Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a brief personal explanation as I claim to have been misrepresented.

Leave granted.

Today in question time Senator O' Sullivan rose on a point of order. I think Senator O'Sullivan either misunderstood what I was saying or he went on to misrepresent what I said. Leading up to my interjection, Senator McKenzie was speaking about these great things the government were doing in relation to rural and regional Australia. She indicated that the government were backing people's capacity to get a job; they were backing the industries that underpin the economic growth in the regions, and that was through agriculture and mining; and they were doing everything they could to ensure that the millions of Australians who don't live in our capital cities are supported.

I interjected by saying, 'So they have never had it so good?' I did that being ironic. I did that because I couldn't believe that Senator McKenzie was saying that these things were so good in the bush. Senator O'Sullivan went on to say that I had never been in the bush. I had, over the last two weeks, been in Albury-Wodonga and in Bega, and in both those areas constituents had indicated to me that there were real concerns about the capacity of the National Party and the Liberal Party to deliver services in the bush. These concerns went to housing, homelessness, education and a whole range of issues, such as decent rates of pay for people in the bush.

I would never try to say anything about how tough it is for farmers in the bush during this drought. I would never say anything about that, not even in an ironic way. This is a massive problem for regional and rural Australia, and I just wanted to clarify that my concern was with the National Party pushing these positions that they say they are delivering for the bush when all of my experience, even in the last couple of weeks, was totally in contrast to what Senator McKenzie was saying.

I hope that we get over this drought and I wish farmers and rural and regional communities well in dealing with it. Labor, and I personally, will obviously do everything we can to support those in rural and regional Australia. I just think this was a misunderstanding by Senator O'Sullivan and then he went on to misrepresent me.