Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability) Share this | Hansard source

Ninety-seven—thank you very much, Member for Lyne. He said it 97 times and then just totally broke the promise. What about the holding up of the green Medicare card? Remember that one? It was just before this election. He held it up. The Prime Minister looked the Australian people in the eye and said, 'If you vote for us, the only card you will need at a doctor's is this green Medicare card.' But I can tell you something right here, right now: the people in Dawson aren't buying it. They know that, unless you've got your Medicare card and your credit card, you are not seeing a doctor and you are not getting served. That's the reality. This Prime Minister has the credibility of a vegetarian shark.

Let's look at the latest stunt—the mismanagement of fuel. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy has said: 'There's nothing to see here. The supply is right.' But the people in rural and regional Australia know that either the supply is not right or the distribution is not right, because the simple fact of the matter is that fuel is not getting where it's needed most. We did hear today in question time, to his credit, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy say there are 500 servos without fuel. It would be very interesting to see the breakdown of that. How many of those would be in rural and regional areas? I reckon it would be the lot.

Here's a newsflash for those opposite: you're supposed to be running the country. You're not standing in the tuckshop line, looking down and wondering if your gym boots are going to do the miles. You've actually got to do the work to provide the fuel where it's needed most.

In my part of the world, we're about to start the horticulture crop in the Bowen-Gumlu area, and that's a three-quarters of a billion dollars crop. So there's going to be a lot of diesel being burnt for discing, ripping and making sure that the plastic's laid and the trellises are done. This area has crops like tomatoes, capsicums, beans and corn. It's the salad bowl of Australia for the winter. If these farmers don't get the diesel that they require, then Australia's going to go hungry. It will go hungry under the Albanese Labor government's watch. It is simply not good enough.

The cane farmers are coming into the time when they plant their cane. Again, they're going to need diesel for their planters and their tractors. Then, in June, not very far down the track, there'll be the harvest times. Fuel is going to be needed for the harvesters and the hauling operators to get it done.

What about our truckies? Our truckies need the diesel. When this government lets the fuel supply run short for trucks, it affects all of rural and regional Australia, because that's how we get our supplies up from the city, and it's how farmers get our produce to market. It's simply not good enough.

What about our tourism operators—in particular, our marine tourism operators? In the Whitsunday, we've got 74 beautiful islands and we are the heart of the Great Barrier Reef. I note that the member for Leichhardt enjoyed that. I know that you have made visitation to the Great Barrier Reef as well, but you're welcome to come to the Whitsundays and have a look. With 74 beautiful islands, we are the heart of the Great Barrier Reef, but marine tourism needs diesel to take people out to the reef, out to the islands, to enjoy themselves.

There are also the grey nomads. We have very good grey nomad years, when they come up and travel through our area. We are very concerned that this fuel shortage and lack of distribution is going to upset the grey nomad season.

Folks, only a coalition government will protect Australians' way of life and restore their standard of living. We need to stop the rot from Labor. The coalition has the answer.

See this speech in context