Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

The COVID scare has been having a massive impact on our country. We know that. As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, I want to express my empathy to the people who have either been put out of work or have limited work. There's enormous stress on people—we know that—and especially in the airline industry. It has been decimated because there is such close contact between people when we fly on an airline or mix in an airline terminal.

I want to acknowledge the dnata people. They are fine people, fine Australians, who must be feeling devastated to be in such a solid industry and to have been sold out by Qantas, to have been sold out by the government that allowed that sale to a foreign company, a foreign government. It is very stressful, I'm sure. There's a lot of worry, a lot of concern and a lot of pressure. People want to be heard, and people also need support. We'll come to that support in a minute.

I want to compliment Senator Sheldon for his sincerity, his strength and his advocacy for the TWU and their campaign. I also want to acknowledge Senators Sterle and Gallacher, former TWU officials, who have also been strong in supporting Senator Sheldon. We've listened to Senator Sheldon, and we compliment him for the way he has brought his argument forward—the facts, and also his approach, which was very respectful and sincere. We also went to the government and asked them for their opinions, their views and their data. As Senator Hanson and I always do, we listened to people, to get the data and to get the facts.

As I said, we do not like the sale of this company to any foreigner, let alone a foreign government. It's one of the core industries in our country. It is, though, a very difficult decision. It's a very difficult issue. Senator Hanson pointed out—and I'm not going to go through the details of Senator Hanson's speech, because Senator Sheldon wants to put this to a vote tonight—the comparable after-tax benefits from jobseeker and JobKeeper. But I also want to point out, as I think Senator Hanson did, that JobKeeper ends in September. This program—and I disagree with Senator Patrick—is not for businesses. It's for people to maintain connection with the businesses, so I don't accept that criticism of the government from Senator Patrick. It is to maintain that connection. That connection is going to be severed after September. That's it. It won't last any longer. International air travel and even a lot of domestic travel won't recover by then. So I think it's heartless to give people false hope. I’m certainly not accusing Senator Sheldon of giving people false hope. I know what he's doing, and I admire him for that, but I think we need to be straight with these people.

What I'd like to do is to ask the government to think about its response. Maybe we need something other than JobKeeper and jobseeker—we need a 'job-restarter'. Taiwan—and I mentioned this to the government, back in March—has had amazing results. What they did was isolate the vulnerable, isolate the sick and let everyone else get back to work. That's what we could be doing. There has been virtually no impact on the Taiwan economy. They've had one-fifteenth of the deaths we've had, and yet they've got a similar population, they're very close to China and have a highly dense population. Instead of isolating everyone and separating everyone, by isolating the few that have got it, the few that are vulnerable, and letting the rest get back to work, they've done a remarkable job.

What we need to do is get this country back to work. If that was the level of performance when we led the world in per capita income back in the 1900s and 1920s—we were No. 1, but we're sliding out of the top 10 as a result of COVID—the target, I hope, should not be just to get back to where we were pre COVID; we need to get back to our full realistic potential. That's why I say we need to get 'JobRestarter' going—a comprehensive program that restores low-cost energy, restores infrastructure, creates a proper and fair taxation system, and creates an environment where more Australian businesses will survive and not have to sell out in the future. We need to end the stress on the economy, end the stress on people's health and end the lack of security. We need a realistic return not just to where we were pre COVID but to where our potential is.

We also need to remember that taxpayers are footing the bill. Through you, Madam Acting Deputy President, I compliment Senator Sheldon again—and Senator Sterle and Senator Gallacher. As Senator Hanson said, though, on this occasion we will not be voting with them.