David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Can I congratulate the member for Brisbane for bringing this to parliament's attention, particularly this frightening aspect that the state Labor government has brought upon Queensland. It really shows the populism and simplistic nature of the Labor Party in Queensland in trying to run an economy. Running an economy is a little more complicated than just populism. In fact, I think if One Nation were to have a member in the lower house, they would be here with their Labor friends espousing this type of policy; supporting it. This is tin-foil-hat methodology in terms of running an economy. It is far more complicated than just having this simplistic notion around what trade and local procurement is. I'm all for buying local, but we live in a global world. We live in a global economy, one in which we are all part of and one in which we are all benefiting from.

The fact is that the Labor people on the other side are making this notion that the only way to create jobs is by having a local procurement policy—that's nonsense. International trade creates jobs. The reality is that there are 500,000 people in Queensland directly employed because of the trade agreements that we put in place. We have a trade surplus of $12 billion, and you want to put that at risk? That's nonsense. This is simplistic politics gone mad, and it's dangerous for the Australian people and it's dangerous for the people in my electorate of Maranoa.

In the electorate of Maranoa, we are so reliant on the trade policies and agreements that we have put in place with Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore and China. These are the agreements that are putting real wealth in the pockets of each and every person in Maranoa and that are creating the wealth. The story of Maranoa at the moment is that it has had rain. The trade agreements that we put in place are allowing them to get real money in their pockets every time they settle their commodities.

We are in the grips of drought in the central west of my electorate. Twelve months ago I went and visited a lady who was running a farming operation—cattle. She was keeping her breeding stock alive—about 200 breeding stock. Her husband had been away earning an off-farm income for over two years. She only sees him once or twice a year because he is working 800 kilometres away. As I went around with her, we talked about the future of agriculture. I said to her while we were doing a feed run: 'Do you really see a future in this?' With tears in her eyes she said, 'I sure do. Mate, I don't even know what politics you are, but the only person that is important to me in this country in the political world is the trade minister because I know that when the rain comes, all the work, all that my husband and I have sacrificed, will be worth it, because there is real money in what we have been doing. We are going to see the returns and the benefits of that.' That is a real-life story of someone in the depths of despair that understands the global world that we live in. That is something that I think is real.

But then, if you want to take it to the next level, in my hometown of Warwick we are now seeing an investment by this federal government through a Better Building Regions Fund a $5 million investment that will help build a cold storage facility to export beef around the world. An extra $111 million will be added to our exports because of this investment. But, more importantly—this is the real kicker—there will be 150 new direct jobs and 138 indirect jobs, and 80 jobs during the construction. This myth that the only way that we can create jobs is through a procurement policy is nonsense. This is a real trade agreement that is going to add jobs and 150 new families to my community of Warwick of 12,000 people. That is over a 1 per cent increase in the population. That is real economic growth. That's where the rubber hits the road, and that's because we are producing what the world wants. The world has an insatiable appetite for what we are producing right here now.

The reality is that trade will continue to create those jobs in the communities of Warwick and have flow-on effects. We will need more teachers, we will need nurses and we will need more doctors. It has a flow-on effect. That creates real benefits to people in my electorate of Maranoa. That's how we can participate in the global economy. That's what this is about. This is not taking simplistic, absolutely populous policy, to the nth degree that puts at risk the livelihoods and jobs of people in my electorate. That's just plain dumb. It's something that I would've expected from One Nation—to have the tin foil hat on. To try to create a mechanism that will destroy the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, particularly in my electorate, is something I can never support.

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