will save. Of course, it brings an economic boon while being built, and on completion it brings benefits as well. Deputy Speaker, you may be saying, 'Why are you talking about that, because I'm sure the Labor Party had the same position on this piece of infrastructure?' Well, you would be horribly wrong. At the last election the Labor Party put $3 billion on the table to complete the dual duplication. They wanted to walk away from the 80-20 funding split. So what did we, as an incoming government, do? We said that we would maintain the 80 per cent funding split, and that meant we put an extra $2 billion on the table. That will make sure that that duplication gets completed as quickly as possible. One of the first privileges I had as the member for Page was to turn the sod on a new tender at Pimlico Road, which we had announced within weeks of becoming elected, to make this duplication happen as quickly as we could.

There are a few other things I want to talk about, but let me go quickly to the free trade agreements. What do free trade agreements mean to me? What do free trade agreements mean to my community? I have four examples that I want to talk about. The first one is that I have a dairy cooperative in my electorate called Norco. They employ 600 people. They have told me that they are ecstatic about these free trade agreements. They are a well-managed cooperative, and they already export fresh milk to China, which began this year. After the free trade agreement they rang me and said that they were very happy because new markets for them mean increased returns for, not only them, but, very importantly, the dairy farmers in my community.

The biggest employer in my electorate is the Northern Co-operative Meat Company Ltd. They employ 1,100 people. When I was the candidate for Page, the CEO of that company was very concerned and said, 'One of the biggest issues we have is that we are falling behind countries like Brazil and even America, because they have free trade agreements with some of the countries that we export to', and they were falling behind in a price measurement. Their tariffs were getting lowered quicker. You can imagine the joy for their business with the free trade agreement. They said, 'Now our beef prices will be as competitive, if not cheaper, than our competitors to the countries that we export to.' Those 1,100 jobs are made safer in my community because of the good work done by the minister.

But there is more. My electorate is home to the macadamia industry. It employs, directly, hundreds of people and, indirectly, thousands of people. They export to China, and where we have had our tariffs lowered with the free trade agreements, it is going to make that industry more competitive. I am sure you like blueberries, Deputy Speaker. We have a New South Wales farmer of the year, who is a neighbour of mine, who has seen an opportunity. There is a three- or four-month opportunity where we can be the market that supplies China with blueberries. Again, the tariff on blueberries has been lowered and the farmer's investment is looking all the better for it.

You might think the achievements are contained to agriculture, Deputy Speaker, but you would be wrong. Last Friday I was in Ballina and went to see Kimberly Kampers, a manufacturing company, that makes high-end, very high-quality caravans. Guess what they are happy with? The manager said, 'You've just lowered the tariffs for me to sell my product into, not only Asia, but also the Middle East.' He was very excited. So, it is not just agriculture but also manufacturing companies.

There is more. I am finished, Deputy Speaker. I have pages to go.

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