David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am not ashamed. In metropolitan areas where there is a big demand for housing, the problem is the CFMEU is driving up the costs so that people cannot afford to buy houses. That is the blindness of the ALP. They are unable to understand the reality of economics—101 of economics. In my electorate of Maranoa, we are fortunate not have the scourge of the CFMEU impacting the price of construction. I am fortunate that our government is investing in the key economic levers that are actually creating jobs and growth.

Telecommunication connectivity creates wealth in my electorate with the NBN to 68,000 households and premises. It actually creates jobs and allows us to take advantage of the free trade agreements that our government has created with China, South Korea and Japan. We are putting real wealth and jobs in communities like Roma and Dalby and Chinchilla because we are putting money in people's pockets and that allows them to create jobs.

We actually have an oversupply of housing in my electorate. We in the government are creating wealth and creating jobs that allow people to decentralise away from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane .Those people on the other side would not know what it would be like to be west of the great divide. They would not know where the Great Dividing Range is, to be honest, so they would not know what happens out there because their emphasis is on what happens in metropolitan areas where they can help their mates in the CFMEU. Their mates in the CFMEU continue to make more money and continue to support the Labor Party.

It is about connectivity and about creating opportunities for people to decentralise out of metropolitan areas to create jobs and to create real growth. That is what happens. It is not just about creating more big government; it is about creating opportunity and that is where Labor fails to understand. Those opposite create big government, create big infrastructure around government that over holds people and they actually ensure that they create nothing other than big government. The reality is we need as a government to pull the economic levers to create jobs and growth and that is what this government is doing. I am proud to be part of this government.

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