Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr President. I cannot confirm or deny for you, Senator Sterle, that Mr Barnaby Joyce has made comments like that. It certainly sounds like comments he would make, from good knowledge that I have, Senator Sterle, so I will take it on face value that those were comments he made. But, of course, I am not going to comment on the preference arrangements that the Western Australian Nationals enter into. They are an independent and affiliated body of the federal National Party, but they do make their own decisions on matters that are in their interests. I will let them explain those interests to the Western Australian parliament and the Western Australian voters. However, what I am sure, Senator Sterle, they will be explaining to those Western Australian voters is that the best form of government for the Western Australian people will be a Liberal-National government after the election.

We know from records that the best form of government is a Liberal-National government for our country. Whether it is in Western Australia or over here on the eastern seaboard, the relationship we have between our two parties is a strong one and has delivered strong results for our nation. That is what I will be focused on over the next month, reminding the people of Australia that if they want to continue to have a strong economy in the west, if they want to continue to benefit from the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been invested in the regions through the Royalties for Regions program in Western Australia, they will need a Liberal-National government to do that.

We know if they do not have that, if they have a Labor government, there will be a Labor government pushing for renewable energy targets that are unachievable. They will be shutting down coal mining in places like Collie. They will be taking away the industrial advantage that Western Australia has, the future promise of developing Western Australian resources like their gas resources and like northern Australia. The Labor Party will ignore those, come back to that small part of Western Australia down in Perth and not develop those resources. Let's hope that a Liberal-National government in Western Australia is elected and I wish them all the best in that election.