Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to make a few comments about regional newspapers and the National Party. Over the course of the COVID-19 crisis 152 regional newspapers stopped printing. That's a third of Australia's regional newspapers gone. Many will never reopen. Antony Catalano from ACM said it would be pointless to reopen a newspaper if it weren't viable. These newspapers are the lifeblood of country towns. They have articles about sport and junior sport, achievements of kids at school, the work of the CWA, local theatres, local businesses, local government. They support the local community with local and national news. What is the National Party for if it's not there for rescuing local regional papers? Where is the package that secures the future of any of these local papers?

The Leader of the National Party in the House of Representatives, Mr McCormack, who couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag, so dry and monochromatic that he makes Warren Truss look like Liberace, has delivered nothing. He is a former newspaper editor—nothing. He did give Senator Canavan and Mr Barilaro and Mr Joyce a complete flogging last week over the Eden-Monaro preselection. It is a symbol of the decline of what passes for the modern National Party. We saw the spectacle of the National and Liberal parties disappearing up their own fundament last week over the course of the catastrophic, self-interested, venal activity around only one thing—whether John Barilaro or Andrew Constance could step up one more rung in their career ladders. The Liberal and National Party chaos on one side underlines that there's only one candidate focused on the needs of the people of Eden-Monaro—that's Kristy McBain. She was there in the bushfires, she's been there through the COVID-19 crisis, she's there as the mayor of Bega and she remains focused on the people of Eden-Monaro.

The National Party at the moment is really quite a show. Over the weekend Senator Canavan posted a photo of himself with his wife celebrating Mother's Day. His gift? He installed a clothesline. It's a risky choice—it's an even risker tweet—but I'm sure he had a good Mother's Day, and I wish him and his family all the best. What was interesting about the tweet—and Senator Canavan's tweets are always interesting, in the same way that falling down the stairs is always interesting—is that he pops on the high-vis to dig the hole in the backyard and he endorses his Australian-made clothesline. Well, Senator Canavan's high-vises are exclusively for media appearances. It's probably the first time he ever worked up a sweat in it. He has got the softest hands in Australian politics.

Of course, today Senator Canavan is passionate about Australian manufacturing. He's debated several hours of his podcast with Barnaby Joyce to the topic. Senator Canavan has recorded 13 of these podcasts with Mr Joyce, most of them with guests. He's had Senator Paterson and Senator Seselja. He's had the member for Dawson—Lord knows why!—twice. It is absolutely riveting listening. I can't listen to it. It's really too much for me. I make one of my staff endure it. It's called Weatherboard and Iron. I'm not sure which one of these jokers is Weatherboard and which one is Iron, but it puts the 'bored' into weatherboard. I'll have to adjust the pay of the young man who I force to listen to it. Senator Canavan is, however, yet to have a woman appear on the podcast. Women aren't part of the picture of regional Australia for these two galas. There are 13 episodes. It is very long. Unbearably, the minutes and seconds drag on. Like Kaftka, it is surreal, other-worldly. Like Chekhov, it's a story without an end. It's postmodern; it's post-fact; it's, frankly, weird. He is a recent convert, a former teenage Troskyite. He used to work at the Productivity Commission. Before that, he was the great friend of Australian workers. Before that he was at KPMG. He would only have worn a high-vis to visit a factory because he was part of closing the operation. Matt Canavan being for manufacturing is like the Hells Angels being for women's rights. We've got to get serious about manufacturing on this side. (Time expired)

Senate adjourned at 19:55