Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

And Fisher—absolutely. The member for Fisher tells me right now that it's the same for him. Our people are suffering under this government, and what is this budget bringing for them? Absolutely nothing. It is bringing no funding for regional communications—in fact, regional communications funding has been cut—no funding for mobile black spots and no funding for regional connectivity. They've taken away the funding for the Regional Tech Hub. It is an unbelievable disgrace that this government walks away from the people it says it is leading, for all Australians. 'No-one held back, no-one left behind'—yes, we know the words, Prime Minister. We hear them often enough, just like we heard you say you would not attack the capital gains tax or negative gearing or trusts—but here we are.

So what does that make the words of this prime minister? I can tell you: absolutely not to be trusted. There are so many Australians right now who do not trust politicians—well, what a shock! Why would that be, when they've got a prime minister who is not telling the truth to Australians before an election and then comes out and says: 'Oh, it's the right choice. It is the right policy for the right time.' I'm sorry, Australians are not that gullible. We don't believe what you say, Prime Minister. Every day we get the same story, and we don't believe it.

Tuesday's budget is divisive, setting one generation against another, pitting the older generation as the bad guys or the cash cows, or both, so Labor can pretend they are doing the right thing by the younger generation—as I said, the Trojan horse. They've deployed the influencers to sell the budget, and it's falling flat. Labor's reckless spending is bequeathing $1.2 trillion of debt to the younger generation. It is not just the younger generation; it is their children and their children's children that are going to be paying off this debt into who knows how long into the future. Intergenerational equity? Give me a break! Are you joking? They can use all the spin they like, but the fact of the matter is it's not true. The very tools that gave older people an advantage, such as capital gains tax and negative gearing trusts, are being removed for our younger people. What a con!

Speaking of cons, how's this? Despite the finance minister saying they're pulling back on climate spending, Labor is spending another $12.3 billion on net zero commitments over the next few years and $18.3 billion over the next decade or so. That brings Labor's total net zero spending to $80 billion. As I said before, that's if you don't consider all the other entities they are funding on the closed books; nobody can know what is actually being spent. I can tell you right now that the people of Mallee are not happy about that announcement. They are very unhappy because it's their farms that are being railroaded through the push from the federal government and the support from the Victorian Labor government to ensure these renewable projects go ahead.

I can tell you right now, I'm meeting with over 100 farmers on Wednesday in Mallee with the new Leader of the Nationals, Matt Canavan, and shadow minister Darren Chester, the member for Gippsland. They're coming down to meet with my farmers because my farmers are very angry with the Labor government, and they have all the right to be. It's their land that's being ripped up, and there are no consequences for this Labor government to continue bulldozing, literally, through Mallee.

It's ironic hearing a government use the word 'equity' to describe the creation of the intergenerational divide between older and younger people, when the gross inequity that we in the Nationals know, sadly, all too well is the inequity between the city and the bush. This is literally the prime minister who has brought the greatest division to our country, going back to the Voice—which was never flagged prior to the election. What else is going to come from this prime minister that has never been flagged with the Australian people prior to an election? Setting older against younger Australians, setting city Australians against those in the bush, is an outrage. And his dealing with antisemitism over the last couple of years—what awful leadership, if you can call it leadership. This budget is simply another nail in the coffin for regional Australians. Worse, it continues to bring division to Australians. I can tell you the truth. I'm not impressed, and my electorate's not impressed.

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