Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) | Hansard source

I can hear the singing! Get in tune, maybe; it's not quite there yet! In regional Australia the unemployment rate is 3.8 per cent, and that is a remarkable number. That's almost full employment.

We heard the Prime Minister talking in question time today about us—Australia, the nation—retaining our AAA credit rating. Of all the countries in the world, we have done very well. According to the Johns Hopkins index, we're second in the world for our COVID preparedness response. That is credit to us, as a nation. I thank all Australians for the part that they've played and I thank the state premiers—all of them—for the part they've played and certainly the Prime Minister, the minister for health and all others involved in making sure that we kept Australians safe. We made sure that we protected lives and that we protected livelihoods with JobKeeper, with HomeBuilder and with all the other announcements that we have made, with all the other delivery that we put in place. This includes the 1.1 million jobs created since the pandemic hit and 11½ million Australians benefiting from tax relief, because we on this side believe in lower taxes. They on that side believe in higher taxes, taxing the billyo out of Australians. That's what they do. I can hear them carping and whining and whinging because they are offended by the fact that I am belling the cat when it comes to their higher taxing policies, policies that would lead to fewer Australians in work and policies that would lead to fewer women in work. We've got a very good record in that regard—putting more women into work. There were 700,000 jobs saved through JobKeeper, and you heard the minister talking about the free trade agreements. We will always back Australians. We, as Nationals, will always back country Australians. The regions are leading the way. That's what we're doing. (Time expired)

See this speech in context