Barnaby on what women want

Barnaby Joyce has hit the safe NSW seat of Parkes to spruik the government's funding commitment to the inland rail project.

Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and his wife Natalie

Barnaby Joyce's wife will join the deputy prime minister as he campaigns in Nationals heartland. (AAP)

He had his wife by his side for the first time in the campaign but don't ask Barnaby Joyce what women want.

"I tell you what, there was a fellow who made a movie about that and he turned out not to be very successful - so let's not go there," the deputy prime minister joked, referring to the 2000 Mel Gibson flick.

Mr Joyce was being quizzed about recent Newspolls showing women voters could be key to winning the election.

The Nationals leader added that all constituencies mattered - and warned voters not to experiment with Labor as he took his campaign on Tuesday to the safe seat of Parkes in western NSW.

Accompanied by wife Natalie in her election campaign debut, Mr Joyce spruiked the government's commitment to the inland rail project.

The coalition has pledged $594 million in the budget for pre-construction work to boost the freight link from Brisbane to the southern states, which farmers have long been lobbying for.

Mr Joyce said the project was nation-building and would create a "corridor of commerce".

The money was a rock-solid commitment it would finally be realised and would allow the national interstate rail body to buy up property for track-laying.

"You can't just have a farmer wake up in the middle of the night and say, 'Doris did we have a railway line in the middle of our paddock last night? Nah? Well, it's there now'," the minister told reporters in the regional town of Narrabri.

"You've got to actually purchase it off them."

Former deputy prime minister John Anderson, who has pushed the government to commit to the project or dump it altogether, is satisfied it's finally kicked-off.

The former Nationals leader has authored a study into the project for the government and wants to see it happen within eight years.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world