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

We respectfully heard at the start of question time about a 10-pound Pom who came to this nation and contributed so much to our country and to our parliament. Today we also pay respects to those Irish immigrants who came to our country. It's St Patrick's Day. I know that the member for Cowper and probably even the member for Shortland will join me—and others, too—in saying happy St Patrick's Day. Many of those Irish people came to regional areas. They came and they forged an existence out of regional Australia, because they knew that their future lay in those rural and regional areas, and good on them! They helped our nation to be the success it is today.

I thank the member for Mallee for her question and acknowledge her hard work and advocacy for her Victorian electorate. She has advocated so fiercely for the Murray Basin freight rail, and we've contributed $200.2 million towards its success. That's on top of the $240 million that we've put towards that project in the past. But, more than that, she knows, as does every other regional member of this parliament, how magnificent country Australians have been through the COVID-19 crisis. They have been their best selves, even though decisions were taken in faraway capital cities to shut down areas and to wear face masks. Even farmers were going out in regional areas wearing face masks when they were feeding stock, even though they were many hundreds of kilometres away from the capital cities. But they've been their best selves and they've helped keep their regions largely COVID free. I say thank you to those regional Australians for doing what they've done—for keeping COVID-19 away from those regional areas.

There are many, many jobs out in regional Australia right now. The Move to More campaign is going to ensure that regional Australia can be its best self. This morning I was with the CEO of the Regional Australia Institute, Liz Ritchie, to launch that wonderful campaign. And it is a wonderful campaign, because we want many of those Sydneysiders to move to the regions—7,782, in the September quarter alone, can't be wrong. They've moved out of the capital cities into the regions.

Mr Morrison interjecting—

Indeed, it is great news, Prime Minister. Many others are making the transition, making the tree change and moving to a regional area, because they know that during COVID you could have been in Manangatang, you could have been in Mangoplah, you could have been in Moree or you could have been in Moranbah and you could still tap in, via telepresence, to those Zoom meetings in a far-off capital city and get involved, participate and do all the sorts of things that capital city people take for granted. Regions—there is no better place in which to live and no better place in which to invest, play and work and do all the things that keep our country great and safe. (Time expired)

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