Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator, I'm happy to answer that question. I have one house, and that's the house I live in, so your attacks aren't there. This is about inequality. The argument that Labor have started on the question of inequality is about class warfare. If they consider that there is inequality out there—and I support this part of the senator's contribution—the best way to address it is to get people a job, so you might start by supporting this government's efforts in that regard. You resisted when there were some adjustments recommended for corporate tax changes for these businesses you call millionaires. They're not millionaires. These are people who operate pizza shops and small retail outlets—newsagencies, small logistics businesses and the like. Everyone who has even a moderate understanding of economics knows—and this evidence has existed for decades—that this will stimulate reinvestment in the economies where these businesses operate and they will employ people.

If the opposition want to insist on this question of what they consider to be inequality, they might start supporting us to get the 2,500 direct jobs that will come with the Adani Carmichael coalmine in Central Queensland, rather than continue on the course that they have been on for a decade now, which has seen us lose 14,000 direct jobs in Central Queensland. The senator wants to talk about unemployment; let's talk about youth unemployment in Townsville, which is at 20 per cent. And let's imagine what will happen if we get the Carmichael project going—and Hancock's Kevin's Corner, MacMines' China Stone, Waratah Coal's Galilee project, the South Galilee project and the GBK project. I don't have the time and I'd need a calculator to add up the jobs there, but my memory is that there are about 14,000 direct jobs, and that will feed into the 180,000 support jobs that are already at risk in my home state of Queensland as a direct result of these policies of the Australian Labor Party. So I do find it rich for the good senator to stand up and pretend to be a representative of the people, the blue-collar workers, yet fight against every initiative of this government—and I am a proud part of this government and its efforts in rural and regional Australia. You attack that, yet you won't even support the government in bringing about measures that will improve employment opportunities around the country. (Time expired)