Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Can the minister confirm he traded away his opposition to net zero for the resources sector for a cabinet promotion with extra salary? Why is it about your job, not regional jobs?

Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party, Minister for Resources and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we always know about the opposition—they are all about digging up dirt, but not in the way the resources sector does it. It's all about politics with those opposite. The hardworking men and women of the sector are out there turning over dirt, shipping coal, shipping iron ore, delivering critical minerals, driving jobs and driving our economy. Now, those opposite, I'm sure, will continue this line of questioning, but I can say unequivocally: every day that I get up that I'm in a role in the government I'm looking to deliver for regional Australia, I'm looking to deliver for our country, I'm looking to deliver for the individuals that we represent who are out there working hard, paying their taxes—taxes which are much lower under this government than they would be under the opposition, I have to say. But we will continue to deliver for them, because it is about them.