Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It has been great to be amongst the good people of Groom over the last five to six weeks, being out meeting with them on feedlots, in boardrooms, in classrooms and on factory floors. I would especially like to thank all those who joined me in pushing back against the Premier's plan to put an unwanted, unwarranted and uncosted quarantine facility on our patch. Stay with me. We have work to do there. In my many conversations with my community one comment struck me as a laconic reflection on the last 12 months. It was: 'Out west we'd rather another pandemic than another drought'. It's a striking comment but it speaks to the impact of the pandemic on regional Australia and how well they have worked together and how used to overcoming a challenge together they are. They do so with that mix of humility, humour and hardiness that is so becoming in Australia.

The Toowoomba region has led the way in our nation's recovery, keeping each other safe, keeping our economy going. We should be very excited that all the great incentive programs from the last budget, that we responded to so well, continue in this budget. Through the instant asset write-offs we invested in productive assets. We grew our economy. With the tax relief we expanded our businesses and employed more people. With HomeBuilder we renovated using local contractors, and the local construction industry is booming. In the Toowoomba region we believe that growth is good. This government knows that for every dollar it invests in our patch it will get a return.