Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Easter is a holy time. It's a time when families get together, and they look forward to those reunions. Often, they look forward to having their city cousins coming to the regions. But this won't be happening this weekend for many, many Australians. The reason for that is our metropolitan friends won't be able to visit the country, as they normally do, because they won't be able to afford the fuel—that's if they can actually get supplies of fuel. This is a disaster. This is a national crisis. Not that Labor would admit that, just a few short weeks ago, but all of us—

There are supplies, I hear the minister say. If there are supplies, why aren't they getting out to the regions? Why is Andrew Duff at Gooloogong, who is out of petrol, having to take his trucks off the road for three weeks because he can't get fuel? The minister says the supplies are there. Well, the supplies might be there, but they're not getting out to regional Australia, and people are going broke because of it. People are going bankrupt because they can't get their trucks on the road.

Our farmers can't get the fuel in their tanks to sow the crops to grow the food to feed you lot—you ungrateful lot—who have deserted regional Australia for far too long.

An honourable member interjecting—

You can yell all you like. Go out to regional Australia and tell them that, because they are jack of it. They have had a gutful of this government's poor policies. (Time expired)

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