Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's always a pleasure to follow the shadow minister for communications. The member for Greenway and I both came into this parliament at the same time, in 2010. She would well remember having been a member of that Gillard and, later on, albeit for a small portion of time, Rudd government, under Labor and under the Greens, where not one single cent—not one zack—was spent on mobile phone towers. She would know that. She would remember that because she is now the shadow minister for communications. There wasn't a cent spent in the electorate of Page, nor Herbert, nor Grey, nor Barker, nor Parkes, nor Riverina, nor Cowper, nor Eden-Monaro—I can see Eden-Monaro over there—nor Macquarie. Not one cent was spent on mobile phone towers in any electorate in Australia.

But, since we came to power in 2013, total investment of $875 million has been generated, working with telcos to deliver more than 1,270 new mobile base stations across Australia. I can thank the member for Parkes, largely, for a lot of that, because he was the minister for regional communications at the time. No thanks to those opposite, because they didn't spend a single cent, not one cent. Yet they come in here—I hear the member for McEwen carp about it all the time, about how he needs a mobile phone tower, and I hear other members opposite who represent peri-urban areas say that they need mobile phone coverage. Well, don't expect it if ever there is an Albanese-Bandt Labor-Greens government, because you won't get a penny for mobile phone coverage. Indeed, you will get it under us. You will get it under the Liberals and Nationals.

I well recall the sorts of things those opposite put in place when they were in power. I well recall 8 June 2011. It was a black day for the live cattle trade, when they just said 'no', on the back of a television program, to live cattle exports. All of those farmers and all of their cattle had backs turned on them by Labor and the Greens and the crossbench. I remember how hard that was for those farmers, how hard it was for those operators, how hard it was for the hardworking Aboriginal stockmen. Goodness knows if ever they got back into the trade when it was resumed.

Instant asset write-off: the member for Parkes reminded me just a moment ago that he was driving from Lake Cargelligo, through the fertile valleys of the Riverina, back to his home base. He was driving back at night. He said all the headers were going, harvesting already. Many of those headers and harvesters and operations are due, thanks to good weather—

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