John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

He did, Senator O'Sullivan. But where was Mr Shorten? We never saw Mr Shorten in New England. It was probably too far for him to travel, or maybe he didn't know where it was. What was the vote of the Labor Party in New England? It was 11 per cent primary. Fancy getting 11 out of every 100 people to vote for the Labor Party.

Senator O'Sullivan interjecting—

It was an increase from the last election. The vote went up to 11 per cent. It was quite amazing. Of course, the people of New England know what Labor are about. They still remember when the live cattle exports were banned—a decision which brought the beef industry to its knees in the country towns and abattoirs where I work. They actually made a field day out of it, because they had to truck the cattle so far across Australia they couldn't export them. It was terribly cruel on the cattle. They know what the Labor Party think of regional Australia. Labor didn't build one mobile tower in six years—not one. We've built 672 new and upgraded mobile towers—and there are more to come.

The truth has always been handled carelessly by Labor, and they were doing it again in question time here today. Nothing will change. The people are waking up to you, and we're going to make them fully aware of your dishonesty. (Time expired)