Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

They are very sensitive on this point. It was interesting that Senator Di Natale raised that because, when it comes to choosing between coalminers and drug dealers, the Greens choose drug dealers. They want to ban coal and they want to legalise drugs. We have seen it recently in the policies that the Greens have put forward. Senator Di Natale recently put forward a policy that would see the legalisation of drugs in this country, but one thing they want to do is ban coal. So, when it comes to choosing between those two realities, they choose the drug dealers over the coalminers.

We reject the premise of this matter of public importance. The suggestion that you cannot have a coal industry, as we have seen for decades and decades in Queensland, and a growing tourism sector is absolutely false. Let's go to the figures. Let's see how the tourism sector has done under the coalition government. Let's see how it is done in Queensland under the coalition government. There is nothing like facts to respond to the Greens' rhetoric. Let's respond with some facts. Since 2013, the Whitsundays saw an increase of 36 per cent in international visitors and an astonishing increase of 89 per cent increase in visitor spend—an 89 per cent increase! So we have seen a booming tourism sector co-existing with things like coalmines. That has been the case for many, many years. Tropical North Queensland saw an increase of 31 per cent in international visitors and an increase in visitor spend over three years of 34 per cent. These are very encouraging figures. I am sure the Greens do not want to hear them.