Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Cowper for his question. You can't have a strong economy without strong regions. Certainly, our regions are delivering for our country. They are delivering for our economy. We're making sure that we have jobs for Australians. A record number, 412,000, of jobs were created last year, not by government but by the small businesses, the family enterprises, the medium businesses and even the large businesses, who we back with our Ten Year Enterprise Tax Plan and who we back with the confidence and the entrepreneurship to get on with things.

Ninety-five thousand young Australians got a job last year. How good is that? Ninety-five thousand young Australians got a job because of the policies of this government and small business being able to back them. That's why we back individuals with income tax cuts. That's why we back Cowper with a $971 million Coffs Harbour bypass. I didn't hear the member for Maribyrnong in his budget reply speech even talk about the Pacific Highway. There's also the Port Macquarie Airport expansion. We're getting on with the job of building for Cowper. There's the Tacking Point Lighthouse upgrade. These are worthy projects. They're making sure that the people of Cowper, the people of regional Australia, can get home sooner and safer.

We compare our record with the record of those opposite. With mobile towers, did we have one mobile tower funded by those opposite? No; but more than 800 are being funded by the Liberals and Nationals. Again, there is the Coffs Harbour bypass—we've delivered that final passage, that final piece of the puzzle, in the Pacific Highway upgrade. Small businesses will have higher taxes under Labor. That's what Labor offers us. Regarding self-funded retirees, I know that a lot of people like to retire to the Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour area. It's a fantastic area with fantastic weather. But those self-funded retirees will be smashed if the person opposite ever becomes Prime Minister, because Labor have a plan to steal the savings of those self-funded retirees. Shame on the member for Maribyrnong and shame on all those opposite for supporting him. The people of Cowper know that you can't trust Labour. They know that they can't trust Labor with their savings. The contrast could not be starker.

Good economic management is good for regional Australia. It allows us to spend $1.405 million in regional programs, with many, many more underway. Whether it's the Building Better Regions Fund, the Regional Growth Fund or the Regional Jobs and Investment Packages, they're all funding initiatives that are helping regional Australia and helping regional Australians contribute to our economy. Those opposite stand for higher taxes and higher power prices. Union bred, union fed and union led—that's the member for Maribyrnong.

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