Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you—snorkels on them. They do not last 10 years. The Toyotas, Nissans, Fords and so on are great vehicles but they do not last. As I said, I have just been to a property where they grow cattle, fodder crops and other things, and there would be a dozen vehicles there. So you would only be giving an exemption to some. That is the difficulty of making these sorts of deals. Senator Abetz’s amendment was so much better because under $90,000 you would look after the tourism operator, the farmers, the vet and everyone else and you would get the 10 Lamborghinis that are sold in Australia every year, the Bentleys and so on.

You ask about giving exemptions to the vet, the plumber and the fencing contractor, as well as the roo-shooter and others that Senator Boswell mentioned, and say that, if you gave the exemption to them, you would not get any money for the government. Hang on, the government have a $22 billion surplus thanks to Peter Costello and the country is in pretty good nick. Why pick on the vet, the roo-shooter and the mechanic to pay the government $550 million when they do not really need it? You are picking on some people. You are not picking on the people who live in the cities who can walk their kids to school. You are picking on the people in remote Australia who do not have an alternative.

I attribute good faith to you, Senator Fielding. You are right in saying that we support whatever concessions you have been able to negotiate with the government. That is good, and it is better than what the Labor Party have done. They have no interest whatsoever in people outside the capital cities. They do not seem to have much interest in the manufacturing workers either, but that is their business more than mine. I am concerned about people in country Australia who do it tough and who always end up paying more. Sure, when we were in government we gave them a little bit back. Remember that we had a Regional Partnerships program? That used to try to even the balance for people in country areas, but that is all gone now.