Statement on Canberra nonsense

AUGUST 23, 2018: The nonsense going on in Canberra is just bloody awful and, as a Member of Parliament, I have to say to the people of Dawson, I’m truly sorry for it.As a member of the Nationals in Canberra, I do not have a vote or say in who is the leader of the Liberal Party and have not been involved in any of the goings-on with leadership spills.While others – in all parties, including Labor – were focussed on leadership in Canberra this week, I have been fighting for lower power prices, a coal-fired power station in the North, a safer Bruce Highway, an end to the casualisation of the mining workforce, more superyacht tourism for our region, medical research funding for Mackay, the sugar industry code of conduct, water security in Townsville and securing funding for major job-creating projects in the region.No matter who is Prime Minister, I will continue to stand up for the North and fight for local jobs, even if it means arguing against government policy and having to cross the floor from time to time. I am not a ‘my party right or wrong’ man and the Prime Minister is not my boss; collectively the people who live in my electorate are my boss and I answer to them and them alone.