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

I thank the member for Dawson for his question. I know that the member is very aware of the fact that today we have 371,500 more Australians in jobs than a year ago—that's the difference a coalition government makes; we actually get people into work—and a 5.5 per cent unemployment rate, which is also a great example of good governance and good management.

But the member for Dawson would also be aware of the problems in North Queensland—very aware of the problems in North Queensland—where the cost of electricity per tonne for sugar has gone from $35 in 2012 to $135 in 2016; and, for cane, from $4 in 2012 to $15 a tonne in 2016. This has brought out people such as Paul Schembri, a cane grower from Mackay. I know we both know him very well. He said the cost of electricity for Queensland cane farmers has increased by 130 per cent in the last eight years; at this rate, it will render large parts of our industry uneconomic. Energy costs have become the No. 1 cost threat to our industry. Queensland, now under a Labor government, has the highest power prices in Australia, which is a remarkable effort because they had to go around the other Labor state of South Australia. Right now, we have the Queensland energy minister, Mark Bailey, who said on 18 October:

We are saying to Canberra we are committed to our state-based 50 per cent renewable energy because it works …

Because it works? It works in making people poorer! It works in sending people out of a job! It certainly works very well if you want blackouts!

Then we've got the member for Herbert. We actually can get jobs up there—they have 21.4 per cent unemployment in Townsville—but the member for Herbert says, in regard to the Adani Carmichael mine, she has no personal opinion because she is 'totally irrelevant'. Isn't that great that the people of Townsville have sent down someone who, by their own admission, says they are totally irrelevant? I can tell you the member for Dawson is not totally irrelevant. He's very relevant. He is not driven by the Labor Party policies of activated almond and turmeric lattes or the Labor Party policies of wind-chime power and dreamcatcher nets!

That's where their power policy comes from. We believe in coal-fired power. We believe in gas-fired power. We believe in hydro. We believe in people having a job. We believe in the people of Ayr. We believe in the people of Home Hill. We are going to make sure that these people have a job. We do not think that blue-collar workers are, basically, politically irrelevant. What we see in the Labor Party all the time is that policy is driven by the green movement. They have given up on working-class people. They have given up on manufacturing jobs. They have no vision for Australia. They have no vision for Queensland. They do not have the confidence anymore of the once-great Labor Party that they had been.

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