Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think it is a very hard thing, to support something from the other side of the chamber, but, from a party that represents regional Australia, in circumstances where 80 per cent of our nation is represented by merely four per cent of the members in this chamber, it is vitally important that we not exacerbate that situation by the removal of yet another regional seat. We've tried for regional senators, and we didn't even get debating time in this chamber for it. I was bitterly disappointed by that, considering it was a unanimous resolution of the National Party Federal Conference. The Northern Territory and other regional areas—areas that have a lower life expectancy, higher unemployment, fewer opportunities in education; everything that attests to them needing greater representation in this place—should not be affected by us removing a seat. I want to make it brief, and that's basically where I'll leave it.

I would also concur—unfortunately, there is only one time when a suspension is moved by the government, and that, of course, is in budget week. We also have this absolutely peculiar situation where we wouldn't be able to get an absolute majority because people are just not here. Even today, I'm so-called rostered off. How does that work, in a democracy? So, by reason of the circumstances brought about by this pandemic—which, I must admit, I totally disagree with; we should be passing the standing orders to let people sit in the galleries—and by reason of the fact that my whole time in this parliament has been about regional representation and trying to fight for greater regional representation, I'm not going to be a party to anything that removes regional representation.

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