Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Why don't they like the regions? Why don't they want to hear about the regions over there? Why don't they want to hear about tax cuts for the regions? Why don't they want to hear about jobs for the regions? Why don't they want to hear about wage rises for the regions? Why don't they want to hear about housing for the regions? You know why they don't want to hear about that? Because they say no to all of it. They say no to regional Australians, and they say no to urban Australians. They say no to the men. They say no to women. It doesn't really matter what we talk about; they always say no. They even say no to a supplementary question. That's how negative they are.

And you're absolutely right, Senator Darmanin. Our government is focused on delivering cost-of-living relief for regional Australians. We're doing that by backing multiple wage rises that have put an extra $143 per week in the pockets of 2.6 million low-paid Australians, delivering tax cuts for every regional Australian worker and delivering $300 in energy bill relief for every regional Australian home and businesses. We say yes; you say no.