Mr BUCHHOLZ (Wright—Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport) (15:51): Today's MPI is 'the failure of the government to focus on the needs of Australians'. Those on the other side have lost their way when it comes to focusing on Australians, particularly coalminers in this country. At the moment the vision that those who sit on the other side of this chamber have is very bleak for that industry. I was brought up in Central Queensland. I went to an all-boys boarding school there and a lot of the guys I went to school with went and worked in the coalmines. Their fathers worked there. My father worked in the coalmine. He was a white-collar worker. Most of the coal industry guys, rightfully, have belonged to a union of some type and have during their lives predominantly supported those on the other side, the Australian Labor Party. Every time I catch up with my school alma mater, whether it's at an old-boys reunion for the boarding school or elsewhere, more and more of them say to me: 'I can no longer support the Australian Labor Party. They used to represent us. They no longer do.' Increasingly those who wear high-vis and work in the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland are supporting us, and this is not just at the federal level. I remember my state colleague Jim Pearce, the member for Fitzroy. He was an absolute gentleman. He came up through the coalmine ranks. He was an electrician. Jim originally came from Mount Morgan and was one of Labor's gentlemen. Unfortunately, he lost his seat in Fitzroy. It was unthinkable that the seat of Fitzroy in Queensland could be lost by Labor. Opposition members interjecting— Mr BUCHHOLZ: This is relevant because the MPI is about the need to focus on Australians. I'm highlighting the fact that those on the other side have forgotten their core people. They've forgotten a core of Australians. They have turned their back on them. We're putting our money where our mouth is. In my portfolio we are looking after Australians who are choosing to use our investment in infrastructure. There is $100 billion. Never before in Australia's history have we invested more in infrastructure. In Queensland there is $10 billion for the Bruce Highway. RACQ, the motor vehicle association, said that that was the single infrastructure priority for Queensland. We're addressing those needs. We're also focused on reducing the cost of doing business across the country. We're providing all Australians with the skills that they need to succeed and boost their chance in getting a job. Unemployment under us is better. Unlike those opposite, the Liberal-National government is not raising taxes and is not levying Australians to pay for the response to the last cyclone, because this government has had stronger economic management and is resilient. Mr Perrett: You voted for that, remember? Mr BUCHHOLZ: We did vote for that, but I can assure you that, because of the strength of the economy under this government's leadership and because our management of the country, we haven't had to rush back into this place and inflict a levy on the Australian people. Mr Perrett interjecting— Mr BUCHHOLZ: We come from a broad church, Member for Moreton. We all come from business backgrounds. It was once highlighted to me that those on the other side of this House could not hit the side of a barn with a forecast, when it comes to the economic outlook. We are also getting on and helping those communities who have been affected by this horrendous drought. Some of my businesses and farms up home haven't had income for seven years. We welcome the wonderful rain that's coming. We've put our money where our mouth is, because we have a strong economy, in helping those farms and families that have been affected by drought, by putting $20 million to keep kids in school—$5 million of that is for child care—and giving $1 billion of drought loans to farmers to buy fodder, transport stock, build water infrastructure, agist cattle, mend fences and refinance their existing debt. A new small business drought loan up to $500,000—there is half a billion dollars for that. There's $200 million extra for the Building Better Regions Fund to fund projects in drought hit communities and support those economies. There's an extra $138.9 million for Roads to Recovery, to build those strategic pieces of infrastructure. Of course you can only do that when you have a strong, stable government.