Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's great to be back in Canberra again after a huge week in Darwin in my electorate, hosting not only Labor leader Anthony Albanese, and deputy leader and shadow defence minister Richard Marles, but also shadow minister for agriculture and resources Joel Fitzgibbon. What a massive week. We didn't waste a moment. We spoke with industry, the gas sector. We spoke to the growers, the producers, the business chamber. We spoke to Team Territory, childcare centres, traditional owners. And all the way we were talking about jobs in this post-COVID era. It's all about getting the economy going again, the recovery, and getting people back to work. We spoke about what's worked and what's fallen short.

One quick example of what's fallen short is the mostly forgotten mango industry. The federal government has done next to nothing for this industry. Some workers have come from Vanuatu, and we appreciate them coming to give us some assistance. But, when we talked to mango growers, they had the same questions that they had four years ago. This government is in its eighth year.

This morning I attended Labor's First Nations caucus committee meeting in Narrabundah with my parliamentary colleagues. Kakadu needs to be fast-tracked, and tourism is a brilliant way to supercharge First Nations tourism. So, in NAIDOC Week, I say to the government: get some funding into tourism. (Time expired)