Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Services) Share this | Hansard source

State divisions will be making decisions on preferences once all candidates are known in seats, and that is entirely appropriate and is what we do each and every time. But I tell you what: we do make our preference decisions based on what is best for regional Australia. The Deputy Prime Minister has been clearly outlining the threat to the two industries that underpin our local economies in regional industry—that actually underpin our national economy—with 70 per cent of our exports: agriculture and mining. I can tell you that those industries, which employ millions of Australians, most of them out in regional Australia, are under threat from the Labor Party and their coalition partner, the Greens. So I would be saying to Bill Shorten: 'If you really back the coalminers of Rockhampton, of Dawson, of Flynn—if you really do—let them know where you stand on preferencing the party that wants them all to lose their jobs.' You just heard the Leader of the Greens stand up in this place and argue for the end of the coal industry, of the mining industry. If I were in the CFMEU, I'd be calling Bill Shorten today. I'd be standing up and saying: 'Do you know what? My members deserve to have prosperous, sustainable jobs in the regions as part of a strong, well-regulated mining sector, which has built this economy and built our regional communities.'