Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

especially the chilled market with China. We have really turned around the price of cattle. We have turned around the price of sheep. We have made sure that our rural exports have increased by 29 per cent since the Labor Party was in government. We are doing everything in our power to make sure that we get affordable and reliable power, especially to the people of North Queensland where youth unemployment is at 20 per cent. You would think that the Labor Party—especially those around Townsville—would be standing up for cheap power. You would think that those around Townsville would be talking to the Leader of the Opposition to make sure that he can say these words: coal-fired power. But he will not. It is not possible for him to say those words. He does not believe in those words. He does not believe in Labor, especially around Townsville. He does not believe in Labor around Townsville at all, but you know that. You know that he is not going to stand up for working men and women.

It is really important that we understand if we are going to stand behind those meatworkers in Rockhampton in the member for Capricornia's seat, that we have the ability to get baseload power, renewable and affordable, into those meatworks. That is the sort of delivery that we are doing, because we are going to make sure that we drive forward and we work with our state counterparts to do such things as build new coal-fired power stations, which is something the Labor Party will not do, because the Labor Party—and I say this to those from Tenterfield and from Uralla—are owned by the Greens. They have given up on labourers. They no longer believe in labourers. They are a pathetic shadow of what Curtin and Chifley used to be. (Time expired)

Dr Aly interjecting—

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