Opened the debate
Birrell argued that federal policies under the Albanese government were increasingly detached from the realities of regional Australia, particularly in the Nicholls electorate. Birrell stated that the Murray-Darling Basin Plan reduced available irrigation water, forcing farmers to pay higher prices for temporary water and system maintenance. Birrell claimed that government compliance costs were rising as a proportion of business expenses, creating an unsustainable burden on small agricultural enterprises. Birrell also criticised changes to capital gains tax, arguing they penalised farmers selling assets built over a lifetime. Birrell contended that the current administration was taking credit for the fertiliser project in north-western Australia, which he asserted was established and funded by the previous coalition government.