Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the outset I will point out to the member for Indi that this government and our Treasurer never, ever turned his back on any business and indeed the support that we have given right throughout the 20 months—

I'll take that interjection in a tick—of this coronavirus pandemic has been extraordinary. It's been on the back of the fact that, when the virus first came to these shores, the economy was in a strong position: unemployment was down; the number of job opportunities was up; business was looking to the future with confidence; all the retail sectors were very optimistic; and things looked bright and rosy. That was despite the bushfires, despite the drought—and I don't often hear a word about the drought from those opposite; I don't often hear it from the member for Warringah. The drought was crippling to rural and regional Australia. The drought took a heavy toll, as did the bushfires, and then of course along came the virus.

I heard the member for Kingsford Smith say, 'What about the travel agents?' Well, we looked after them too. And, Mr Deputy Speaker Chester, you will know that certainly in the National Party room that was a big topic for discussion. Many of those travel agents are women, operating their own small businesses, often at home—even before the virus, even before people had to work from home—because that's what suited them. We have looked after them, in conjunction of course in a coalition government with the Liberal Party, and made sure that they have been able to continue to operate.

The member for Warringah talks about the business sector in her motion. Yes, the business sector has lost a lot of money. But, right throughout the world, many businesses have actually gone bankrupt. They've gone absolutely broke. Through JobKeeper, and JobSaver support from the state government, we've been able to nurture those businesses and nurse them through the bleakest of times.

She notes 'the mass participation sporting events sector which lost over 80 per cent of events over the past two years, causing a loss of over $5 billion to the Australian economy'. Yes, I agree, it's been very hard, particularly on people who like to watch and participate in sport. But let's talk about community sport as well. My football and netball competitions in the Riverina got up to their finals after a full season, and all of a sudden, because of a state government directive, even though in Wagga Wagga there hadn't been a coronavirus case for 13 months—too bad; there were to be no finals played. And it came as such a blow. It's not just about those sporting organisations that make money and are watched by a mass television audiences; it's also about the community sports in country areas that sometimes those metropolitan members forget. But did they whinge? Did they moan? Did they bleat? No, they just got on with it, because they knew that it was for the sake of the health of their communities and of their state. They said, 'We're prepared to miss out on our finals. We are prepared to, even though we've played all the minor rounds, all the home and away games. We'll go without the premiership deciders'—

'and we will do right by the community.' I can't hear what you're saying, so there's no need to keep trying to interject on me.

It's been very difficult for business. It's been very, very difficult for communities. I say to the member for Warringah that, whilst I appreciate that she's no doubt brought this motion to the House in good faith, there are supports out there that have been provided by the federal government to ensure that businesses and communities were able to get through this virus as best they could. And we've worked very hard with state governments. The national freight movement code was brought into being in a matter of hours, not days or weeks or months, because of the good relationship I have with the largely Labor state members. That's the sort of cooperative ability that we probably need more of around the national cabinet table. Once the federal election is out of the way and hopefully a Liberal-Nationals government is re-elected, then hopefully we will see some of the Labor premiers showing more cooperation and collaboration so that we can get through this together as a nation, as a collective of communities.

See this speech in context