Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr President. As I have indicated, this government is very concerned about the impact of higher petrol prices, particularly on struggling families. I did mention the price of petrol in my local community, which I keep a very close eye on. I might add in the context of my local community that, particularly in rural and regional areas, which the National Party is notorious for forgetting about, there is not the same range of public transport options. In my case on the north-west coast of Tasmania, whilst there are public transport options available within the cities of Devonport and Burnie, there are not extensive public transport options between the cities and the local communities. So obviously in rural and regional areas in particular, such as the community I come from, these are very important issues.