Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. It is absolutely apparent that the most important thing in so much of regional Australia is jobs. Throughout Australia it is about jobs. It is about making sure that we bring about an economy that brings stronger jobs growth, and we on this side absolutely believe in that stronger jobs growth. And we have seen it in the member's own seat, in Page, near the town of Tabulam, with the expansion of Ridley Bell's blueberry farm—600 new jobs in an area where there was not employment in the past and where we are driving that employment factor forward, because we believe that it is so vitally important that we give people the opportunity of a good job.

In the area we also have 22 full-time-equivalent positions going into warehousing. It is all about driving this agenda. And it is not just there, not just around Tabulam. It is also making sure that at the Costa Group's new tomato factory at Guyra we bring forward new jobs as well. With their expansion there are 170 new jobs in that area for the people of Guyra. That means the town is going ahead.

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