Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

In my home state of Queensland there have been 99,600 extra jobs created outside Brisbane, including over 56,000 that are full time. That includes an extra 48,000 regional women joining the workforce and almost 40,000 more young people. The measures brought in by the Albanese government, like cheaper child care, fee-free TAFE, apprenticeship initiatives and other support designed to fill skill shortages are supporting this growth and delivering more career opportunities in our regions, particularly for women and young people.

This matters because one of the most important things governments can do to assist regional Australians with the cost-of-living pressures that they're facing is to ensure they have a job. Under those opposite, we had one million fewer jobs in Australia, as well as lower wages and less secure work. They've said that they want to take Australians back to those dark times if they are returned to office. We've already seen Mr Dutton and the coalition promise to repeal casual workers' rights, repeal the right to disconnect and repeal other, as yet undisclosed, workplace laws. They've said no to energy bill relief, no to housing, no to tax cuts and no to universal superannuation on paid parental leave. They just say no.