ADJOURNMENT

Senator McDONALD (Queensland—Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate) (20:24): The coalition has set a very simple ambition for Australia. Our plan will reward hard work, restore homeownership, secure Australia's future and put Australians first. Those words mean something.

Putting Australians first is not just about who qualifies for a government payment. It should be a principle that runs through every decision the government makes. When we talk about energy, we should ask what that means for Australian families and businesses.

When we talk about managing our oceans, ask how it will impact Australian fishers and our ability to feed ourselves. When we change biosecurity rules, ask whether we are protecting Australian farmers and Australian industries. When we discuss the Australian environment, check: are we still allowing Australia to thrive, or have we become consumed by ideology?

There is a growing disconnect in Labor's public policy between what sounds good and what actually works. We see policies designed by people who ignore the consequences and theories given more attention than practical outcomes. Under Labor, ideology always comes first and Australians come second, third and last.

The coalition wants to turn that around. A recent article in the Australian examined the catastrophic floods in Nepal. It described a country that has received billions of dollars in climate related commitments.

There have been programs for climate governance, nature based solutions, gender assessments, environmental safeguards and workshops. There have been strategies, plans and international programs. But, when a catastrophic flood came roaring down a Himalayan river valley, what people really needed were sensors, sirens and enough warning to seek higher ground.

History has shown that the danger was known. According to the reporting, a relatively simple warning system could have given downstream communities about 45 minutes to evacuate. You may ask what Nepal's experience has to do with Australia.

But, right here, right now, under Labor, we are seeing that the wellbeing of people, protecting them from disasters, improving resilience and helping communities grow are not just forgotten but ignored whenever they are raised. A council in North Queensland desperate to stop floods wreaking havoc was prevented from clearing mangroves that were clogging up drainage channels.

Graziers wanting to clear firebreaks to protect property, livestock and habitat must seek special permissions via time-consuming bureaucratic process. Maybe building a dam would be effective to prevent floods destroying people's homes and provide water security for agriculture and drinking, but good luck with getting that past the ideology driven gatekeepers in Canberra.

Disasters will happen, but the answer isn't stronger safeguard mechanisms, higher taxes or increased enforcement. Government policies must make Australians more resilient. Flood mitigation, drainage, dredging, better roads and bridges, reliable communications, warning systems, fuel security and energy stability must all form part of the age-old contract between governments and their people.

In northern Australia, we understand that very well. We live with cyclones, floods, fires and droughts. People don't need to hear about climate strategy; they need to know where the disaster is and how much time they've got to prepare.

They need to know infrastructure can handle it and that it can be repaired quickly. Will there be fuel available? Will my phone work?

That's what securing Australia's future looks like in the real world. It is the same philosophy behind the coalition's decision to scrap net zero. We will not put ideological emissions targets ahead of the living standards, jobs and energy security for Australians.

The coalition's plan is for cheaper power and energy abundance. We will use the resources and technologies Australia has available to achieve this—coal, gas, oil and, yes, nuclear. Hydro, batteries and renewables are also on the table.

Putting Australians first means Australian families should not be worse off so politicians can boast about meeting an arbitrary ideological target. Australian resources should be developed where they can create jobs, lower costs and strengthen our national security. Governments should spend money on practical resilience rather than creating ever-larger climate bureaucracies.

That is how we secure Australia's future. The same principle should guide Australian food production. Researchers from James Cook University recently exposed one of the great contradictions in Australian seafood policy.

Australia has the world's third largest fishing zone, and our fisheries are recognised internationally as among the best managed in the world. Yet Australia produces just 1.4 per cent of global seafood and we import up to 65 per cent of the seafood we eat. We are an island continent with enormous marine resources and an experienced sustainability focused fishing fleet, but Labor is so gripped by ideology that we simply outsource our seafood production overseas.

Every time a sustainable Australian fishery is closed, Australians do not stop eating seafood. We just import more of it and pay more for it. According to the JCU researchers, that can mean shifting environmental and social impacts from Australia, with some of the world's strongest fisheries management, to countries with far weaker regulation and oversight.

So what have we achieved if we stop an Australian fishery operating under Australian environmental laws only to replace that seafood with a product caught under weaker standards overseas? All we've done is deprive Australians from sustainably caught seafood and decimated thousands of Australian jobs. Putting Australians first should mean putting Australian seafood first wherever we can sustainably produce it.

The evidence says there is room to do precisely that. Research cited by JCU authors suggest Australia's wild capture fisheries could sustainably produce another 206,000 tonnes under existing management regimes. Meanwhile, Australian seafood imports exceed about $910 million.

That is the sort of area where practical government should replace ideology. Above all, stop pretending that shutting down Australian industry somehow protects the planet while another country simply takes our place. And then we come to bananas.

Australia currently permits no fresh banana imports from any other country. The federal government is now conducting a biosecurity import risk analysis following a request from the Philippines for access to the Australian market. Now, there's nothing wrong with undertaking scientific analysis.

We have international obligations. Those processes should be rigorous and evidence based. But the starting point should always be: what is in Australia's national interest and are we putting Australian food producers first?

The Philippines banana industry is stricken with moko, black sigatoka and banana freckles. Any one of these diseases would destroy the industry and decimate communities in places like the Cassowary Coast, the Atherton Tablelands and Lakeland. These are vibrant communities with farming families, packing sheds, transport companies and regional businesses.

They work hard, and the coalition believes that hard work should not be jeopardised. Australia is not short of bananas. Australian growers already supply Australian consumers with all the bananas they need.

Now, no matter the issue facing governments, the test should always be the same. Does it secure Australia's future? Does it protect our way of life?

Does it put Australians first? If climate change presents a greater risk of disaster, then build the infrastructure and resilience that protects Australians, back sustainable Australian fishers rather than outsourcing production and environmental impacts to overseas. Australian farmers already grow the bananas Australian families need.

Protect them from unnecessary biosecurity risks. That is practical government. It is also the difference between governing for Australians and governing by ideology.

The coalition's broader economic plan rests on the same idea—lower taxes, cheaper electricity, lower regulation, less migration, more homes, stronger national security and investment in productive infrastructure. You can't rebuild a washed-out road with new emissions targets. You cannot tax your way to prosperity.

You cannot attack mining and expect the economy to thrive. Our country has extraordinary advantages in its land, its oceans and its people. The coalition will back them always.

That is our commitment. That is how we secure Australia's future. (Time expired)