Matt Canavan

A message from Matt Canavan

Our nation is in distress. We have the highest inflation rate in the developed world, living standards have dropped back to 2011 levels, government spending is out of control, our borders are not secure and industry is leaving Australia thanks to ruinous net zero policies.

We have to fight back for Australia.

This year’s Budget of broken promises and cuts has obliterated a fair go for regional Australia, while doubling down on Labor’s tone-deaf reckless race to renewables and net zero fantasy.

Labor has cut the Inland Rail project in half and sent the money to a suburban rail project in Melbourne to help prop up the failing Victorian government. Regional NSW got no additional infrastructure funding in this year’s Budget.

Labor continues to blow a small fortune on its net zero obsession. This Budget reveals that Labor will spend another $18 billion on net zero, bringing the total amount spent on net zero to $80 billion under this government. No wonder Labor must break its promises and increase taxes on property, investments and small businesses and farmers to pay for all of this.

We will scrap net zero so that we can lower energy prices and bring back manufacturing jobs to Australia.

We will reduce Labor’s wasteful spending so that we take pressure off inflation and interest rates.

We will cut taxes by indexing tax brackets to inflation and saving the average taxpayer $250 a year EVERY YEAR.

We will return migration to sensible levels and only those that share Australian values will be welcome.

We need to use our country. We need more oil. We need more gas. We need more coal-fired power stations. We need more dams, roads and rail lines. We need more factories. We need more homes. We need more babies. We need more Australia

Or, as I like to call it, we need a Hyper Australia.

My promise to you is that The Nationals will relentlessly fight to remove this bad Labor Government and take our country back.

There is a mountain to climb but I truly believe we can get there, and with your support and hard work, we can get the job done.

About Matt Canavan

At the 2013 election Matthew was elected to the Senate. He took up his position as a Senator in the Nationals party room in July 2014 as a Senator based in Rockhampton, the first Senator to be based in Rockhampton for more than 20 years.

Matthew served as the Minister for Northern Australia from February 2016 and was elevated to Cabinet later that year as the Minister for Resources – the first Central Queensland based Cabinet Minister since the 1970’s. Matthew served in that role until 2020.

As a Minister, Matthew helped deliver the Adani mine, build the Rookwood weir, reserve gas for domestic Australian use and established the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.

As a Senator, Matthew has led the charge to oppose net zero, strengthen our competition laws and protect human rights during COVID.

In 2026, Matthew was elected Leader of The Nationals.

Matthew is a former Lions Youth of the Year and worked as a Leader with the Christian Brothers on Edmund Rice Camps, where he met his wife.

They now live in Yeppoon near Rockhampton, with their four sons and daughter.

While Matthew’s family is very proud of him being elected to the Senate and Leader of The Nationals, his Father remains slightly disappointed that he gave up cricket at 16 and therefore never fulfilled his true calling to play test cricket for Australia.