DEPUTY LEADER OF THE NATIONALS SPEECH
COUNTRY LIBERAL PARTY ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Rydges Palmerston, Darwin
Thank you for again having me here in the wonderful Northern Territory. It’s great to be back, and it’s great to see so many friendly faces in the room.
I feel like I’m almost becoming a regular up here. First and foremost, can I congratulate Lia and the team on an outstanding victory for the Northern Territory, but also for Australia.
And what an exciting team. Just looking at all of these photos here, the 17 members of parliament that are going to unite and actually move the territory forward.
You’re going to take the brick off the head of the Northern Territory and get it moving again. I’m so excited because the territory has so much to offer, for you, but also for the rest of us.
So congratulations, Lia, and thank you to every single one of you in this room who was out there handing out how to votes, who was doorknocking with the candidates, who were making phone calls, and who were just there behind your team to help Lia get across the line. Fantastic.
I’d also like to thank you today for returning Jacinta to the top of the Senate ticket.
Since joining us in Canberra three years ago, Jacinta has been an absolute powerhouse. She is such a valued member of our team.
She is a great representative for the Northern Territory and she’s a great member of Shadow Cabinet too. You know she’s been in less than three years, and she’s already at Shadow Cabinet, leading the way.
I’m so glad that she’s back there at the top of the ticket. And congratulations on pre-selecting Lisa.
I had a quick chat at lunchtime, I’m really excited about the prospects. We need more Territorians in Canberra from our side, and I’m sure we’ll get Lisa there.
I look forward to seeing who you might pre-select for Lingiari. The more, the merrier!
The more of you in Canberra, the better, because we need geographic diversity in Canberra, as well as every other kind of diversity that you hear them bang on about.
But geographic diversity is great.
We are so close federally.
Who would have thought three years ago when the Albanese government won and said they were going to be a safe pair of hands, that they were going to govern for all Australians.
Who would have thought that we would now be in a position where we are polling 50-50, where under Peter Dutton and David Littleproud’s leadership, we are in with a chance at this election.
We could turn Labor into a one-term government. And we need to do that.
We absolutely need to do that. What we’ve done, and how we’ve got to the 50-50, is we are showing people that we are an alternative, and this is how Lia got it across the line.
Lia did not campaign as Labor light. Lia campaigned on values and policy.
She told the people of the Northern Territory what she stood for and why they needed to vote for the CLP, and they listened.
And that’s what Peter Dutton and David Littleproud have done. They’ve gone out there at the forefront.
We took a decisive decision on the Voice, and we turned out to be on the right side of history there.
We have gone out on nuclear, we’ve got the conversation started, and we are bringing people across.
The polling on nuclear is coming our way. Even in the Teals and Greens-held seats, their electorates, they are now shifting to open their minds to nuclear.
We are proposing a difference.
I got asked on Sky News the other day if we were just going to be a small target.
I said we’re already not a small target. You know, you can’t get much bigger than nuclear, and we’re out there on the front foot.
We need to reverse this government’s poor policies. Their ban on live sheep exports from Western Australia is appalling, and make no mistake, it is only the start.
They will come after live cattle exports next, and the Northern Territory can’t afford that to happen.
Northern Queensland can’t afford that to happen. Australia can’t afford that to happen. We will make sure it doesn’t happen.
They’re industrial relations changes that they pushed through early in their government.
People are now feeling the impact of that, and people are seeing that it is bad for them.
They’re alive and awake to this government’s dangerous position on industrial relations, and we need to stop some policies.
The Nature Positive Bill that Tanya Plibersek is trying to ram through to have a climate trigger and to set up a Federal Environmental Protection Authority so we can have more duplication, more delay and more halting of progress.
We cannot allow that to happen.
And emissions accounting laws, this government wants to bring in scope three emissions accounting. That is, if you’re a big business, you need to report on the emissions you make, scope one, and the emissions as a result, scope two.
But also the emissions of your supply chain, which is scope three, and your customers. That means every bank will need to consider the emissions of their customers.
That means every farmer is going to have to think about what emissions they make before they go to the bank to ask for a loan. Cannot happen.
We, as a team in Canberra, as the Liberals and the Nationals in Canberra, will fight for common sense.
We will bring back common sense. We will look to streamline environmental approvals, not duplicate, not over-bureaucratize.
We will make sure that the Beetaloo Basin gets the approvals it needs.
Tanya Plibersek is trying to pull the water trigger, but we know that the Northern Territory has already assessed this project.
You’ve had your scientists look at it. We’ve had federal scientists look at it.
We’ve had all the approvals required. We know that it is a project that can go ahead sustainably and progressively.
We need to stop these over-bureaucratic processes that just delay and delay, and we need to get things moving again.
We need to get things moving here in the Northern Territory. I’m looking forward to us being in government, with Lisa as Member for Solomon, with Jacinta as the best senator for the Northern Territory that we have.
And working with the Northern Territory Government to get things moving again.
Thank you very much.
ENDS