Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm honoured and surprised to be going this early! In 10 minutes, you can listen to 'Welcome to the Jungle' and 'Sweet Child o' Mine', or you can drive from Craiglie to Port Douglas, or, in the member for Gippsland's electorate, you can't quite get from Sale to Maffra. Ten minutes is 600 seconds. It's not a long time, but it is the time allotted for matters of public importance. During this matter of public importance, the member decided to talk about his staff. He doesn't have enough staff. That was a matter of public importance. In 10 short minutes, that was what he chose.

I, and my staff, made hundreds of phone calls across my electorate on Thursday to make sure that people were prepared, that they knew that Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle was coming, that they were safe and that they had what they needed. On the hundreds of phone calls that we made, not a single person said to me, 'Gee, does the opposition have enough staff?' They were concerned about real life.

Then to have the gall to talk about the bubble—'All Australians' means the people of the cape. 'All Australians' means the 14 million Australians who have received tax cuts. What that means is putting money back into their pocket, rewarding the work that they're doing, getting ahead, feeling like the government is on their side. On the PBS, it's the reduction in price to 2004 levels. I didn't have children in 2004. It was very, very different world. But they will experience cheaper medicines. It's the ability for women to get contraceptives over the counter and the investment in women's health and the endo clinics—half of Australia, not quite all but half, a half that had been ignored for way too long. It's more bulk-billing. There are 49 bulk-billing clinics across Leichhardt now, whereas, before, there were 36.

You see, Leichhardt—and I said this during my first speech—is the embodiment of Australia. It's the most Australian place in Australia because of its diversity, because of what it is. It is a city. It is mining. It's tourism. It's the outback. It's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It is all of the best parts of Australia in one place. So, when we talk about all of Australia, we'd just as soon be talking about Leichhardt. I know this government delivers for all of Australia and for the people of Leichhardt.

We have some different challenges up there—challenges that many other members on our side have and that some from the opposition have as well—in terms of distance. We are heavily reliant on airports. Currently the cape is cut off. It happens every year. It's going a bit longer this year because the wet arrived late and, of course, because of Cyclone Narelle. We are now heavily reliant on our airports. This government recognised that and invested $25 million into our remote airports, making sure that our communities can get the health care they need and the education they need and that the medicine comes in, the food comes in and the fuel comes in, because it had to be done. These airports didn't suddenly fall apart. They'd been neglected for many, many years, and it is our responsibility to rectify that. It's our responsibility to look after the regions. It's our responsibility to look after all of Australia.

Things are tough at the moment. Fuel prices are hurting people. It's widely acknowledged that supply chains are making things a bit more difficult. That is why 20 per cent of the reserve has been released—on the condition that it goes to rural and regional Australia. Rural and regional Australia is Australia. The cities are Australia. All of it is encompassed here. All of it is represented on this side of the House. We're not worried about the bubble. We're worried about Australians and making this country the best that it can be.

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