Speeches

Mr CONAGHAN: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister inform the House about how the Morrison-McCormack government’s actions in securing our strong mineral export markets are setting the foundation for our continued economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by creating a safer and more secure Australia? And is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Mr KATTER: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. In six years, all NAIF’s done is extend a JCU building. Minister, you are the hero cutting the Gordian knot, unleashing the locomotive of prosperity. Won’t your NAIF CopperString initiative stop the strangulation of the North West Minerals Province and overcome the crippling effects of diesel generators and a tiny gas-fired power-station monopoly, which create electricity costs crushing what should be the world’s greatest mineral province? Minister, with NAIF’s CopperString, won’t we build the golden pit of prosperity?

Mr O’DOWD: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister outline how the Morrison government’s gas-fired recovery through the Beetaloo Basin is supporting the economy and explain how the gas industry is backing workers across regional Australia?

Mr PITT: I say to the member for Chifley: there’s a lot talk about who’s not here. I’m here, Huckleberry! No problems at all. I’m very pleased to be here talking about manufacturing. As someone who actually worked in manufacturing, did a trade in manufacturing—

Mr THOMPSON: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister outline how the Morrison government’s plan for economic recovery is backing our minerals industry and its workers across regional Australia, including North Queensland, and is the minister aware of any alternatives?

Anniversaries should be times of both celebration and reflection.
A 101-year anniversary is something else again – proof of resilience, of survival against the odds, and the ability to evolve through changing times.
Our party has an enormous amount to be proud of, and much of that has been discussed during this conference.
And yet this Federal Conference occurs at a time when our Parliament – the central democratic institution of our nation – has hit a pretty low ebb.
As someone who has been self-employed, employed a lot of people and have been in charge of divisions of companies, I’ve always described Parliament House as the strangest place I’ve ever worked in.
But that is not a reason for allowing things to remain the same.
We owe it to you, to our nation to do a lot better.
We cannot accept the unacceptable.
We have to work to a higher standard of personal responsibility than other places.

Mr THOMPSON: My question is for the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister outline to the House the work and research Geoscience Australia has been undertaking to support and assist our communities in managing the impact of floods?

Mr PITT: I’ve got to say, I walked into this MPI with the normal expectations, and they’ve been fulfilled by those opposite. Usually you can sit here and listen to a couple of those opposite make a few notes and come forward with some points to push back on what it is they’re putting forward. I made a few notes about what they’re talking about, and all I’ve got is ‘Angus, Angus, Angus, Angus, Angus, Angus, Angus, Angus, Angus’—not a lot; not a lot at all about process, about policy, about what they propose.

Mr CHRISTENSEN: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister please outline to the House how the Morrison-McCormack government’s commitment to the resources sector, including coalmining, is contributing towards Australia’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession, and is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

Mr PITT: I want to acknowledge the member for Macquarie, one of the few on that side who have been in small business, I have to say. So congratulations. Having done it myself, I know it’s a difficult road. It is one where, every week, you have to think about where the money comes from in order to pay wages and pay your bills, and it’s one which many Australians take up.

Mr PITT (Hinkler—Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia) (15:51): I’m thankful for the opportunity to respond to what has been absolute twaddle. We’ll give a couple of lessons to the member for McMahon. Out in the real world, there’s a thing called a material safety data sheet. He should go and look some of them up. If we’re going to have tens of thousands of acres of solar panels in this country, it’s a responsible government that will deal with them in an environmentally friendly way when they come to the end of their working lives. Those opposite may not know this, but solar panels actually deteriorate over time. Their output deteriorates to the point where eventually they’re not worth having and are removed. They get damaged—they get hit by hail—and they have to be disposed of appropriately. If those opposite are seriously saying that we shouldn’t have a plan to deal with these issues, well, they are lost—lost once again.

Mr CHRISTENSEN: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister please outline to the House how the Morrison-McCormack government’s Australian approach to mining is further cementing our mining industry as a world leader so it can continue driving our economic recovery and helping us chart a way out of the COVID-19 recession?

Mr THOMPSON: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister please update the House on the resilience of Australia’s resources exports and highlight how the industry, with the support of the Morrison government, is driving economic growth and supporting everyday Australians?

Mr CHRISTENSEN: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Can the minister inform the House how the Morrison-McCormack government is supporting investment in the Australian resources sector and resources projects, including coalmining, which supports jobs in regional Australia? Can the minister advise of any alternative approaches?

Mr PITT: I acknowledge the contributions of my colleagues through this debate, an acknowledgement of the great contribution of Doug Anthony. On 28 January we did bid farewell to a giant of the National Party. Certainly there have been any number of contributions about what he’s done for our nation; for regional Australia; the famous caravan. But I want to speak about character. Genuinely, Doug Anthony was a quintessential Australian. He was a man who had character, and that shone through at the memorial service last week. There were images of Doug at the beach with an Alvey reel and a bamboo creel and a surf rod and a dog. I know that half the people who might be listening to this broadcast probably don’t know what a bamboo creel is. He was quintessentially Australian, taking time to go fishing, to spend time with their families, to teach and provide knowledge and wisdom to their grandchildren. I think that really shone through at the memorial service, not only last week but in all the contributions that have been made here in this parliament.

Mr O’DOWD (Flynn): My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister update the House on the resilience of the resource sector and highlight how the Morrison government is assisting this important sector to position Australia for a strong start in 2021 and driving jobs in regional Australia?

Mr PITT (Hinkler—Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia) (15:36): That was a very polite contribution from the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, I have to say. I’ll go to his opening remarks about strolling in the grounds of the parliament. As you know, Mr Deputy Speaker O’Brien, I can tell you exactly where we’ve been strolling in recent weeks. It’s been in places like Cloncurry, the Cannington Mine, and Gladstone and Northern Oil. We’ve been to Humpty Doo and Darwin; we’ve been talking to the people of Townsville and right across the north. While I have the opportunity, I’ll give a shout-out to Humpty Doo Barramundi again. What a great Australian success story! It’s a small business that’s driving more jobs with support from the NAIF, which includes a second loan to put on more people, more Australians, in the north. I think that’s a wonderful story that we should all reflect on and be thankful for—that we still have those Australians out there having a crack, employing more people and continuing to grow.

Mr CHRISTENSEN: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister please outline to the House how the Morrison-McCormack government’s efforts to support new technologies and markets for the resources industry will drive jobs in regional Queensland and support our economic comeback from the COVID-19 recession?

Mr O’DOWD: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister please update the House on how Australia’s high-quality exports continue to support Australian jobs and our economic comeback following the coronavirus pandemic?

Ms HAMMOND: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister please outline to the House how the Morrison government is continuing to back our regional communities through its national leadership in the resources sector and how this will support the jobs of resource workers across the country? And is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Mr GOSLING: My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister confirm that of the $5 billion the government announced would be spent on the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility in 2015 only 3c in every dollar announced have been delivered nearly five years later?

Mr VAN MANEN: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister please update the House on the Morrison-McCormack government’s commitment to our resources sector, which is of critical importance as we come out the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Ms SHARKIE (Mayo): My question is the minister for water. The South Australian government has flagged a High Court challenge should the federal government not deliver the legislated 450 gigalitres of environmental water to South Australia by 2025. Minister, will the government deliver the 450 gigalitres, and, if so, please detail how?

Mr ENTSCH (Leichhardt): My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister please update the House on how the Morrison-McCormack government is supporting the growth of Australia’s resources sector to create more jobs, including in my home state of Queensland? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

Mr PITT (Hinkler—Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia): It’s a great pleasure to follow the Leader of the Opposition. It’s an opportunity I’ve been looking for for the last two weeks, and I’ve got it now.

Mr PITT: First and foremost, can I welcome the member for Eden-Monaro to the parliament and congratulate her on her victory in the recent by-election.

It’s always a great pleasure to follow the Manager of Opposition Business, a very passionate individual—in seven years, I’m sure there’s one opportunity somewhere.

Ken O’Dowd MP: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia—the place to be! Will the minister outline to the House how the McCormack-Morrison government is committed to the resources sector and explain why programs like Exploring for the Future are so important to job creation and securing Australia’s economic recovery?

My understanding is that, if a private member doesn’t jump up, I can seek the call. In the last remaining minutes, can I call out the hapless Premier Palaszczuk in Queensland, who is knocking down the Paradise Dam, in the member for Flynn’s electorate, and who is taking jobs away from my local people in the future.

Thank you for the invitation to join you here today to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific.

Mr PITT: First and foremost, can I welcome the member for Eden-Monaro to the parliament and congratulate her on her victory in the recent by-election.

It’s always a great pleasure to follow the Manager of Opposition Business, a very passionate individual—in seven years, I’m sure there’s one opportunity somewhere.