Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. Today, we have yet another great example of delivering, because we got through this House today the start of the $4 billion Regional Investment Corporation to be based in Orange. It is yet another sign of our decentralisation plan, a plan that we have for the delivery of a greater standard of living for people in regional areas. It's just like our plan and our money we have put on the table for the Inland Rail to create a corridor of commerce from Melbourne up to Brisbane, through Seymour and through Wodonga to increase the economic activity and be a boon for places like Parkes, Narrabri, Moree, Goondiwindi and Toowoomba. This is our plan. The plan goes on with decentralisation: the APVMA to go up to Armidale, the RIRDC to go down to Wagga Wagga, the GRDC to go to Toowoomba and moving sections of MDBA down to Wodonga. We have a plan for regional Australia. There are dams that we wish to build, such as a Rookwood Weir.

All these things have one thing in common—that is, that the Labor Party does not believe in them. The Labor Party does not believe in the Regional Investment Corporation. The Labor Party doesn't believe in the Inland Rail. The Labor Party does not believe in regional development. The Labor Party was the party that shut down the live cattle trade. The Labor Party does not stand beside the coal miners of the Hunter Valley and does not believe in the coal miners of the Hunter Valley. The member for Shortland and the member for Hunter do not have the ticker to stand up in the Labor Party for those who work, for the labourers. They have given up on the labourers. It obviously a clear case that we believe—

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