Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy President. I was pointing out the costs that we have for this measure. It is pertinent to understand comparative costs and where the government has its priorities. The overall cost of the NBN, when we take up operating costs and lease costs and capital costs, will be over $60 billion. They seem to be able to find money for a telephone company but they cannot find money to stop tuberculosis coming into the northern part of Australia or to prevent the deaths tuberculosis causes. They cannot find money for that but they can find money for another telephone company, which at this point in time looks like going bad before it has even grown.

What we have seen is that prudent expenditure on such things as these protection mechanisms is extremely important because it maintains the safety of the travelling public. We have had an example of this technology placed outside the members' dining room. I rarely go there; in fact I do not think that I have ever been into the members' dining room without a guest in the time that I have been in this parliament, except maybe twice. One of these body scanning operations was placed outside there for everybody to go and have a look at and to be part of. It gave an example of how this was to be tested.

I also note that since the time of the introduction of this form of technology, we have not, fortunately, had any separate occurrences of people causing any problems after they have been through it. Nothing is ever going to get us completely in front of the terrorists and their desire to take us back to a form of life that would be appropriate for the Middle Ages, but anything that can keep us travelling safely is to be supported.

In closing, while the whole thing stitches together and expenditure such as this keeps people safe and is all about saving people's lives as they travel on international flights, we should also look at it as an example in a comparative analysis of the way this government has completely lost its priorities. Apparently protecting people's lives in the northern part of our nation by maintaining vital TB clinics in the face of growing risk is a less important priority. We know that in the southern parts of Papua New Guinea there is a high prevalence of TB, yet a government that can apparently find $60 billion in funding all up for a telephone company cannot find the money to maintain a tuberculosis clinic in the Torres Straits. This manifestly expresses the loss of priorities in a government that is confused and out of its depth, a government that does not know what it is doing, a government whose representatives are not really at the wheel. They have basically lost sight of the issues that are important or lack the muscle or the push to try to drive agendas to make sure that we protect people of the Torres Straits from tuberculosis. Unfortunately we lack people with a capacity inside the political sphere to be able to drive these agendas, and people suffer as a result. So I commend this bill to the Senate and note the coalition's support. I also note that there will be amendments coming up and I will approach them as they come.