Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to rise to speak in reply to the Governor-General's speech. We should all be very, very proud to be here, because we have been sent here by the Australian people. Whilst it's somewhat confronting sitting on this side with the numbers that Labor has, I congratulate all members, whether newly elected or re-elected into this place, because we, as I said, have been sent here by our constituents to act on their behalf in the best interests of our communities. This is my third term, and I would have to say the win for the 2025 election is the sweetest victory of them all. I am incredibly proud to have been elected for a third time.

I've never had an easy election—in 2019 I had a very formidable competitor in Rob Oakeshott, who had stood in this place previously. I was new and I didn't have name recognition; he was well known throughout the electorate of Cowper and throughout Lyne. In the last two elections, I faced a very well funded Climate 200 teal candidate, where, on both occasions, they spent three to four times the amount that we had. But I think—or I hope—the result was reflected in the work that I've done over the past six years, particularly the work which I call my 'mobile offices', which quite often consist of sitting in small town pubs or community halls and meeting two, three or four people over the space of two hours but having hundreds of people seeing me in those areas and saying: 'Well, at least he's out there having a crack. At least he's out there listening.' That's our job. Our job is to listen to our communities and come back here to advocate on their behalf.

I've had careers as a police officer and as a lawyer but, I have to say, these last six years have been the most rewarding of my working career. I love getting out and talking to our constituents, and I love working and trying to get those solutions for those people. But regional MPs sometimes have a much different job than those in metropolitan or city areas. Those in city areas take for granted, I think, services like roads, water, sewerage, day care, child care and aged care, whereas in the regions we have to fight for those. We have to make sure that the government of the day give us that funding and provide that infrastructure for our people to have those basic services. Sometimes those not in the know, or those not from regional and rural areas, say it's a First World problem. It's not a First World problem. Those people in regional and rural areas are the people that put the food on the table and put the fibre on your back. They're the small and medium businesses that support Australia's economy—not local economies but Australia's economy. Those people in small and medium businesses are the people who pay the taxes to ensure that you have the infrastructure in city areas, to ensure that you have the schools and to ensure that you have the hospitals. And yet so often they are forgotten, so often the funding doesn't flow to regional and rural areas and, unfortunately, so often when governments change that funding is swept away. We saw that in 2022 when the funding for the Wrights Road roundabout was swept away, when the funding for the veterans centre was swept away and when good projects such as Argyle Street or the Valla urban growth area were rejected. We could have seen 1,200 homes built. So often we do not see equity between the cities, the metropolitan areas and the regional areas. That is why I am proud to be here. I'm proud to fight for our regional people.

There are so many people I need to thank for sending me back here to continue the work that we have done over the past six years. Before I recognise those people, I would like to just speak of the community projects that I took to the last election. We all know if you're not successful in a campaign then those election promises fall flat. Whilst it's difficult for me to say to those proponents, 'I'm sorry; we didn't get into government,' it's all the more difficult for them because they are such good community projects. They are such good organisations that you wish you could cut a check for them. You wish you could just go to the minister's door and say: 'Come on. This is a great project. It doesn't matter that it's in the regions. It doesn't matter that it's on the Nationals side of the ledger or the coalition side of the ledger. Have a look at it. Sign it. It's a good thing.'

I would like to acknowledge ShoreTrack in Macksville, who do so much great work with young people. They describe the work that they do as 'engaging with youth at risk of being at risk'. They get those young people who are out of school or not engaging with school and give them life skills. They do that on the smell of an oily rag. Fatty and Jill, I will continue to advocate on your behalf. I will continue to meet with the minister to fight for that funding to ensure that you are still in our communities for our young people, making sure that they have a life. They are predominantly young men. I know there are some young women in there, but they are predominantly young men. If we can give young men and women hope for the future then it is worth every single cent.

There's the Kempsey Family Day Care centre, our local veterans and families hubs, Sawtell pool and Bellingen Shire's Sewering Coastal Villages project. The mayor in Bellingen and the community have been advocating for this. Steve Allan, the mayor, and I have sat down on numerous occasions. I say to that community that I will continue to fight because you shouldn't still have pits in your backyards that overflow when it floods. When it floods that raw sewerage goes into your waterways and affects your primary production on pastures and the oysters in the river. We shouldn't be facing that in 2025 in regional villages. There's the Tuffins Lane sporting fields, the Coffs Coast tourism information facility, RISE Coffs Harbour and the Thrumster high-performance football centre. I will continue to advocate on their behalf.

I would like to thank all of my branches: Port Macquarie, the Macleay Valley, Nambucca, Dorrigo, Bellingen and Coffs Harbour. The work that you did over the past six months leading up to this election was just incredible. We knew it was going to be difficult. We were being told that I was going to get wiped out. We were told that in 2022 and we were told that in 2019, but here we stand in 2025, and I'm grateful for all the work that you did. Some of you spent literally hundreds of hours over the election period manning campaign offices, doorknocking letterbox dropping and basically supporting me—literally hundreds of hours. Then coming to the pre-poll and on the day of the election we had some horrible weather. In wind, rain and sleet—we probably didn't have sleet—you stood out there in the horrible weather, and you did it for the greater cause. You did it because of what you believe in. Thank you to all the members. Thank you to all the branches—not just for the last six months but for the past six years. We don't always agree on everything—we're like a family; we won't always agree on everything—but if anyone from outside comes in we will fight ferociously to protect each other, and that's what we do.

Some 700 of my volunteers and supporters came out during this campaign and said, 'Pat, do you need some help?' Again, you stood out there for hundreds of hours, you worked with me and you worked in the campaign office to make sure that the Nationals—most of the volunteers and supporters were not members. You were there because you believed in what we believe in and believed in me—that I would come down here and advocate on your behalf. Thank you to the volunteers and to the members.

To the federal and New South Wales Nationals head offices: thanks for your direction, your drive, your patience and your passion for every seat that ran candidates. It's like herding cats, and I appreciate that. I wouldn't do the job. It is extremely difficult, but we do appreciate the work that you do working with every single candidate. This was a big election. It wasn't the result that we thought, overall, we would have, but we've seen it in the past. John Howard had a majority of 93 or 94 seats. This is democracy, and it's why I stood up at the very beginning and congratulated everybody, because everybody deserves to be here. With democracy, swings and roundabouts and the pendulum, it will change because you believe, and we'll continue to work to do the job.

I would like to thank my staff, who have been incredible. All of them bar one has been with me since the beginning, and I think that speaks volumes about how we work together. We love each other, we rib each other and they let me think that I run the show. They worked as hard if not harder than I did during the last election. I know every single one of them has got my back. Liz Newberry, Matt Field, Jodi Blackmore, Amanda Donald, Jennifer Dowd and Amy Johnston, thank you very much for everything that you do for me and continue to do for me. We are a successful office because we treat each other with respect and we work well together.

I love my community. I love Cowper. I grew up in Kempsey. I'm a country boy, and I understand country values. We saw that again just recently, with the floods that we saw not only through Cowper but also through the electorate of Lyne. Since 2019 we've seen the catastrophic Black Summer fires followed by the unprecedented one-in-1,000 year floods followed by another set of floods followed by more fires and then floods again. Throw COVID in between them. At one stage we were handing out grants for fires, floods and COVID at the very same time. Every single time, my community has stepped up and stepped out to help each other, and this time was no different. You had organisations in Kempsey. IGA was flooded, probably to chest height, and there were new owners there. Everybody pitched in to clean up, and any goods that weren't damaged were handed out to the community. The owners gave them away at their own expense. Rather than just crying about it—which they did do; it was devastating for them—they handed out all the remaining stock, which was substantial. They were doing drops around Kempsey to ensure that people who couldn't get to Coles and Woolworths, because they were flooded in at the time, had food for a week. It was simply incredible.

Tunstead Oysters in Port Macquarie got wiped out in the floods. It will take three years for them to germinate their oysters again so that they can grow and make a profit. Their crew were out in their tinnies the very day of the flood, saving people from flooded homes. For the next week and a half they were transporting people from Port Macquarie over to the north shore. Again, it was at their own expense in fuel and time. It was just an incredible effort. There were also people going over and helping people on the north shore literally shovel mud and faeces out of their homes. People who didn't know the homeowners just turned up with shovels and Gernis. This is what my community does, and that's why I love it. I'm not demeaning city or metropolitan communities; I just don't think you see that unless you are in rural or regional areas. I'm sure city areas have that good community support, but, having spent the best part of my life in Cowper, in the electorate, I know that community spirit and I know that it will always be there. Whether it's for five years, 10 years or 50 years, when I'm no longer here, that community spirit will endure.

Finally, I'll very quickly touch on the huge privilege that I have been given with the shadow portfolios of shadow Assistant Treasurer and shadow minister for financial services. I'm sure they didn't look at my HSC maths results before they gave them to me! It is an enormous privilege to serve in those roles. The National Party has not had an economic portfolio since, I think, the days of Black Jack McEwen, back in the 1950s. I've said this to the dozens of industry representatives and stakeholders I've met with already, here in Canberra and in Melbourne and Sydney: 'Economics is not my background—my background's in law—but I will work constructively with you. I've got my feet under the desk, and I will continue to work with you.' What I will also continue to do is to try to work constructively with the government. I've met with Minister Mulino, and we've had very productive, constructive and—I think—good conversations about what will go ahead. I look forward to working productively with him to ensure that our country is successful.

I intend to look at my portfolios through the lens of regional and rural Australia because I think the focus has been on city areas and city agendas for far too long. Considering that the regions around Australia provide so much—the agricultural industry alone contributes $100 billion to our economy—they deserve the respect of a lens being placed on our economic portfolios and policies to ensure that they are as productive as they can possibly be.

I am very pleased to be back here. I will continue to work extremely hard for my community. And I'm glad I have 40 seconds left, because I forgot to thank my family—my wife, Ilona, and my two boys, Hugh and Hamish. We hear that saying, 'I'm a volunteer, but you are conscripts.' Thank you for putting up with me. Thank you for putting up with our lifestyle. I know I have missed many birthdays and many celebrations, I come home tired and cranky, and you put up with me. So thank you. Of course, you know that I love you, and we will continue to ride this crazy ride for the next few years.

See this speech in context