Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Hansard source

A huge proportion of Australia's wealth is created in regional Australia, and that's just the nature of our economy. A lot of it's in mining. A lot of it's in agriculture. And that wealth creates tax dollars for this nation and always has. It's what this nation really has been built on—the sheep's back, but then the mining industry and, more recently, other agricultural crops. So the tax base for Australia really does rely, in large part, on what is created in the regions. My observation of this government is that most of what the Labor Party talks about is distribution of taxpayer dollars. I think you won an election on it. Congratulations—and that's fantastic. So my advice is don't attack the industries and the regions that provide those tax dollars if you want to continue to distribute it.

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