Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. Will the Deputy Prime Minister outline to the House how the Morrison-Joyce government continues—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Riverina will resume his seat. Members on my left, I cannot hear the question when there's such noise coming from the left side of the chamber. The member for Riverina will recommence his question.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Oh, do I have to? My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. Will the Deputy Prime Minister outline to the House how the Morrison-Joyce government continues—and that's the key word—to deliver critical infrastructure, creating jobs and driving growth across the nation? Is the Deputy Prime Minister aware of any alternative policy approaches?

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

I thank the honourable member for his question and note the great work that he, when he was minister for transport—like previous National Party ministers Tim Fischer and Warren Truss—did in building nation-building infrastructure. Vital work was done, especially within the Nationals, for things such as the duplication of the Pacific Highway and also major projects such as the Western Sydney airport.

I note that the member for Riverina was instrumental in this nation-building infrastructure which is so vital for our nation to have a path into the future, a purpose into the future and infrastructure for the future. Nation-building infrastructure makes a nation strong. Things such as the Inland Rail, all 1,716 kilometres of it, from Melbourne up to Brisbane, and now the business case that we are starting on the process of building it from Toowoomba down to Gladstone, show the side of the House that has a vision for the future.

The member for Riverina asked about alternative policies, but it's incredibly difficult for the Labor Party to have alternative policies, because their coalition colleagues, the Greens, don't believe in building very much at all.

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Moreton is warned.

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

Every time we go down the process of trying to construct dams, like we have at Scottsdale—and I know the member for Riverina is very much across the dams that he was instrumental in building down in Tasmania—and the work we're doing with the construction of Rookwood Weir and other water infrastructure projects such as the Macalister Irrigation District or the Wimmera Mallee pipeline, the biggest problem we always have is the caveats placed on us by green tape and green legislation supported by the Greens. The Labor Party is obviously joined at the hip with the Greens. You can see this permeating right through and even into the left wing of the Labor Party.

I was amazed the other day to read a tweet by the member for Moreton, Graham Perrett. We are now funding driving infrastructure not only for big projects but for small ones, including roads that have not had major upgrades in the last 50 years. But Mr Perrett said:

My grandfather was a grader driver during the Great Depression. If a road hasn't had a grader on it since the Thirties why on earth would a responsible federal government make it a priority now while the population in the bush is decreasing?

That is the attitude of the Labor Party.

The attitude of the Labor Party is that they take the regions as a joke. They sneer and jeer at the regions. They think they're a joke. They don't respect them. They don't respect Central Queensland. They don't respect regional areas. They have never come to the dispatch box with a vision for regional Australia or a major piece of infrastructure for regional Australia. They have never come to the dispatch box to talk about these things because they don't have them.

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Moreton! That is my final warning to the member for Moreton.