Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

I've had the great honour of being elected to this place since 2013, and that's when the former government took office and formed the 44th Parliament. So for my first nine years in this place, I knew nothing but the government benches. I took great pride in delivering for communities right across Barker over those first three terms in parliament, and I've done so by lobbying like-minded colleagues within government.

It's self-evident, but in 2022 all of that changed. In 2022 the coalition had brought this country through a great economic challenge of our time: a global pandemic. We steered the ship through the storm and came out in quite remarkable shape. In May 2022 we were experiencing economic recovery on almost every measure: economic growth, debt levels, fatality rates and vaccines. Australia's recovery was leading the world. Despite the pandemic, there were 1.9 million more Australians in jobs than there were when the coalition came to government in 2013. Australia's unemployment rate was at the equal-lowest level in nearly 50 years—below four per cent.

Nevertheless, the Australian people cast their votes, and the coalition moved to the opposition benches—quite unfamiliar to me, but I remain grateful to the Australian democratic system of government. Unlike some others in this building, albeit in the other chamber, I've got a deep respect for this parliament and our nation. However, that's not to say that this democratically elected government isn't without its flaws. I won't even go into the Australian Electoral Commission's annual returns for the last year, which showed that unions gave those opposite a whopping $16.7 million in donations. I'll let others make their own conclusions about that contribution. I'll stick to the policy disappointments that Labor have delivered in their first nine months. Nine months is long enough to bring new life into the world, and yet the Labor government opposite can't even deliver an election promise in that time. It's quite astonishing.

The Kingston South East community was ecstatic to learn that a commitment I made during the election campaign to deliver funding for a new childcare facility in that area was matched by Labor. But, after nine long months, they're still yet to receive a funding agreement. In fact, they haven't even received an email from the minister confirming that the funding is on track, despite having repeatedly asked for it. Nine months is a long time to wait for an email. The minister has been on a Zoom call with them, confirming it's all good, but that's not good enough. This needs to be committed to immediately.

Let's move to the very popular Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program. Of course, when we left office, we committed to phase 3A—$500 million—of that program. Those opposite upped the ante during the campaign, as they tended to want to, and said, 'No, no—we'll allocate $750 million to this program.' Yet we've heard in recent days that it's in fact the $500 million that local governments can rely on. As for the $250 million—'Well, that'll come at some point in the future. We haven't worked on the guidelines.' It's been nine months and there are no guidelines. We're not serious, are we? This stuff can be worked over very quickly. Nine months is a very long time. It's almost as if this delay is deliberate.

While I'm talking about infrastructure, which is a personal passion of mine, in this term of parliament I'm going to take on the role of assistant shadow minister for infrastructure and transport. I'm incredibly honoured to be asked to undertake that role by the Leader of the Opposition and the broader coalition team. As someone who drives 100,000 kilometres a year, mostly on rural roads, just to get to work as a local member, I understand the importance of our road network. I understand the need to get goods to market on behalf of Australians and the national economy. The coalition came to government in 2013 committing to build the roads of the 21st century and, over the ensuing 8½ years, invested record sums in infrastructure projects right across the nation, helping to drive economic growth and prosperity.

The challenge for those opposite is to maintain that momentum. So far, it's been disappointing, to say the least. The October budget pulled funding from programs like the Building Better Regions fund while simultaneously referring to infrastructure investments in metropolitan Adelaide as projects in regional Australia. Good regional infrastructure—be it road, rail, energy or communications technology—underpins the efficient movement of ideas, funds, energy, people and goods, and it's critical to competing in a global market. It's disappointing but perhaps not surprising that, to fund Labor's election promises, the government has taken a knife to infrastructure and regional development programs. For South Australian road and infrastructure projects, this government's first budget allocates a measly $46 million a year over the next decade in new funding. In contrast, the previous coalition government budgeted $741.9 million more than Labor on South Australia's road investment under the Infrastructure Investment Program across the forward estimates.

Communications is probably the issue raised most consistently with me in my electorate. Not a day goes by that I don't have a constituent come to me and complain that they can't make a mobile phone call. The coalition government's highly successful initiative to improve mobile communications in rural and regional areas delivered 1,270 new mobile base stations across Australia, including 30 in my electorate of Barker. That's a fantastic start, but there's much more to do. Recently the infrastructure minister announced the opening of a $40 million improved mobile coverage round to deliver Labor's election commitments to fund mobile network operators and infrastructure providers to deploy new mobile infrastructure assets across 54 target locations across Australia. But the devil is always in the detail. Firstly, of those 54 locations, none were in Barker, which is a disappointment to me and my constituents in communities like Sherlock, who have had to face bushfires up close and personal, and in communities like Maaoupe, who are lobbying very hard to resolve their mobile connectivity issues. In fact, when you look at the list in a bit more detail, it quickly dawns on you that those 54 target locations find themselves in two categories: firstly, Labor seats, and secondly, marginal target Labor seats. This is pork-barrelling 2.0. Those opposite riled against that, yet their first action in government in the telecommunications space is to say, 'Those who represent 95 per cent of the landmass of this country, in this place, can see less than a small portion of the funding allocated otherwise.'

Another key initiative of the coalition government was to keep communities and jobs at the heart of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. That's gone in this budget, too. The former coalition put a stop to buybacks, empowering local communities to improve their stretch of the river and boosting the economic outlook of their towns and businesses. Labor took office and, in just a few months, reversed the policy direction on water, to the detriment of river communities. Before the election, Labor refused to rule out returning to a policy of water buybacks. The October budget confirmed that the recovery of the additional 450 gigalitres is back on the table, but the funding detail is—I quote—'not for publication'. So much for a new, more transparent government!

The Murray-Darling Basin is home to 2.6 million Australians who rely on the river to generate economic activity, provide local jobs and generate $24 billion of agricultural output each year. We know, from previous experience, that buybacks kill those communities, and that's why we vowed in government to rule out buybacks. But those opposite have ruled them right back in. For the community of Renmark in my electorate, their irrigation effort amounts to approximately 32 gigalitres per annum, but the recovery target, by way of buybacks, for South Australia would also be roughly 32 gigs. Those of you living in the Riverland, or in South Australia more broadly, imagine a South Australia without all of the irrigation effort that comes out of the Renmark irrigation district.

Those opposite complain about us raising the cost-of-living issue in this place, as if we should keep schtum about that issue, but Australians are raising it on a daily basis. What do you think taking 32 gigs out of the South Australian irrigation effort would do to the cost of fresh fruit and vegetables in supermarkets? What happens when you constrain supply? Make no mistake, if you take water out of a horticultural business, you will constrain supply, because no-one's invented a way to produce the same amount with less water, even with the efficiencies that we've already attained in 2023. What happens when you constrain supply? You bump up prices. You drive them right up through the roof. The other alternative, of course, is that we import fresh fruit and vegetables from other jurisdictions.

So those opposite, as they pursue their campaign for buybacks at all costs in the river corridor, are effectively saying to the Australian people: 'We want one of two things to happen. We want you to pay more for fresh fruit and vegetables when you are standing at the checkout, or, alternatively, we want you to buy foreign fruit and vegetables when you get to that checkout.' Now, I tell you what, it might not sound like it, but, when we stood up and said no to buybacks, we were saying, 'We're backing Aussie horticulturalists to provide good-value fruit and veg at our supermarkets and for those products to be grown and processed in Australia.'

Labor clearly doesn't understand how hard it is to see a doctor in our regional communities. It's a complex issue and one that doesn't have a silver-bullet fix. But it's been widely acknowledged in this country that there's a distribution problem when it comes to GPs, not a shortage. The coalition was working on it. We'd by no means fixed the problem, but we were putting in place some really good incentives—which have been continued, thankfully—around HECS waivers for graduates and encouraging more students to study in our regions, which we know makes it more likely they'll work in the regions after graduation.

But what did Labor do as soon as they came to government? They changed the distribution priority area, the DPA classification. The DPA classification identifies locations in Australia where there's a shortage of GPs or medical practitioners and ensures that overseas doctors coming to Australia are prioritised into those regions. It makes sense. If we're going to bring overseas doctors to Australia then we want them working in areas where there is a known shortage. Upon coming to government, Labor wasted no time in changing the system to increase the supply of GPs in urban areas, but that came at the expense of regional areas. While at a national level we all talk about Australians now finding that the average out-of-pocket visit to a GP costs $60, we can't even find a GP in the regions. Labor was elected on platform of strengthening Medicare, but all we've experienced is a weakening of the Medicare system. After all, without a GP to see, Medicare becomes irrelevant. We've seen 70 telehealth services cut out of Medicare, we've seen our mental health rebates slashed in half and we've been promised urgent-care clinics, but we don't even know where they'll be. It reminds me a lot of those GP super clinics that were built, except nobody could find GPs to work in them.

Meanwhile, the nation's Treasurer is busily spending the Christmas holidays theorising and developing an essay on his personal views about capitalism—'Capitalism 2.0' I suppose we could call it—while, in the real world, Australians are being hurt by the rising cost of living. Australia has the highest rate of inflation right now that it's had in 33 years. With more than two in three fixed-rate loans, that is close to 800,000, set to roll onto variable interest rates this year and ongoing variable rate rises, families with a mortgage are looking at a really tough outlook.

I hate to be negative, but the last nine months have been an incredible disappointment, not just to me but to the broader Australian public. I think they are experiencing some serious buyer's remorse. It's been eye-opening for me as I experience for the first time sitting in this place from opposition. As a nation, we are in worse shape economically than we've been in years. For regional communities, it's very clear that Labor either don't care or don't understand, or perhaps it's a little from column A and a little from column B. They certainly don't appreciate the powerhouse of economic output that our regions can be if appropriate policy settings are in place.

I do want to end this speech on a positive note. The last nine months have shown me that, even in opposition, I remain committed to and passionate about the work I do. I haven't lost my passion for wanting to serve the nation in our federal parliament, nor have I lost my passion for wanting to improve our regions and communities right across Barker. If there's one thing residents of Barker have learned about me over nine years, it's that I don't quit. I work hard day in, day out, and I'm looking forward to continuing to do so. I'm incredibly humbled that they have seen fit to send me to this place again as the member for Barker, and I'm intending to make every single moment in this place count. For this and to those who supported me at the election, I want to say a very big thankyou. And I want to thank the incredible support team who allow me to do what I do.

Briefly, on indulgence, to my wife and children for all the hours, days and weeks I spend away: thank you for your love and understanding. To my staff, who've always had my back and who go above and beyond for the people of Barker with as much passion and drive as I hope I show, can I say: thank you very much. Finally, and very importantly, I thank the team of Liberal Party supporters, volunteers and members without whom I, quite frankly, wouldn't be standing here today. Election campaigns are difficult things, and, when you run an election campaign across an area the size of Croatia, you need a massive team to get it done. Over 1,000 members are directly supporting me across the electorate. I want to say that, every day that I get up and fight hard in the interests of the people of Barker, I am thinking about all those people who support me and push me along to make sure that we can get a better deal for the electorate.

It's always difficult to go to names, but I thank the Hon. Nicola Centofanti, who served as my campaign coordinator on almost every occasion that I've sought election. I would like to thank Lachlan Haynes, Ben Hood, Michelle Hill—the list goes on and on—Greg O'Brien, and everyone who supported the campaign in Barker.

In 2016 I was re-elected, and we enjoyed a margin of four per cent. In the two elections since then we've been able to take that margin north of 16 per cent. Now, I treat the electorate, the seat, as though it's on a wafer-thin margin. I know no other way. But it is a testament to the team—my staff, the volunteers—that we've been able to create a situation whereby Barker is now the electorate in the House that enjoys the strongest margin on behalf of the Liberal Party. As I said, we will treat the electorate as though it's on a wafer-thin margin. But I think it's a testament to those people—those volunteers, those members of my staff—that we've been able to achieve that margin. I look forward to continuing to fight on behalf of everyone who lives in the greatest electorate on Earth.

I hope those opposite will heed the calls. We need a strong and resilient Australia, one that backs regional Australia and does it in a meaningful way, if we want a strong economy and better lifestyles for all Australians. I thank the House.

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