Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It would be great if those opposite could take their heads out of the sand and get into the regions, where things are really happening. The people of my electorate remain hopeful that out of the dark days of bushfires and the fear of the pandemic might come jobs and prosperity. These experiences have rewritten our lives, and what we need to learn has to count. Otherwise, we fail those people who've lost their lives, who've had their homes destroyed and whose businesses have had to close.

We have the chance to re-imagine Australia and provide a vision for our country that unites and inspires. As I travel through my electorate, people talk to me about the need for more secure, locally based jobs that have the potential to care for community and country. The people of Eden-Monaro see what needs to be done and are tired of waiting for the government to act.

The forestry industry in the South West Slopes supports one in every two jobs and creates $2 billion in economic activity every year, but the Black Summer fires took out 40 per cent of Hind Timber's plantation pine supply. By the middle of this year, 157 jobs will be lost in the Snowy Valleys—140 of which are in Tumbarumba—if the supply shortfall isn't filled. The business has found timber from further afield. With some transport assistance, this timber could be redirected from overseas and processed locally—a commonsense approach which is still waiting for government support.

While I'm talking about the South West Slopes, last week I visited the community of Talbingo and met with the residents there. We talked about bushfire recovery and the lost jobs that have been ripped out of the region and centralised in Sydney. The land managers who used to manage our bushfire risk are gone, along with the local knowledge and pay packets that went with them.

Nearly two years ago, this government announced a $4 billion emergency response and mitigation fund, and not a single dollar has been spent. Anxiety was through the roof as we headed into this fire season. Communities from the mountains to the sea wanted to see women and men in our environment managing our landscape, and we saw none of it. While rain might have reduced the immediate risk, the jobs in caring for our community are desperately needed in regional communities. While businesses in Eden-Monaro haven't been dealing with bushfires this summer, they've been dealing with equally devastating border closures. Business owners have been in tears describing the trauma of losing summer trade for a second year in a row because this government failed to lead in the national cabinet on definitions for hotspots and triggers for border closures. In some of our areas, tourism, hospitality and retail businesses generate 70 to 80 per cent of their yearly earnings during the six-week summer holiday period. We fear for the jobs and livelihoods that depend on those small businesses. Since the devastating border closures on New Year's Eve, I've met with business chambers in the Bega Valley, Tumut and Jindabyne. Small-business owners in Eden-Monaro need help. They need help in the form of travel vouchers, to entice visitation back to our communities and tax incentives or concessions for those hardest hit. And mental health support for our business owners is desperately needed.

Finally, news last week that Telstra will be closing its overseas call centres and bringing those jobs back to Australia presents another opportunity for jobs in the region. I urge those decision-makers to support regions like Eden-Monaro by establishing call centres in fire affected communities like mine or setting targets for people to work from home in our regional communities.

More than two million Australians are looking for work in this country right now, but this government is failing to see the opportunities that are right in front of us. Instead, we have a $1 trillion debt and no answers from this government to the questions screaming at us from our future. Only Labor will provide the vision for our future. My electorate knows it, because I am on their side.

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