Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The biggest challenge before our nation is not climate. Over the long term, it's not COVID. The biggest challenge to our nation is the advent of China as the superpower in our region. It's not a democracy; it's a tyrannical regime operated from Beijing. We have to prepare our nation for what we're going to do in this part of the Pacific if there is a decline in American influence. We have only one thing before us: to become as powerful as possible, as quickly as possible. We must put all other issues aside.

We've seen in this budget where our power comes from. It comes from iron ore exports. It comes from coal exports. It comes from gas exports. Then we've got a lot of daylight until other issues come in place.

It was peculiar today to go out the front and see protesters who might be saying, 'Ban coal,' but they are actually saying, 'Make Australia weaker.' That is precisely what is going to happen if we put in place their particular view, which they are entitled to, at the expense of the liberties and freedoms of our children into the future. If we are going to deliver better than the budget the most important and precious things to the children and grandchildren who will follow us then it must be the capacity for us to stand strong in our section of the world. This budget is a clear analysis of where our power lies.