Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It's certainly more coherent than anything that shadow Treasurer has said in recent times!

The reason I am acknowledging—indeed, celebrating—the big contribution that the North West Minerals Province and regional Central, North and Far North Queensland make to our national economy is that I do recognise and I know the Prime Minister recognises as well that, when we make decisions about roads funding, investment in industry or in the Olympics, regional Queensland and regional Australia are always foremost in our minds, because we know that, if we want the national economy to be strong, the regional economies of this country need to be a bigger part of the story.

Now, when it comes to the Olympics, this is where the member Kennedy and I respectfully disagree, because I think the Olympics in South-East Queensland are going to be amazing. One of the reasons why I think the Olympics will be amazing is that it will be good not just for South-East Queensland but for the whole country. In a way that the Leader of the Opposition does not understand, the Olympics that we just saw in Paris were a unifying moment for this country, no matter how much people might try to divide and diminish us. I believe that the Olympics have the capacity to bring people together, and I think that will be especially the case when it comes to the Brisbane Olympics. I know the Minister for Sport and the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government have the same optimism and the same belief.

And we're not investing $30 billion, as the member Kennedy said in his question, but about $3½ billion in 20 venues right around South-East Queensland. That will create jobs and opportunities right around Australia, not just in South-East Queensland, and that's why I'm such an enthusiastic supporter of the Olympics in Brisbane in 2032.

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