Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

Indeed I am. The first we saw from the opposition leader, Mr Shorten, in his budget-in-reply speech. How many times do you think he said the word 'bush'? Zero in that speech. How many times do you think he might have said the word 'country' in his budget-in-reply speech? Zero. And how many times do you think the Leader of the Opposition said to the word 'regional' in his budget-in-reply speech, colleagues? Zero. And then we look at his speech yesterday with a local government assembly: 'But I tell you something else that drives this regional inequality. I am deeply dissatisfied and unhappy that in my home area of the western suburbs of Melbourne we have worse health outcomes than other parts of Melbourne.' They do not even know where regional Australia is, so it is no surprise that they cannot deliver for the bush!