Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Will the Deputy Prime Minister please update the House on how the government is backing hardworking families, and small and family businesses, through infrastructure investment, including in my electorate of Petrie; and is the Deputy Prime Minister aware of any roadblocks to jobs and economic growth for regional and outer metropolitan Australia?

Mr Albanese interjecting —

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Grayndler is very noisy today. He was very noisy late last week too, probably with good reason. Australians work hard.

Mr Albanese interjecting—

There he goes again. Australians work hard and the Liberals and the Nationals back them. Jobs, tax relief and aspiration are what the government is all about. It's what the member for Petrie is all about, and we are delivering. It doesn't matter where you live or whether you're paying income tax or company tax as a small business—we have your back. We want to make it easier for you. The member for Petrie is a passionate advocate for the people in his electorate in the outer suburbs of Brisbane. He understands the unique and important role that regional Australia plays in our economy. He's part of a government which put those people first with income tax last week. People in Petrie, people in Proserpine, people in Peak Hill in my electorate, people in Parramatta, people in Port Adelaide—they're the people we want to put first in our once-in-a-generation income tax relief.

From 1 July, low- and middle-income earners will start to see the benefits of tax relief as the new financial year starts. We know that these Australians in our suburbs and in our regions are needing tax relief the most, and we are the government who are delivering it. We've delivered it. People such as Danielle from Bald Hills in the member for Petrie's electorate—as a young worker, she will be one of the first to see and reap the benefits from the tax relief. She can help pay her bills that much easier and maybe will even have a little bit left over to spend in her local economy.

The member for Petrie ran a small family business before his election and he backs the millions of Australians who work in these types of businesses each and every day. He knows how hard it is to run a small family business. He understands it. I know you people opposite don't, but he does and he wants to make it easier for them. Families and small businesses need infrastructure investment to help them grow too. In outer metropolitan and rural and regional areas, there are investments such as the Bruce Highway upgrade, the Deception Bay Road interchange upgrade, the $13 million in Roads to Recovery funding and the budget commitment to the Beerburrum to Nambour rail line. Team Queensland is very much behind those projects. They'll be a benefit for the people of Petrie.

This is delivered thanks to the good economic management of the Liberals and Nationals, the Turnbull government. Yet if we compare this track record with that of those opposite, it's not a pretty sight. When we cut income tax for every working Australian, Labor said no. When we helped deliver historic small business tax cuts, Labor said no. When we helped create a million jobs in five years, what did Labor do? It sat on its hands and said no. The people of Petrie, the people of Proserpine, the people of Peak Hill—they know that Labor is opposed to them getting ahead. They know the Leader of the Opposition is the biggest roadblock to their success and they know that the member for Grayndler knows it too.