Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister for Emergency Management) (14:55): Thank you, Senator Ruston, and thank you, Senator McKenzie, for recognising that I am such a friend of the regions. I'm glad you recognise this. Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Minister Watt, please resume your seat. Senator McKenzie. Senator McKenzie: Senator Watt has misrepresented me to the Senate. The PRESIDENT: Senator McKenzie, what is your point? There's no point of order, thank you. Government senator s interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order on my right! Minister, please continue. Senator WATT: Sometimes Senator McKenzie says things before she thinks them through, and that was— The PRESIDENT: Senator Watt, please resume your seat. Senator Ruston has asked a serious question, and she's entitled to a response, so please direct your answers to her question. Senator WATT: Senator Ruston does ask a serious question, because we know—and anyone in this chamber who spends any time in regional Australia, whether it be me, Senator Ruston, Senator McKenzie or many others, knows—that, for many years, there has been a serious problem for regional Australians accessing health care. I've experienced it myself— The PRESIDENT: Minister, please resume your seat. Senator Ruston. Senator Ruston: It's on a matter of relevance. I was actually asking the minister about 887 visas and why your government has not prioritised 887 visas, which directly impact rural and regional Australia. I'd ask you to draw his attention to my question. The PRESIDENT: You also talked about the crisis of health in regional and rural areas, and I believe the minister is being relevant. If he's not, I will direct him to the question. Senator WATT: As I was saying, there has been a serious shortage of health care in rural and regional Australia for at least 10 years. One of the reasons for that has been severe workforce shortages—workforce shortages that this government is working on and acting on. In the short time that we've been in office, the Albanese government has increased regional visas from 11,200 to 34,000 this financial year. Those who attended the Jobs and Skills Summit, which of course doesn't include any member of the Liberal Party but does include the Leader of the National Party, Mr Littleproud, would have seen that this government is committed to increasing the regional migration intake to 34,000 just for this financial year. It is our full intention to deliver these visas, which will go some way to assisting with the regional workforce shortages that Senator Ruston asks about. But, indeed, the regional workforce shortages that we see across every industry in regional Australia are yet another legacy of the poor planning and mismanagement of the former government. If there's one example in this space that really exemplifies those failures, let's not forget that the former government left a visa backlog of one million visas. That's one million people waiting for visas to be processed. We've got it down to 600,000, and we're going to go further. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Ruston, your first supplementary?