Senator CHANDLER (Tasmania) (15:16): It is always a pleasure to rise in this place and talk about who in this chamber best represents the interests and best delivers for regional Australia. It is the government members on this side of the chamber that are delivering for regional Australia and, in particular, for regional Tasmania. One of my greatest joys as a senator for Tasmania is representing our great regions. As the duty senator for the seat of Lyons, I have a wonderful opportunity to get out and see the best of our state and see how our government is investing in regional Tasmania to ensure that our communities remain strong. Just last week, I was up at Corumbene Care in the beautiful Derwent Valley. They have received $3.7 million under the Building Better Regions Fund to deliver a community and wellbeing hub, repurposing existing buildings at Willow Court. This is much needed infrastructure in the local community to support the health and wellbeing of all of those in the Derwent Valley and beyond, and I'm very glad that our government is delivering on this important project. Our government has also committed $100 million for irrigation projects, which are so needed across regional Tasmania, so that our agriculture industry can continue to thrive and prosper. Growing up in Tasmania and spending so much time driving along the Midland Highway up from the south to the north of the state, you can see the transformative effect that our irrigation schemes have had in regional Tasmania in ensuring that our farms are green and are growing food to supply the nation. We've provided millions in financial relief to tourism businesses that have been impacted. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Chandler, I remind you that we are taking note of answers given by Senator McKenzie to questions asked by Senator O'Neill. I have listened carefully, and you've strayed way beyond the question. Senator C HANDLER: Thank you, Madam Deputy President. I will turn my remarks now beyond just our government's broader investment in regional Tasmania to look at how we are working within the regions to ensure that Tasmania plays its part to reduce emissions, and that we are good custodians of the environment. The government is progressing the Battery of the Nation plans with the Tasmanian government, to increase the interconnection between Tasmania's energy market—which will be underpinned by an abundance of clean, reliable hydropower supported by newer wind developments—and the rest of the National Energy Market. I hear time and time again just how necessary this investment is in the regions and in hydroelectricity in Tasmania to ensure that we have jobs for the future, and also to ensure that we do our part in reducing emissions. It often surprises me how pessimistic people can be about the world's capability to achieve the goal, which is some years away. When you look at the rate of advances in science and technology over the last century, it seems to me that we should be very optimistic about what we can achieve by 2050. As I've said, as a government we are investing to support that innovation here in Australia and particularly in regional Tasmania. Earlier this month, I was fortunate to be able to visit an incredible Tasmanian business which was the recipient of a grant from the coalition government's Accelerating Commercialisation fund. This fund supports projects within the government's six national manufacturing priority areas, including food and beverage, recycling, and clean energy. It supports businesses which have ideas to undertake commercialisation activities in R&D, invest in technologies that will assist them to upscale their operations and secure further investment to expand both nationally and internationally. Sea Forest, based at Triabunna in the south-east of Tasmania, is one of those businesses. They are doing world-leading work, cultivating a particular species of seaweed which, when added in small quantities to livestock feed, greatly reduces the amount of methane which is produced by those animals. This has huge potential for the livestock industry in Australia and around the world, because not only does growing the seaweed help to absorb carbon in and of itself, the end product reduces the amount of methane going into the atmosphere from one of our key industries in Australia. It was incredibly exciting to see the work that the team at Sea Forest are doing and how, with the support of this government—this government that invests in the regions, that has a plan—they are working to take that idea as a commercial product to the industry. If and when they take the next step, they'll be able to add significantly to their 40-strong workforce in a regional town which really needs jobs and career opportunities. That is just one example of the thousands of businesses around Australia, in the regions, who are innovating here and now in 2021 to create jobs and reduce our emissions.