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

More cheers for our $100 billion 10-year pipeline of investment in infrastructure. When it comes to investing in infrastructure in regional Western Australia, I'm not quite sure why one of the metropolitan Western Australian representatives is suddenly interested in regional areas. Let me tell you: on this side of the House, we're very interested in regional Australia and we're very interested in making sure that we've got investments in the resources sector to make it vibrant, to make it strong and to make it lasting, because we back the resources sector. The member for Hunter has only just cottoned on to the fact that people in his electorate are behind the resources sector, and those opposite should know that resources provide tens upon tens of thousands of jobs, provide many billions of dollars for our balance of payments for our exports and provide the energy needs of this nation. They seemed to forget that prior to 18 May. They seemed to forget it and think that anybody who worked in a mine, who worked in a high-vis vest, somehow should have been demonised. They learnt their lesson on 18 May when the resources sector backed this side, backed the Liberals, backed the Nationals, as they should have.

When it comes to roads for mining industries, we're getting on and building those roads. Indeed, I was never so proud as when I was standing at Laverton, where the bitumen road out of Laverton ends, 12 kilometres along the Outback Way, and a fellow who runs a mine there said: 'You know, this is going to benefit our mine. It takes 12 hours to drive from Laverton to my mine, and, because the Liberals and Nationals are getting on and building the road, putting bitumen down at long last—the other side: well, I don't know whether they ever would, but you blokes are doing it, so well done to you—that's going to save nine hours on my trucks, to get from here to there, and that's going to create productivity savings.' He's going to be able to invest further in his mine.

That's why we've had 36 months of unbroken jobs growth in this nation, because we back the resources sector, we back infrastructure and we get on with the job—

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