Mr BUCHHOLZ (Wright—Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport) (15:45): When the opportunity was given to me to speak on the MPI from the opposition today, the government's failure to be up-front with the Australian people about matters of national importance, I took the opportunity to prepare a speech. I thought maybe we'd talking about the drought. Maybe we'd be talking about coronavirus. The issues that are really affecting people around the nation. I thought we'd be talking about veterans' suicide. There's nothing on the matters that are consuming the Australian public at the moment. There is the opportunity for the opposition to walk in and raise these, but nothing. Last night, I spoke to a family in Childers. They're just a humble family. They have an aqua farm business enterprise. They grow plate-sized fish that go into the Asian markets. Their business has stopped. There are a run of families along the same road who are all in the same boat. They're saying, 'What's the go?' The reality is that those in China who would've normally been the recipients through the fish markets over there, as a result of the virus, are not leaving their homes. They're not buying from the fish markets. They're not going to their restaurants. They're staying indoors. As a result, the demand for their product has dried up. The secondary factor as to why they're having trouble as a result of the coronavirus, which I believe is a matter of national importance, is that because fish travel on aviation logisticial assets rather than seaborne assets, and because of the restriction of aircraft travel with personnel between the two localities, the cargo space in the bottom is not available. That's what I thought we were coming in to talk about in matters of national importance: Australians that were affected by the coronavirus. I thought we were coming in here to talk about the effects of drought. I would make the assumption that both sides of the House welcome the recent rains. And thank goodness that we're moving into a period of time which all of us refer to as the 'wet season' in northern Australia. It's worth noting that as a result of the drought we should be signalling to the states, in particular those farms that back up to national parks, that in any good neighbourly relationship if my fence burns down and you're my neighbour we go halves in the rebuild. That's what makes for good neighbours, until you back on to a national park. If you back on to a national park and you've been affected by drought and touched up by the bushfire national parks are not going to put their hand in their pocket and build—that's on your own. At least they managed to get a very small snippet of climate change in there. It wasn't too long ago that those on the other side of this chamber were espousing that climate change was the greatest moral challenge of our time. Now it gets about 30 seconds of coverage in an MPI when we talk about national importance. This week we made some incredible announcements on veteran suicides— An opposition member interjecting— Mr BUCHHOLZ: which I know the member was most welcome to receive. Veteran suicide is something that this government is absolutely—and I assume from the silence that we are united in this chamber on the work that is being done. I want to now speak to some of the work that we're doing in the interests of Australia and Australians and our plan for an even stronger economy is clear about building resilience and rewarding aspiration. On this side of the government, we're getting in and lowering taxes so that Australians can keep more of the money that they earn. We're reducing the cost of doing business. We're reducing the energy cost. We're deregulating finance. We're making sure that people get paid on time. When I walk around my small business sector those are the matters of importance. That's what they want to see our government doing. We're equipping Australians with the skills that Australian businesses need to boost their success. We're delivering better wages and more jobs. We're expanding our trade borders to access more markets and create more jobs so that once we get through this coronavirus saga we can flourish. We're building the infrastructure our economy needs to grow, investing $100 billion over 10 years in my portfolio, the roads and infrastructure portfolio. These are never before seen, unprecedented, amounts of infrastructure, and Queensland is the recipient of $10 billion of that on the Bruce Highway alone. Despite international and domestic challenges in the form of trade tensions, which I just mentioned, the RBA governor, Dr Philip Lowe, this week in his National Press Club address said: Australia's economic fundamentals remain very strong and they provide a solid foundation for us to be optimistic about our future. It shows that things are moving in the right direction. Those on the other side of the chamber can come into this place and talk down the economy, but if you're a business holder in Australia, these are the issues that are matters of importance, these are the issues that are relevant. When the IMF forecasts next year start starts with a three per cent and then the following year in the high threes, that's what gives our economy confidence. It's been a devastating summer for many families facing the unprecedented bushfire crisis, while others face incredibly tough conditions battling the drought. I acknowledge all of those members in this House who made a contribution to the condolence motion for the drought. There was some absolutely heartfelt commentary coming from both sides of the House. That's why we're committed to doing whatever it takes to make families and businesses, towns and communities get back on their feet. We'll be upfront with Australians as to what that's about. We have taken additional steps to prioritise legislation such as the bushfire tax assistance laws to ensure that all payments we've announced for volunteers, individuals and businesses during this bushfire season are tax free, as well as making donations to the Australian Volunteer Support Trust and the Community Rebuilding Trust tax deductible. An honourable member interjecting— Mr BUCHHOLZ: I'm not a fighter! The coronavirus is absolutely front and centre of what the Australian public are talking about. Veterans affairs is a serious matter, and those on the other side of the House do appreciate that. We stand in lockstep on it. I'm going to cut my time short now. I just want to acknowledge the work of the members for Herbert and Solomon and all those others in this chamber who have served who have made a contribution to those changes that were announced this week.