Mr PITT: I rise to associate myself with the remarks of the member for Moreton and others. I wasn’t scheduled to speak.

Mr PITT: There’s a very famous quote that goes like this:

Back then, government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Mr PITT: In Bundaberg and Hervey Bay, it’s business awards season, and there are some cracking businesses that have been recognised in both Bundaberg and the bay. I can’t name them all in three minutes, but I have to point a couple of them out.

Mr PITT: I am pleased we have the two ministers from the portfolios here. Perhaps they could exchange numbers and not have to have that discussion on the front page of ‘The Oz’ about how they’ll manage gas and the resources sector.

Mr PITT: There were those who said it wouldn’t happen, there were those who said it was a pipedream and there were those who actively stood in the way, but I can tell you it is happening.

Mr PITT: We’ve heard a lot about mandates and we’ve heard a lot about the impact of this proposed bill, the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill, even from the Independents who recognise the risk to the Australian economy, the risk to small business and the risk to our country.

Mr PITT: The member for Macnamara has spent 10 minutes mocking those Australians who are struggling to pay their bills. They are literally losing their homes, going to live in their cars and losing their jobs.

It was the coalition government that had the foresight to establish Australia’s first critical minerals strategy in 2019. That was a strategy that has been updated and which has been incredibly important to the development of critical minerals industry in Australia. As I know you know, Madam Deputy Speaker Sharkie, nothing is more important than local politics.

Mr PITT: What the Australian people know after last night is that under a federal Labor government the only way is up in Australia. That is for interest rates, because they are going up. The cost of living is going up. Mortgage repayments are going up. Electricity costs are going up by up to 56 per cent in the Labor budget. Gas prices are going up. Everything is going up.

Mr PITT: I rise to talk on the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill, and of course support the opposition’s amendments. As a former resources minister, I’ve had some exposure to offshore structures. We continue to see from those opposite—I will give Minister Bowen, the member for McMahon, his due: he is 100 per cent committed to his ideals. He is an idealist, but he is absolutely not a realist and a realist is what we need in this space.