SPEECH AT THE COUNTRY LIBERAL PARTY CAMPAIGN LAUNCH, 9 August 2020

E&OE

Subject: Northern Territory Election;

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Well, what an introduction, we need to get Lia home along with her team – her brave, her resilient, her determined team. Look, I would like to acknowledge that we are on Larrakai Territory and I acknowledge anybody from the Larrakai nation and I pay my respects. I would like to obviously, welcome Lia here. What a fantastic dynamo, the Energiser Bunny has nothing on her – she is going to be the next Chief Minister of the Territory!

[Applause]

I would like to acknowledge Sam McMahon. Sam is doing a power of good in Canberra and I know she wears the carpet out into my office to fight for better infrastructure, to fight for better delivery for the people of the North, for the people of the Top End and she will go on fighting for you. Just like Nigel Scullion did and I do want to apologise for sending Nigel back to the Top End, I apologies profusely. I know that Nigel did such a sterling job for so many years but that work continues through Sam for each and every one of you. That’s what the CLP does. The CLP fights hard. It fights hard to deliver. CLP candidates by their very DNA, by their very nature know that the money that they spend, the money that they deliver is not their money – it’s the taxpayer’s money. And I know that back in May, Lia expressed concern about the fact that there was going to be a debt on Territorians of about $25,000 per head which was going to need to be paid back. That was when the debt was around $6.2 billion. Unfortunately, it has now blown out even further by a couple billion dollars. It doesn’t sound like much, it just rolls off the tongue but the fact is, it has to be paid back and Labor never knows, never understands, never cares when it comes to spending money – your money. Each and every Territorian’s money – it has to be paid back. They end up racking up debt and deficit further than the eye can see. I appreciate, we’re in a COVID situation.

We will get through COVID and we will get through COVID because of the effort of Scott Morrison and our team and what we are doing for each and every one of you. It has been a very great shame about what has happened in Victoria but we will get through that too. That’s why we put on the table $314 billion, that’s why when JobKeeper first became available, 4,021 business in the Northern Territory actually signed up to keep their employees engaged with their company. To keep those employees on the books. The regional aviation and the domestic air network services that we provided have helped. It is just a tough situation, we all know that but we will get through it. We will get through it because we are tough. We’ll get through it because we are Australians. We will get through it because we are all in this together. And we’ll also get throughout it after August 22 because Lia and her team are going to be the new government in the Northern Territory.

[Applause]

Over the next couple of weeks, we want a sea of orange. A sea of Country Liberal Party swarming every booth making sure that no stone is left unturned. We want to be making sure that over the next couple of weeks that if you have got somebody who is a little bit unsure of who they are going to vote for, well convince them that CLP is the future. Convince them that safety, that jobs, that opportunity, have a place in the Top End again. Ensure that they know that Lia and her team have a vision, have a blueprint and have a plan. That is certainly what I want. I want Lia and the team to be able to help me and to help Sam and to help others deliver the infrastructure that the Northern Territory needs, certainly wants, but most of all deserves. You know that with better roads, with better amenities, with better facilities your families can be their best selves but you can only get that with Lia. You can only get that with the CLP.

[Crowd interjection]

That is right, shout it out! That is right! We need to get Lia and her team home. You can do it! If you have got 5 minutes to spare over the next fortnight and that is all you’ve got, then make sure that you use it wisely, use it campaigning for Lia and the team. Make sure that you convince others, those that are not so sure. Those that are dead set on voting for the Gunner Government again, convince them otherwise. Only with Lia and her team. Only with the CLP can we get the Top End working again. We can get that safety, those opportunities, that blueprint, those jobs. That’s what it is all about. Getting the CLP home. To each and every one of the candidates – put your hands up – I know that most of you are here. There they are! Give them a clap!

[Applause]

They are going to make you proud on August 22, get behind Lia and the team. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the future is in the CLP‘s hands and you are going to deliver it. Thank you very much.

[Applause]