13 May 2004 Legislative Assembly 961 THURSDAY, 13 MAY 2004

Legislative Assembly Mr SPEAKER (Hon. R.K. Hollis, Redcliffe) read prayers and took the chair at 9.30 a.m.

PRIVILEGE

Aurukun Associates Agreement Hon. P.D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.31 a.m.): I rise on a matter of privilege. I table for the information of the House an article in this morning's Courier-Mail headed 'Alcan urges Beattie to reconsider Aurukun' and an article in today's Australian headed 'Canada heavies Canberra over mine'. On 22 October, nearly seven months ago, the Natural Resources Minister, Stephen Robertson, and I demanded that French mining company Aluminium Pechiney Holdings Pty Ltd surrender mining leases it had held over the vast Aurukun mineral deposits on Cape York since 1975. We sought surrender of the lease because Pechiney failed to commence construction of an alumina refinery by 31 December 1988—15 years ago. This was a key requirement of the Aurukun Associates Agreement 1975— Mr SEENEY: Mr Speaker, I rise to a point of order. We had this debate in the House yesterday. Mr SPEAKER: Order! This is not a debate. This is a point of privilege. Mr SEENEY: How does the continuation of this debate constitute a point of privilege? Mr SPEAKER: Order! Have you heard the whole of the point of privilege yet? Nor have I. Mr SEENEY: I have heard what the Premier said because it was in the debate in this House yesterday. Mr SPEAKER: I listen to every point of privilege, whether it is raised by your side of the parliament or the other side. I am entitled to listen to it, and the Premier is entitled to put his point of privilege to the House. Mr BEATTIE: We sought surrender of the lease because Pechiney failed to commence construction of an alumina refinery by 31 December 1988—15 years ago. This was a key requirement of the Aurukun Associates Agreement 1975 it signed with the Bjelke-Petersen government. That was 29 years ago. We are not running a charity. Pechiney has been in breach of an agreement for at least 15 years. Parking this valuable 500 million tonne mineral resource to suit itself while it invested in new refining facilities elsewhere in the world is not acceptable. We make no apologies for my Queensland government's decisions. I say to the Courier-Mail, the Australian and anyone else who wants to write about it, including the Canadian High Commission, that we expect a return for Queenslanders. We will not be intimidated by any campaign run by Alcan, Pechiney or anyone in the media organisations. An opposition member interjected. Mr BEATTIE: I just highlight to the House that I am entitled under standing orders to reply to matters that relate— An opposition member interjected. Mr BEATTIE: These are matters of privilege pertaining to this House and matters arising here, and I am entitled to raise them. If the other side wish to grovel to Pechiney to destroy the assets of Queensland it can, but my government will fight for Queensland to get a fair go for our resources.

PETITIONS

The following honourable members have lodged paper petitions for presentation—

Noise Pollution Barriers, Gateway Arterial Mr Reeves from 181 petitioners requesting the House to alleviate the constant, excessive noise emanating from the Gateway Arterial Road by the installation of noise pollution barriers.

Medical Practitioners, Runaway Bay Mrs Croft from 47 petitioners requesting the House to advise the Federal Government that the shortage of General Practitioners in the Runaway Bay area is significantly impacting on local residents and the remaining doctors, and request that the Federal Government declare this a District of Workforce Shortage in an attempt to attract more doctors. 962 Ministerial Statement 13 May 2004

PAPERS

MINISTERIAL PAPER TABLED BY THE CLERK The following ministerial papers were tabled by The Clerk— Premier and Minister for Trade (Mr Beattie)— • Government response from the Premier and Minister for Trade (Mr Beattie) to the Members' Ethics and Parliamentary Privileges Committee's Report No. 60—Report on Inquiry into Communications to Members, Members' Representations to Government and Information Provided to Members • Government response from the Premier and Minister for Trade (Mr Beattie) to the Public Accounts Committee's Report No. 65—Review of Audit Reports—Event Management. Minister for Transport and Main Roads (Mr Lucas)— • Notification of Speed Limit under the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994, dated 20 November 2003, regarding ships in the waters at the Nerang River • Notification of Speed Limit under the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994, dated 4 December 2003, regarding ships in the waters at Abel Point Marina MINISTERIAL PAPER The following ministerial paper was tabled— Minister for Education and the Arts (Ms Bligh)— • Queensland Theatre Company—Annual Report 2003

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Smoking Bans Hon. P.D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.35 a.m.): I would like to advise the House that, along with the Minister for Health, I am absolutely delighted with the unanimous support from parliament last night for the government's plans to take further steps to help nonsmokers live and work in smoke-free surroundings and to help smokers who want to kick their addiction and regain a healthy lifestyle. Bob, we are with you. More than 3,000 Queenslanders die from tobacco related causes every year. As I said last night, the government started a review of the Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Act 1998 last year. Preliminary consultations with various organisations have already taken place, and the next step will involve the release of a discussion paper. This will invite submissions which will be analysed by Queensland Health, which will prepare a report with recommendations for the minister later this year. The discussion paper addresses not just further bans on smoking but also the full range of issues including advertising and promotion, sales to minors, monitoring, enforcement and licensing. As I made clear when I was in Ireland earlier this year, the government intends to take clear action in this regard. I have had a number of discussions with the Minister for Health. I am happy to advise the parliament today that the Minister for Health will be taking his discussion paper to cabinet on Monday and it will be released very shortly thereafter. We will be making— Mr Quinn: Only wanted a bit of prodding. Mr BEATTIE: It is all right. He can peek into the cabinet bag. I am happy to share it with him. It makes no difference to me. I will have a bit more to say about this later in the day. The more the Liberal Party votes with us, the bigger its vote is. If it keeps supporting the government it will do very well. Mr Schwarten interjected. Mr BEATTIE: Interestingly, ever since the Liberals started voting with us its vote has gone up, and every time the opposition opposes our policies its vote goes down. Ms Bligh interjected. Mr BEATTIE: That is right. Bob, you stick with us and we will be a friendlier coalition partner any day. Mr Schwarten interjected. Mr BEATTIE: Exactly. The point is that the decision will be made this year. As I said, I have discussed this with the Minister for Health. I do say to the industry lead organisations—the Queensland Hotels Associations, the clubs and the casinos, all of whom we have had discussions with—that we do want them to start an initiative on their own behalf. They should start voluntarily bringing in bans and limitations, and we will work with them to see if we can get some agreement and then there will be legislation. 13 May 2004 Ministerial Statement 963

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Queensland Herbarium Hon. P.D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.38 a.m.): Queensland is setting an example for the rest of the country in monitoring and protecting the environment. Last week, Environment Minister John Mickel and I released the Queensland greenhouse strategy, our blueprint for responding to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. We will not sit back and wait for the federal government to show leadership on this issue because if we do it may be too late. Part of smart planning is having an accurate picture of what is happening on the ground across Queensland. That is why we use data such as the Queensland Herbarium remnant vegetation report, which I table for the information of the House. This analyses the status and extent of 1,260 regional ecosystems covering 60 per cent of Queensland's land mass. The ecosystems include remnant and preclearing vegetation, grasslands, heathlands and enclosed forests. This data is broader than the Statewide Landcover and Trees Study, which covers only wooded vegetation. The Herbarium report is from 1997 to 2001 and highlights the vulnerability of some of our ecosystems. For example, between 1999 and 2001 the Brigalow Belt was subject to more clearing than any other area in the survey. The Brigalow Belt is home to vulnerable plants and animals. The Brigalow Belt accounted for 43.5 per cent of the cleared land. Clearing in the mulga lands bioregion accounted for 28 per cent and 16 per cent of the cleared area in the desert uplands. The Herbarium report reinforces the imperative of protecting these areas. The next major update in regional ecosystem information will be in 2005. This report plus the update will help us monitor our vegetation management laws and give us information to feed into policy areas such as the greenhouse strategy. It will be used by local governments, catchment coordinating and regional nature resource management groups for planning and management purposes. The Queensland government will also use it to develop sustainable, responsible policies and investment programs for natural resource management, biodiversity conservation and greenhouse abatement. I congratulate the Herbarium for this comprehensive information on regional ecosystems. As the greenhouse strategy shows, land clearing contributed 28 per cent of Queensland's greenhouse gas production, and in the Smart State we respect quality science such as that of the Herbarium. In contrast, the federal government is scorning science by gutting two valuable Queensland based cooperative research centres—the Great Barrier Reef CRC and tropical rainforest CRC. These centres do vital research into issues such as climate change, reef run-off and coral bleaching. Their research can help us manage these areas to improve resilience to pressures from people and the environment. The federal government is ripping more than $32 million from these centres. The Queensland government has provided an estimated $14 million to the CRCs, including the CRC Torres Strait, since 1999. We will continue to base our land and resource decisions on sound research and science. I also want to thank the Liberal Party for its support for our tree clearing legislation. I say again, Bob: well done; stick with us.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Commissioner for Children and Young People Hon. P.D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.41 a.m.): I am delighted to advise the House that Dr Robin Sullivan will be reappointed as Commissioner for Children and Young People for the next three years until 31 May 2007. Dr Sullivan, a former teacher who became Deputy Director-General of Education, has held the position since 1 April 1999. The Commissioner for Children and Young People will be pivotal in our efforts to give Queensland children the best possible protection, and cabinet has decided that Dr Sullivan should continue in the role to maintain the momentum of reform. Her first five years in the role coincided with probably the most tumultuous period for child protection in the history of Queensland. While we have all been repelled by revelations of child abuse and system failure not just in government but in other major institutions such as churches, this painful period has prompted improvements in administration, systems and resources for child safety and has raised community awareness of the extreme vulnerability of children. Throughout this period, Dr Sullivan has been assiduous and independent in upholding the interests of children and young people. With her leadership, the Commission for Children and Young People has risen to the mammoth task of implementing the blue card employee and volunteer screening system. I am delighted with her reappointment. I thank Dr Sullivan for the contribution she has made. There are more details in my ministerial statement, which I seek leave to incorporate in Hansard, 964 Ministerial Statement 13 May 2004 particularly the aspects relating to the issue of blue cards. She has done a good job and I hope she has the full support of all members of this House. Leave granted. Since the blue card began three years ago, the commission has issued more than 212,000 blue cards and delivered almost 100 negative notices to people who are not fit to work or volunteer with children. More than 350 applicants have withdrawn from the process after the commission challenged them about their criminal history. Her new term as commissioner will bring heightened duties for Dr Sullivan. Some of these arise from the government's commitment to implement all 110 recommendations of the Crime and Misconduct Commission's Inquiry into the Abuse of Children in Foster Care in Queensland. The CMC recommended the commissioner have stronger oversight and reporting roles in the child protection system; the commission assume the functions of the new Child Guardian, to investigate matters regarding children within the jurisdiction of the Department of Child Safety and review administrative decisions of that department; the commissioner have broader jurisdiction relating to child deaths; and the Community Visitor Program be expanded to include all children in alternative care, including foster care. Independent of these CMC recommendations, I announced last month we will extend the blue card system to cover new categories of people working and volunteering with children—such as more clergy, more non-teaching school staff, and people involved in children's sports programs and camps. As the government announced on Monday, the commissioner will also have a role in preventing convicted paedophiles from driving and operating buses & taxis. Our institutions, laws and systems are being transformed to give children better protection from abuse and predation. I welcome Robin Sullivan's willingness to continue a key role in an improving system for the next three years.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

South American Mining Update Hon. P.D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.42 a.m.): My visit to Chile and Brazil in late May and early June this year was part of a trade and investment mission to North and South America will build on the foundations of the South American mining initiative. The initiative began in 2001 and has reaped more than $20 million in South American contracts for Queensland companies. That is what a Smart State export strategy does. I am pleased to inform the House that we will extend this initiative for another two years until December 2005. Chile has proven to be our best South American market and one where Queensland is building a robust profile. The former Minister for State Development led a trade mission there, which I think he would agree produced results. Thirteen Queensland companies now have an office or presence in Chile. I will fly the flag for Queensland's industry in meetings with senior Chilean decision makers. I will vigorously promote the joint research and development capabilities of the Queensland Centre of Advanced Technologies and Sustainable Minerals Institute, which was established in 2000, with a $10 million Queensland government contribution. As part of my accountability, I provide details to the House of some of the other people I will be meeting. I seek leave to have those details incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. In Chile I will meet with leading copper producers such as Codelco and Antofagasta Minerals. Codelco, owned by the Chilean Government, is the world's biggest government-owned copper producer. Antofagasta owns and operates three Chilean copper mines, has an extensive rail network servicing the important mining region of northern Chile, and is actively exploring in Chile and Peru. I will also officially open the South America Regional Head Office of Mincom in Chile. In Brazil I will pursue opportunities to increase Queensland coal technology and equipment export. I will visit the State of Minas Gerais, where Queensland has a memorandum of understanding about sustainable mining. Already under the MoU, a Queensland-Minas Gerais working party has formulated a project about mine site rehabilitation. I will also meet with Acominas, one of Brazil's major steel producers, which imports 80,000 tonnes of coal from Queensland. Trade Division and the Environmental Protection Agency are working with Acominas. They are jointly funding an EPA officer to work on environmental programs including community education, and to undertake market development for Queensland business. The recent upswing of global base metal and commodity prices has broadened Queensland's opportunities in markets such as South America. We are capitalising on the opportunities. Last month the Queensland Government, in conjunction with the Australian Industry Group, supported 12 Queensland companies to exhibit at South America's premier mining exhibition, Expomin, in Santiago. A strong cross section of Queensland's mining services—both equipment and technology—was represented. The companies included seasoned and new exporters, like Wagner Global Services, Ludowici and Barclay Mowlem. 13 May 2004 Ministerial Statement 965

Feedback received from mission members has been very positive, with indications that their attendance will lead to sales of $500,000. Also, several mission members have advised they are negotiating representative agreements with agents for South America. I will certainly urge Latin American mining identities to attend the Queensland Mining Exhibition in Mackay in July, for a taste of Queensland's expertise and capability. All these activities in Latin America build on excellent relations established by the former State Development Minister, Tom Barton, who made a trade and investment mission to South America in July 2003.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Queensland Events Regional Development Program Hon. P.D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.44 a.m.): One of the many success stories of this Smart State government has been our ability to tap into the needs of regional Queensland. One of the most successful efforts has been the Queensland Events Regional Development Program. Today I am about to outline the successful applicants in the program's sixth round and am also announcing another $428,555 in state funding. I will be doing that with Queensland Events in front of parliament's portico in the lunch break. I will incorporate the list of successful round 6 applicants, but before I do that I point out that it includes those organisations that have been successful: Festival Cairns, the Croydon Poddy Dodgers Music Festival, Innisfail Harvest Festival, the Cairns and Townsville Opals World Challenge, Townsville's Cook Island Dance Festival, Julia Creek Dirt and Dust Festival, Birdsville's Great Australian Cattle Drive, the Hughenden Dinosaur Festival, the Childers Multicultural Food, Wine and Arts Festival, Toowoomba 24-hour Film Making Festival, Toowoomba's Carnival of Flowers, the Millmerran Camp Oven Festival, the Gatton's Street Sprints, Caboolture's Medieval Tournament, Leyburn's Sprint Around the Houses, Warwick's Hippomaniac Picnic, the Gold Coast Motorbike Week, Hervey Bay's Whale Festival, Kingaroy's Peanut Festival and the Airlie Beach Triathlon. I seek leave to have those details and the remainder of my ministerial statement incorporated in Hansard. I want to highlight our commitment to regional Queensland. Leave granted. An excellent example of this is the ever-increasing number of people who turn up for our regional Community Cabinets. Another success was of course our North Queensland sitting of Parliament in Townsville. But among the most successful efforts has been the Queensland Events Regional Development program. Today I am about to outline the successful applicants in the program's sixth round. But before I do that I call on event organisers across regional Queensland to make their submissions for our seventh round. We are continuing the program. Further details on this will be made at a later time. But—today I am announcing another $428,555 in State funding. In short another 20 have been successful applicants—this time in Round 6 of the Regional Development Program. Celebrations like the Opals World Challenge being shared between Townsville and Cairns, the Julia Creek Dirt and Dust Festival, Kingaroy's Peanut Festival and Birdsville's Great Australian Cattle Drive all help to unite communities. They also provide social benefits as well as economic benefits to their respective regions—but also collectively to the state as a whole. The likes of Toowoomba Gospel Music Festival, Warwick's Inaugural Polo Cross World Championships, or the Isisford Fishing Festival are examples of how this program has shown more than just economic success. Since the program's inception in 2001 the State Government has invested almost $2.5 million in 128 regional events. This is setting a benchmark that is unrivalled in Australia. Our investment extends beyond financial support. We also have a QERDP office in Townsville through which assist the development of a more professional management of our regional events. Telstra Country Wide has been a major sponsor of the Program and Regional Managing Director for Queensland, Mr Don Pinel has confirmed Telstra Country Wide's ongoing support. Unfortunately Don is not with us today—but Country Wide is to be represented at our launch here later this morning. Telstra Country Wide is committed to contributing to the many events that directly support the culture and lifestyle of local communities living in regional and rural Queensland. For further information about the Queensland Events Regional Development Program visit www.queenslandevents.com.au or telephone the Townsville-based secretariat on (07) 4799 7301. I table the List of successful Round 6 applicants 966 Ministerial Statement 13 May 2004

It includes; QUEENSLAND EVENTS REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM—ROUND 6 BY REGIONAL TOURIST ORGANISATION BOUNDARIES REGION: TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND 4-25 September 2004: Festival Cairns, Cairns 24-26 September 2004: Croydon Poddy Dodgers Music Festival, Croydon 15-24 October 2004: Innisfail Harvest Festival, Innisfail 9-13 June 2004: Opals World Challenge, Cairns & Townsville REGION: TOWNSVILLE 9-13 June 2004: Opals World Challenge, Townsville & Cairns 25 October—5 November 2004: Cook Island Dance Festival, Townsville REGION: OUTBACK 15-17 April 2005: Julia Creek Dirt and Dust Festival, Julia Creek 29 April—2 May 2005: Great Australian Cattle Drive, Birdsville 2-6 September 2004: Hughenden Dinosaur Festival, Hughenden REGION: BUNDABERG 19-25 July 2004: Childers Multicultural Food, Wine, and Arts Festival, Childers REGION: TOOWOOMBA 30 September—4 October 2004: The Shoot Out 24 hour filmmaking Festival, Toowoomba 17-26 September 2004: Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers, Toowoomba 2-3 October 2004: Australian Camp Oven Festival, Millmerran REGION: BRISBANE 5-6 March 2005: Gatton Street Sprints, Gatton 10-11 July 2004: The Abbey Medieval Tournament, Caboolture REGION: SOUTHERN DOWNS 21-22 August 2004: Sprint around the Houses, Leyburn 24-25 July 2004: The Hippomanic Picnic, Warwick REGION: GOLD COAST 14-20 September 2004: Gold Coast Motor Bike Week, Gold Coast REGION: SOUTH BURNETT 1-7 August 2004: Hervey Bay Whale Festival, Hervey Bay 11 September 2004: Peanut Festival, Kingaroy REGION: WHITSUNDAYS 12 September 2004: Airlie Beach Triathlon, Airlie Beach

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Queensland Legislation, Review Hon. P.D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.45 a.m.): I wish to inform the House of a change being made to the way legislation appears on the page. The Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel has reviewed the style and presentation of Queensland legislation to improve its readability by adopting current publishing trends that take into account the link between style and presentation and the ability of readers to grasp the content. For example, the many types of heading in legislation will be easier to absorb by being read from the left margin of the page in the same way as text is generally read. Other changes include the current editing trend towards minimal punctuation. The changes are part of a cooperative move in the majority of Australian jurisdictions to make similar changes. This is therefore also a positive move towards a national uniform system and presentation of legislation which again improves access to legislation. Wide consultation has taken place in relation to the change—in particular, the Scrutiny of Legislation Committee has been consulted and supports the changes. Subject to modification of drafting systems in the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel to accommodate the changes, it is anticipated that bills and other legislative instruments will be produced in the next style and presentation after the May sittings of the House. We may need to review that in a couple of years time, but I think it is a positive move. 13 May 2004 Ministerial Statement 967

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Paniyiri Festival, Greek Community Hon. P.D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.46 a.m.): As I mentioned yesterday, cabinet will be meeting at the Greek Club and Convention Centre on Monday, where we will be launching the Paniyiri Festival 2004. It has attracted $35,000 in funding from the Queensland government. Tomorrow week we will also have the honour of farewelling Queensland's Olympic athletes at a special sports dinner titled 'Roads To Athens: return to the birthplace' at the Greek Club. It is going to be a great year for the Greek community. As Henry Maine said in his publication Village Communities, third edition 1876, 'Except the blind forces of nature, nothing moves in this world which is not Greek in its origin.' I know the member for Ashgrove would agree with that. I seek leave to have my ministerial statement incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. On Monday—Greek origins and culture will be honoured by my government, with a cabinet meeting at the Greek Club and Convention Centre. We will also help launch the 26th Paniyiri Festival and take part in a combined blessing of the festival and the Cabinet at a special ceremony at the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in South Brisbane. Brisbane will "Go Greek" at the famous festival—a signature celebration of all things Greek. It will for the first time last a full week and feature: fantastic food from all regions of Greece; dancing lessons and demonstrations; cooking classes; church tours; pre-Olympic celebrations; a film festival; public lectures; exhibitions; recitals; a dance party; and, a backgammon tournament. Paniyiri 2004 has attracted $35,000 funding from my government. This is to ensure its continuing success in a year of the Olympic Games in Athens and following on the 75th anniversary of the Greek Orthodox Church of St George in Brisbane and Greek National Independence Day on March 25. The original Greek Community Centre, known as Hellenic House in Charlotte Street and now a government office building provided the social and administrative hub for the Greek community from 1921 until 1974. It was a venue where traditional Greek hospitality was undoubtedly extended to business and government leaders and boasted a restaurant, billiard tables, a Greek barber and living quarters, with gambling, games and political discussion a major preoccupation. The first Greek Day in Queensland was held in Warwick on 11 March in 1941 and the first in Brisbane was held on 19th March in that same year. These were motivated by the conflict with Italian fascist forces in the second world war and the declaration of war on Greece by Mussolini. Raising funds to support the brave Greek forces was an over-riding impetus. On Monday night, following the cabinet meeting, the Greek Orthodox Church will host a memorial service honouring Australians who came to fight with the Greeks against the Germans at the Battle of Crete. The Greek Australian war memorial is located just outside and in the grounds of the Church and at least 10 Brisbane veterans of the Battle of Crete will participate in a wreath laying ceremony on what will be the 63rd anniversary of that famous Battle. Next week will be a momentous week for the Greek community in Queensland and my government is proud to join the Greek community in celebrating and remembering our shared cultural heritage.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Science Education Hon. A.M. BLIGH (South Brisbane—ALP) (Minister for Education and the Arts) (9.47 a.m.): Queensland is well known as both the Sunshine State and Australia's Smart State. We also want to make it the science state, but our efforts to attract new and emerging science based industries to Queensland will be wasted unless we have skilled workers to fill these jobs. Last August I informed members about our government's six-point action plan to revitalise science education in Queensland, to increase the numbers of school students studying science and to attract and retain skilled science teachers. It is an ambitious aim given the decline in the numbers of students in schools and universities studying science. But schools and research institutions across Queensland are taking positive steps to reverse this trend by bringing science to life for our students. A great example is this week eight students from Queensland's far-north stepped out of the classroom and into the science laboratory to work alongside some of the Queensland's leading research scientists as part of a unique work experience program. The students who are in Brisbane until Friday, 14 May are spending the week doing field and laboratory work and learning more about research careers in indigenous health and science at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. This program is an outstanding example of the kind of partnerships between research institutions and schools that I am committed to developing as part of our government's science action plan. At the heart of our strategy is a commitment to make the study of science and science education a more 968 Ministerial Statement 13 May 2004 attractive career choice for students and teachers. That is why for the first time this year we are funding more than $240,000 in scholarships. The inaugural 2004 Peter Doherty Awards for Excellence in Science and Science Education recognise outstanding and innovative contributions to science and science education in Queensland. They have been named in honour of leading Queensland scientist, Nobel Laureate and graduate of Indooroopilly State High School, Professor Peter Doherty. Up to 47 awards valued at $245,500 have been made available for the first time this year across seven categories.These awards are about rewarding scientific achievers and giving them an incentive to further their studies in science or strengthen their science education programs. The awards program includes 10 scholarships of $10,000 each for teachers who want to undertake postgraduate study in science or science education.Twenty scholarships worth $5,000 each will also be awarded to outstanding Year 12 students who intend to undertake a double degree in science and science education. Individual schools and teachers who exhibit best practice with innovative science education programs will also be recognised. The awards are open to all eligible students and teachers in state and non-state schools and all Queensland based tertiary and research institutions, industries and businesses. I encourage members to promote this awards program with eligible students and institutions in their electorates. Applications close on Friday, 25 June. The winners will be announced during National Science Week in August.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

WorldSkills Hon. T.A. BARTON (Waterford—ALP) (Minister for Employment, Training and Industrial Relations) (9.52 a.m.): We are about to witness the very best that our world-class training system delivers when 500 competitors take part in the 2004 National WorldSkills final at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. From 28 to 30 May, young workers aged up to 25 from around Australia will compete in over 60 trade and skills areas, ranging from architectural drafting to welding. This year WorldSkills will coincide with one of Australia's biggest training and careers events—the Careers and Training Expo. An estimated 40,000 people are expected to attend the three-day expo, which will provide school students and mature-age people looking to increase their skills and knowledge access to the information they need. The Department of Employment and Training is proud to be a major sponsor of both events. The Queensland Worldskills team has more than 100 competitors. Nine finalists from central Queensland, 23 from the state's south-west and seven from north Queensland will be travelling to Brisbane. Nearly a fifth of these finalists are women, which reflects the Beattie government's active encouragement of female participation in apprenticeships in all trades. Unlike the federal government—which is now removing its incentives for women to train as apprentices in non-traditional areas—the Beattie government does not discriminate in allocating its training funding. The finalists have all been medallists in their local area and they have been training hard in the hope of emulating some of their WorldSkills predecessors. At the last two international finals, in 2001 and 2003, Queenslanders won four medals, with Stephanie Bugg of Toowoomba, a woman in a non- traditional trade area, and Matthew Kues-Sales of Brisbane winning gold in the refrigeration category. An Australian team will be chosen to contest the International Worldskills competition in Helsinki, Finland in 2005 and we hope that there will be Queenslanders there to represent us. Running this event is a huge task, and a team drawn from my department, Education Queensland and TAFE institutes is helping the organisers. Many teachers from within the TAFE network have been involved as coordinators and judges at regional levels.This support has been echoed by a who's who of Queensland business, with many companies providing equipment, materials and expertise to ensure the success of this important event. The Worldskills finals are a wonderful opportunity for young people to really see what trades are about. The Careers and Employment Expo and WorldSkills will showcase the full range of training and employment options available here, while highlighting the world class training our state's apprentices and trainees receive.This will be a great opportunity to promote careers, and trades in particular, to Queenslanders.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Energy Management Strategy Hon. R.E. SCHWARTEN (Rockhampton—ALP) (Minister for Public Works, Housing and Racing) (9.53 a.m.):I rise to inform the House about a Smart State initiative to reduce greenhouse emissions and 13 May 2004 Ministerial Statement 969 generate savings of up to $20 million a year for Queensland taxpayers. The government's energy management strategy is a whole-of-government approach to reduce the use of electricity, gas and water in our buildings. It was developed by the Department of Public Works and Queensland Treasury and endorsed by cabinet late last year. There are two important goals: to reduce the consumption and cost of energy used in government buildings and to limit greenhouse emissions. All government agencies will contribute to the energy cost targets which are expected to achieve around $20 million a year in savings by 30 June 2008. The strategy requires agencies to identify energy conservation initiatives, monitor energy consumption and report annually on progress. It is also about promoting behavioural changes across agencies and encouraging public servants to be responsible with the resources that we have. Public Works' building division is developing policies and assisting agencies to achieve their savings targets. The new government office building in Cairns, William McCormack Place, was the first commercial office building in Australia—built, I might add, by the Department of Public Works—to achieve a five-star energy rating. The annual energy consumption of the building is less than 750,000 kilowatts, while a conventional building of this size would use in excess of 900,000 kilowatts per year.

The use of this innovative design saves 150,000 kilowatts per year, reducing CO2 emissions by 150 tonnes per annum. The Department of Public Works has also established an energy management team, combining experts from Q-Build, Project Services and Queensland Purchasing. This team will take a three-stage approach to help agencies comply with the new energy policy. It will start by auditing buildings to determine energy consumption, action energy-saving measures and oversee the maintenance of agencies' equipment. It is early days but already GEMS has identified opportunities for greater energy efficiency. Corrective Services, Queensland Police Service and the Department of Employment and Training have identified new systems to save more than $1.5 million by improving the way they procure electricity. This strategy will save taxpayers' dollars which can be redirected to boost service delivery and help reduce the impact of government business on the environment. I look forward to reporting back to the House about the success of this strategy in the future.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Napranum Alcohol Management Plan Hon. J.C. SPENCE (Mount Gravatt—ALP) (Minister for Police and Corrective Services) (9.56 a.m.): Yesterday in question time the Opposition selectively released a small part of a draft preliminary assessment of the Napranum alcohol management plan. I would like to make it clear this report was not commissioned by the Queensland government or any government department and it does not reflect the views of the Queensland Police Service. I have now obtained and, with the commissioner's office, reviewed the draft document's statements on police resources and would like to respond. As I said yesterday, in the majority of indigenous communities, the police to population ratio is above the state average. I acknowledge that resources in Weipa have been stretched. However, police have proactively monitored and enforced the alcohol restrictions at Napranum and continue to respond to all other calls for assistance in the area. The Far Northern Regional Tactical Crime Squad, which has 21 members, has supplemented local resources in policing alcohol management plans.The squad has made four visits to the Napranum community since the alcohol restrictions came into effect, and more visits are planned. In order to further strengthen the Police Service's response in Weipa, the far northern region is currently negotiating the purchase of a duplex to house extra officers who are expected to be stationed there. The service has reviewed the resource requirements of the Cairns police district, which includes the cape York communities, and I am advised that the regional assistant commissioner will soon receive an additional 27 police for the areas of most need. They include nine detectives who will play an important part in resolving serious crimes that occur in Cape York communities. I have been advised that even more police will be appointed to the Cairns district under the 2004-05 staffing allocation. However, the number is yet to be determined. Mr Seeney interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Deputy Leader of the Opposition! Order! Ms SPENCE: Next month the commissioner and I will travel to the cape to meet with community leaders and local police to discuss resources. As I said yesterday, how police are allocated across the state is a matter for the Queensland Police Service. However, it is because of the Beattie government's commitment to safer and more supportive communities that we have been seeing an unprecedented increase in police numbers. 970 Ministerial Statement 13 May 2004

We have funded an extra 300 police in each of the past six years, and by September next year we will reach our target of 9,100 police. That is why we can allocate more police to the far-northern region. This government will then continue to fund police growth, ensuring Queensland stays above the national average police to population ratio. Enforcing these alcohol management plans is not easy, but I am proud of the commitment, proactive approach and leadership being shown by our police. The opposition should acknowledge that instead of trying to reflect negatively on their work. It is reasonable to expect that there will be an increase in reporting and detection of some offences. This will continue to be monitored and responded to by staff attached to the far-northern police region.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Animal Welfare Guidelines Hon. H. PALASZCZUK (Inala—ALP) (Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries) (10.00 a.m.): Queensland is a national leader in animal welfare. We have arguably one of the best pieces of animal welfare legislation in the world. We campaigned strongly and successfully for a national ban on the cosmetic tail docking of dogs. I can advise the House today that Queensland is again taking the lead through the development of the draft national guidelines for the welfare of cage birds. These are all seed and nectar feeding birds that may be legally kept. It does not deal with poultry, pheasants, quail or others used for the commercial production of meat or eggs. The draft guidelines have been prepared by the National Consultative Committee on Animal Welfare. The animal welfare unit within the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries is coordinating the guidelines of the committee. The draft guidelines have now been released for public comment. The guidelines deal with the water, food, housing, health, trading, handling, husbandry and transport of these birds. These birds are feathered friends to many people in our community. They provide enjoyment and companionship to many of our fellow residents. In turn, we have a duty of care to those birds. Whether these guidelines are adopted under Queensland legislation will be a matter for further consideration. However, I do encourage Queenslanders to obtain a copy of the draft guidelines and respond accordingly. I would also like to encourage people to join me at the RSPCA's annual Million Paws Walk at the University of Queensland starting at 9 o'clock. It is an important fundraising event for the RSPCA and creates further awareness about the appropriate care and protection of animals.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Salinity Hon. S. ROBERTSON (Stretton—ALP) (Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy) (10.01 a.m.): As honourable members know, salinity is a growing problem in Queensland, with the potential to devastate many thousands of hectares of land across the state. However, salinity is not only a problem for our land. As the Minister for Transport and Main Roads will attest, salinity is particularly damaging to our transport infrastructure. Foundations crumble and roads degrade, to large repair bills and an increased accident risk. Late last month, my department signed a historic memorandum of understanding with the Department of Main Roads to improve the way we manage our natural resources. This agreement formalises a plan to identify and better manage the way salinity affects roads and other structures used in road making. The agreement will focus on activities like data collection and information exchange, research and development, increasing technical skills through specialised training and developing standards and technical guidelines. Work will focus initially on the way soil and salinity affects roads in southern Queensland, and soil and salinity specialists from my department have already begun training Main Roads staff in Warwick, Roma, and Bundaberg in an effort which will eventually extend right across Queensland. Our two departments will carry out joint research to improve our knowledge about how salinity affects road networks and how roads affect our natural landscapes, with the potential to save millions of dollars in the years ahead. A number of papers cowritten by my department and the Department of Main Roads will be presented at the 13th International Soil Conservation Organisation Conference, which will be held in Brisbane in July this year. Improving our knowledge of the interactions between soils and roads will help us to build better roads, improve construction techniques and decrease maintenance costs, as well as minimising the impact of roads on the environment. This knowledge will be applied everywhere, from major highways all the way down to individual culverts. Increased awareness and understanding has 13 May 2004 Ministerial Statement 971 already led to changes in maintenance inspection procedures in some areas and specific types of concrete being matched to particular soils and landscapes. In the spirit of this agreement, a technical training workshop was recently held in south-west Queensland for around 140 Main Roads engineers and environmental officers, incorporating a field trip to get some hands-on experience. Specialists from my department were also involved in providing advice on culvert design on the Gatton bypass, to minimise erosion and decrease the effect of shallow watertables on the stability of the road. I have frequently stated my determination that Queensland will avoid the salinity problems that plague the rural areas of some of the southern states. I am pleased that my department has been able to contribute its expertise to the efforts to improve Queensland's road network, and I thank the Minister for Transport and Main Roads for his department's commitment to this initiative. This agreement reflects our shared commitment to protecting the environment while continuing to build better services for Queenslanders.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Department of Child Safety; Department of Communities Hon. M.F. REYNOLDS (Townsville—ALP) (Minister for Child Safety) (10.04 a.m.): Staff from the former Department of Families are undergoing a major transition into two new departments, the Department of Child Safety and the Department of Communities. I want to thank them all for their cooperation. Coming to terms with change is often difficult, but as we enter a new era in child protection in Queensland change has become necessary. Staff members have been working patiently in the lead-up to the transition and have now begun workshops to learn the new culture, ethos and practice behaviours that will be embraced by the new departments. The transition workshops and awareness sessions were outlined in the Peter Forster blueprint, and are the first vital stage of developing and promoting an entirely new culture as specified in the 2003 Crime and Misconduct Commission report. The transition workshops, being presented by Peter Forster and a dedicated team of trained child protection professionals, are providing current staff with a range of information designed to gear them up for working in the new department. These workshops are a very important part of the reform process and we value our staff and the contribution that they are making in the reformation of Queensland's child protection system. I am determined to see each staff member supported during this phase of the transition which could be quite stressful for some people and I have ensured that adequate counselling and support is available. For staff transitioning to the Department of Child Safety, child-centred workshops will ensure a comprehensive understanding of new regulatory requirements and provide staff with the necessary tools so they are equipped with the necessary skills and capabilities to meet these expectations. We are on track to transition staff to the new departments by August, and until then it is business as usual. Utilising back-up staff, we are continuing to provide high-quality services to children, families and communities across the state while staff members in regional and area offices are participating in transitioning activities. This transition process, along with the targeted national recruitment campaign now under way to engage committed child safety staff, signals a new start for child protection in Queensland. The transition workshops began on the Gold Coast and will continue next week in Brisbane, Ipswich and Mackay, with around 600 staff and will continue across the state until July when all staff will have participated. I am told the feedback so far has been very positive and we are well on our way to providing what I believe will be the best child safety services in Australia.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Queensland Youth Volunteer Awards Hon. F.W. PITT (Mulgrave—ALP) (Minister for Communities, Disability Services and Seniors) (10.07 a.m.): Today, I will be presenting the inaugural Queensland Youth Volunteer Awards. Fifteen awards will be presented to 19 young Queenslanders who have made an outstanding contribution to their communities and our state as a whole. I pay tribute to those young people, and the other 107 who were nominated, for their work right around our state. The young people who will receive an award today make up a diverse and vibrant group. They each are making an essential contribution to the lives of Queenslanders. They are supporting local sports clubs, caring for our environment, assisting the community in times of crisis, providing companionship to the sick and frail, providing support to families and individuals through community and 972 Ministerial Statement 13 May 2004 charitable organisations, working with refugees, providing assistance to young mothers, and even educating young rural Queenslanders about the cattle industry. We have established the Queensland Youth Volunteer Awards to celebrate and recognise the voluntary contributions of young Queenslanders and to generate community awareness of volunteering. Volunteering not only enriches the individual who gives their time to benefit others but it also enriches our communities and our state as a whole. It may surprise some people to hear that, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the biggest growth area in volunteering between 1995 and 2000 was among youth. But often the extent of that contribution is not recognised. Today, we are changing that. I know a number of members from both sides of the House will be attending today's ceremony because their constituents have won awards. The Minister for Employment, Training and Industrial Relations and the Leader of the Opposition are among them. I would like to extend an invitation to all members here today to attend today's ceremony, at 1 p.m. on the Speaker's Green, to congratulate an inspiring group of young Queenslanders.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

National Strategy for Indigenous Consumers Hon. M.M. KEECH (Albert—ALP) (Minister for Tourism, Fair Trading and Wine Industry Development) (10.09 a.m.): State, Commonwealth and territory fair trading and consumer affairs agencies have teamed up to prepare a national strategy for indigenous consumers. The Ministerial Council for Consumer Affairs, which I chair and which includes ministers responsible for the nation's major fair trading and consumer protection agencies, has established a working party to prepare the strategy. Agencies will share information and education materials and take joint compliance and enforcement action where appropriate. Indigenous people are among the most vulnerable and disadvantaged consumer groups in Australia. Mr Johnson interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Member for Gregory, this is my final warning. Ms KEECH: As I was saying, indigenous people are among the most vulnerable and most disadvantaged consumer groups in Australia. They are often targeted by unfair traders and scams who take advantage of their linguistic and financial literacy levels, low socioeconomic circumstances and geographical remoteness. By establishing a working party, the council seeks to identify existing programs that meet the needs of indigenous consumers and catch rogue traders. It also aims to implement successful programs nationally through the state agencies that make up the Standing Committee of Officials of Consumer Affairs. New programs that will meet the needs of indigenous consumers can also be identified. Key issues impacting on indigenous consumers that will be addressed by the strategy include book-up, which is the use of informal credit arrangements by traders, financial literacy, buying cars and tenancy issues. The strategy also aims to improve indigenous consumer knowledge of their rights and access to consumer protection programs. Also, we want to educate traders and service providers on their rights and responsibilities to indigenous consumers and communities. The Northern Territory chairs the national indigenous consumer strategy working party. All state and territory consumer affairs and fair trading agencies are represented, together with nominees from Commonwealth Treasury, the ACCC and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Service. Christine Ross from the Northern Territory has been appointed strategy coordinator. Ms Ross will consult with indigenous people, groups and communities across Australia over coming months. I am pleased to advise that the working party will formally meet in Melbourne later this month to progress the strategy. Members are keen to hear about successful strategies and examples of traders working proactively with indigenous consumers to address their problems. The strategy will have a five-year life span and is expected to be implemented nationally. I look forward to ensuring that, through this strategy, Queensland's indigenous people have access to a range of consumer programs to protect them from being ripped off by unscrupulous traders and to educate them on their consumer rights and responsibilities.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Croc Wise Program Hon. R.J. MICKEL (Logan—ALP) (Minister for the Environment) (10.12 a.m.): The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service is doing a terrific job in managing crocodiles and educating the community about safety in croc country through its Croc Wise program. Unfortunately, there are a few idiots out there who are not getting the message and their behaviour is endangering not only themselves but the 13 May 2004 Ministerial Statement 973 lives of others. A few examples that Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers have provided me with include numerous cases of people swimming in crocodile habitat, including at night while under the influence of alcohol; numerous cases of people wading into thigh-deep water to throw castnets and drag bait nets; and numerous examples of people diving underwater to retrieve lures snagged on submerged logs. At Easter 2004, baitfish were scattered on a boat ramp at Cromarty Landing and Barramundi Creek south of Townsville. This month at Karumba, people were disposing of fish frames and bait beside boat ramps. Finally, last Sunday about 35 fresh bait fish were dumped in the middle of the boat ramp at the Sugar Wharf terminal in Cairns. The practice of dumping fish frames and waste at public facilities is particularly worrying as it can encourage crocodiles to hang around and become accustomed to the presence of humans. This places all users of the facility at risk and greatly increases the chance of a crocodile attack. Our rangers have told me that when they approach these fools to warn them about the risks they are taking they are promptly told where to stick their advice. I remind people that our Croc Wise program is not a joke and that it is incumbent on everyone living in or visiting croc country to take responsibility for their personal safety. These personal safety measures include not disturbing crocodile nests as nesting crocodiles are aggressive; travelling quietly in a stable boat when crocodile spotting and never approaching crocodiles too closely; never provoking crocodiles, even small ones; and not encouraging wild crocodiles by feeding them. This is illegal and dangerous and attracts a maximum penalty of $12,375. Other safety measures are to camp at least 50 metres from the water's edge, never prepare food or clean fish at the water's edge, stand back from the water's edge when fishing, not standing on overhanging logs, and never swimming in crocodile country. The experienced and dedicated staff of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service is doing a fine job under often difficult conditions. The service's response to the recent attack on an 11-year-old girl who was swimming in Margaret Bay off Haggerstone Island about 600 kilometres north of Cairns is a case in point. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service officers responded swiftly to the incident and identified and dealt with the crocodile responsible for the attack. But the officers have advised me that they consider it likely that, because of the bold and aggressive behaviour of the crocodile, it may have been habituated to humans and boats by being fed. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service officers will continue to play a proactive role in crocodile management, and they will have my full support if they are forced to take action against anyone engaging in foolish behaviour. By behaving sensibly in croc country, people can live safely with crocodiles.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Aboriginal Councils, Auditor-General's Report Hon. E.A. CLARK (Clayfield—ALP) (Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy) (10.16 a.m.): Yesterday the Auditor-General of Queensland tabled the results of the audits of Queensland's Aboriginal councils for the 2002-03 financial year. This report is, in some respects, disappointing, but it does include some heartening news. It also shows the importance of the Beattie government's moves to make Aboriginal councils more transparent and accountable by bringing these councils under the Local Government Act. The Auditor-General's report included eight unqualified audit opinions. That is the best overall result since the 1998-99 year. The councils of Injinoo, Kowanyama, Wujal Wujal, Umagico, Napranum, Yarrabah, New Mapoon and Mapoon all received an unqualified audit. That is the first time in many years the Umagico and Napranum councils had received an unqualified audit opinion, and the result shows the councils have reached a level of sound governance and financial accountability. Unfortunately, the report also showed six councils received qualified audit opinions. Two of these— Cherbourg and Palm Island—were found to be of particular concern. The state government has acted on Palm Island Council problems since the 2002-03 financial year. In October last year, the government announced the Legislative Assembly had ratified legislation to dissolve the Palm Island Aboriginal Council and appointed an administrator to restore services to the island and to address deficiencies in the council's financial affairs. The state government has since appointed a financial controller to work with the new Palm Island Council to ensure significant accountability improvements are maintained. The government has also been in discussions with Cherbourg Aboriginal Council about a range of issues, including the ongoing business of council. I am advised that representatives from the Department of Local Government and Planning will also visit Cherbourg on 18 May regarding council issues. In addition, the state government is implementing a councillor training program to provide financial management and leadership training to councillors and senior council staff. The program makes financial management skills necessary for efficient administration of grant funding a priority. 974 Financial Administration and Audit (Performance Audit of Health Department) Amendment Bill 13

This report does not, of course, describe an ideal situation, but it does represent an improvement in remote Aboriginal communities. The Beattie government is ensuring accountability in these communities will be boosted through its commitment to a better system of community governance. The current legislation covering Aboriginal councils, the Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984, is outdated and needs to be updated. Our proposed new laws will bring Aboriginal councils under the same framework as all other local governments. These laws have followed extensive community consultation after the release of a green paper for discussion and feedback in March last year. The laws, to be phased in to allow councils plenty of time to plan and prepare, are about strengthening councils in Aboriginal communities by providing them with the tools for strong and accountable community governance. The laws will ensure residents of Aboriginal communities have the same standards of local government as residents in other parts of Queensland. This will be achieved by converting Aboriginal councils into shire councils and granting them the powers and duties that go with that status. There will be further consultation with Aboriginal communities about the new laws, and there will a communication strategy to assist with this shift.

SCRUTINY OF LEGISLATION COMMITTEE

Amendments to Bills Hon. A.M. BLIGH (South Brisbane—ALP) (Leader of the House) (10.20 a.m.), by leave, without notice: I move— That the House confers upon the Scrutiny of Legislation Committee the function and discretion to examine and report to the House on the application of the fundamental legislative principles to amendments, whether or not the bill to which the amendments relate has received royal assent. Motion agreed to.

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION AND AUDIT (PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF HEALTH DEPARTMENT) AMENDMENT BILL Mr COPELAND (Cunningham—NPA) (10.22 a.m.), by leave, without notice: I move— That leave be granted to bring in a bill for an act to amend the Financial Administration and Audit Act 1977. Motion agreed to. First Reading Bill and explanatory notes presented and bill, on the motion of Mr Copeland, read a first time. Second Reading Mr COPELAND (Cunningham—NPA) (10.23 a.m.): I move— That the bill be now read a second time. This bill is to amend the Financial Administration and Audit Act 1977 to enable annual independent auditing of the operational performance of the state health department to find out whether the department is economically, effectively and efficiently achieving its objectives, including the delivery of public sector health services throughout the state. The purpose of this bill is to improve the performance and accountability of the state health department, Queensland Health, to the parliament and to the general public through the provision of independent audit services to be conducted by the Auditor-General, and through the Auditor-General's subsequent reporting of the audit findings to the parliament. During the 2004 state election campaign, the Queensland branch of the Australian Medical Association sought a commitment from the Beattie government and the National and Liberal parties to introduce independent auditing of the public hospital waiting lists in Queensland. The National and Liberal parties gave a commitment to the people of Queensland and to the AMAQ that legislation would be amended to enable the Auditor-General to schedule performance auditing. The National and Liberal parties' commitment at that time was not as a one-off program, but as a continuing program aimed at enhancing the accountability and responsibility of public sector managers by independently determining whether public sector activities were achieving the desired objectives effectively, and were doing so economically and efficiently, and in compliance with all relevant legislation. Similarly, the Premier gave a commitment to Queenslanders and the AMAQ that he would introduce an independent audit of public hospital waiting lists. In a press statement released by the Premier on 17 January 2004 he stated— If we are re-elected, our hospital waiting lists will be independently audited. 13 May 2004 Private Members' Statements 975

The operative word is 'independent'. The government makes hospitals waiting lists publicly available by publishing the quarterly reports of each hospital. However, there is a valid perception that the waiting list data is grossly misleading due to its manipulation to present a better outcome, and there is no better example than the Beattie government's health report, released last year, which was drafted by the Premier's media adviser. Senior hospital clinicians and representatives of the medical fraternity have been constructively critical of the published data. Last year, Dr Nick Buckmaster, President of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers of Queensland, publicly voiced his concerns and in a Courier-Mail article on 17 November 2003 he said that politicians were getting away 'with trumpeting misleading elective surgery figures.' And further, Dr Buckmaster stated— Most public hospital administrators know how crook it is, but we have a highly politicised health service in Queensland and few administrators make a noise. Consequently, it is time to take on board the constructive criticism of a system that is failing to deliver the best results for sick or injured Queenslanders. Similarly it is time to eliminate the opportunity for some to engage in creative representations of data, and to eliminate the perception that all is not well with the health system's listings for consultations and surgery. Queensland Health lacks an external audit process as the mandate to enable the Auditor-General to conduct audits does not extend to performance audits. Incidentally, Queensland is the only state within Australia that does not allow independent performance audits into its health department. This bill provides the opportunity for the operational performance of the state health department to be independently audited, and independently audited annually. Since 1991, performance auditing has been recommended by the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission, the Public Accounts Committee, and the Sheridan report of the strategic review of the Queensland Audit Office. The government currently engages in systems based performance management auditing. Two key shortcomings with the model of systems based performance management auditing were identified in the aforementioned Sheridan report. Those shortcomings were an independent assurance that adequate systems are in place to enable an entity to assess whether its objectives are being met economically, efficiently and effectively is no guarantee, by itself, that actual performance measures up to that criteria; and an assurance on actual performance by an entity through its responsible minister to the parliament leaves open to question the impartiality of that assurance. To restore confidence in the public health system, in particular the public hospitals waiting lists and waiting times, and to restore confidence in the public hospitals' managerial accountability, it is time to restore honesty into the health debate and the public hospitals' system of reporting. Independent performance auditing of the state health department will not only assist in the restoration of that honesty, but independent auditing will also provide an environment where impartiality will be beyond doubt. Therefore, independent performance auditing is essential. As mentioned previously, it is time to listen to the constructive criticism and to eliminate 'creative' presentations of hospital waiting lists and waiting times. It is also time to once again respect Queenslanders who are in need of medical or surgical procedures, and let us collectively depoliticise the health system and assist in getting sick and injured Queenslanders treated on time; let us not continue to perpetuate a system that was colloquially described by Dr Buckmaster as 'crook'. I commend the bill to the House. Debate, on motion of Mr Nuttall, adjourned.

PRIVATE MEMBERS' STATEMENTS

Mr M. Dick Mr SEENEY (Callide—NPA) (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (10.27 a.m.): I was interested to read in the media on 11 May that the Labor Party state organiser, Milton Dick, was last night appointed as acting state secretary. That is an unusual name and I knew that I had read it somewhere before. I did a bit of research and I came up with this document, the official committee Hansard for the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. This particular excerpt is evidence that was given by a Mr Lee Bermingham. I would like to quote some of the references. It states— The current organiser, who is the AWU-aligned organiser in the ALP in Queensland, Milton, for example, was engaged in fraudulently enrolling people for the purposes of winning plebiscites in the area of Mansfield. Mr Bermingham goes on to state— I think the Shepherdson inquiry has since demonstrated that it existed before. As I said before with Milton Dick, it still exists. Mr Bermingham stated further— ... I do know that Milton Dick, who is the current ALP organiser affiliated to the AWU, was involved. What he would do was look up people who lived in the appropriate electorate. He would join them up to the party. 976 Questions Without Notice 13 May 2004

Mr Lucas interjected. Mr SEENEY: Further— He would sign their signature and give them a post-office box so that in fact these people would never know they were party members. It sounds like something that the member for Lytton knows all about. Mr Bermingham went on to state— Peter Shooter was asked to discipline him. I think Peter Shooter decided he would hand it over to Mike Kaiser because Milton Dick was one of Kaiser's people. He is well connected this Milton Dick. Mr Bermingham went on to state— That seemed to be the pattern that was employed by Milton Dick in Bowman to some extent and in Townsville by Karen Ehrmann and people who assisted her up there. We all remember the self-serving hypocrisy from the Premier during the debate in this House on the issues surrounding the Fitzgerald inquiry. We all remember the 'jail, jail, jail' quotes. We all remember the Premier saying that no vote rorters would have anything to do with his government or his party. And there are a number of quotes. Time expired. Breast Cancer Mr WILSON (Ferny Grove—ALP) (10.29 a.m.): In Australia today women have a one in 11 chance of getting breast cancer. There are over 9,000 new cases detected each year in Australia, and about 2,600 women die from breast cancer each year in Australia. But the news is not all bad. Through the fantastic work of Women in Super, the National Breast Cancer Foundation and many other similar organisations, highly valuable funds are being raised and important research work is being done to detect, prevent and treat breast cancer and to support survivors of this terrible disease. I dare say that every member of the House will know of someone's wife, daughter, sister or close friend who has experienced breast cancer. It touches everyone. On Mother's Day I joined nearly 2,000 people from all walks of life to participate in the inaugural Mothers Day Classic fun run and walk in Brisbane organised by Jan Bray and the 40 or so in the Brisbane team of Women in Super. It was a very inspiring event and captured the enormous amount of hope and confidence that surrounds those working in this field. This was best illustrated by Nathan, a young disabled person who completed the four-kilometre walk in a wheelchair. This was not just a women's affair. There were lots of men and children participating as well. Time expired. Mr SPEAKER: The time for private members' statements has expired.

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Ministerial Motor Vehicles; Q-Fleet Mr SPRINGBORG (10.31 a.m.): My question is addressed to the Minister for Public Works, Housing and Racing. On Tuesday the Premier released 28 of 635 documents taken to cabinet to cover up accidents involving ministerial electorate vehicles. Following an FOI application for similar documents held by the Minister's department, I have been advised that searches located 550 relevant documents relating to similar matters. As part of the 'Secret State' the opposition has been refused access to these documents because of the cabinet exemption. Does this mean that 1,185 documents have been taken to cabinet to cover them up? Can the minister confirm that he has also managed to squeeze the Q-Fleet computer system into the meeting because apparently these records are also exempt under the cabinet exemption? Will the minister now release any of these documents that were created after that very busy 10 November cabinet meeting last year? Will he also tell Queenslanders what he is endeavouring to cover up? Mr SPEAKER: Order! I remind the honourable the Leader of the Opposition about the length of questions and the number of questions in that one question. Mr SCHWARTEN: Let us try the repetition of it, too. He goes on and on about it endlessly. The Premier has answered this matter quite completely in a variety of ways and on a variety of occasions. I do not intend to trample over that surface anymore. Mr Springborg interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Mr SCHWARTEN: Mr Speaker, I thank you for keeping order in this place for that rude individual over there. I am trying to get my point across. An opposition member: Poor old Robert. 13 May 2004 Questions Without Notice 977

Mr SPEAKER: Order! Mr SCHWARTEN: You do not make yourself anymore adequate in this place by muttering like that. Mr Hopper: Just answer the question. Mr SCHWARTEN: Mr Speaker, could I ask you to contain this gentleman over here, please, and get some order in this place? Mr SPEAKER: Order! We will continue with the answer to the question. Mr SCHWARTEN: Every chance this opposition gets it tries to undermine one of the business units I look after, whether it be Q-Build, Project Services or Q-Fleet. I remind the House that this question would not even have been raised if the Tories had won a recent election, because they would have privatised Q-Fleet. Let me say something about the sorts of questions asked. The Leader of the Opposition will not rest until he can find details of some poor unfortunate being killed in a car. Q-Fleet's record in this state is absolutely superb. What the taxpayer out there expects is that people who drive those cars do so as carefully as they can. I have said in this House before that these 13,800 vehicles are on the road for 15 or 16 hours a day in some cases, all over this state. Of course they are going to have accidents. My major concern is the wellbeing of the people who drive them. The insurance I can give the taxpayers of this state is that they are getting value for money and that not one taxpayer in this state is out of pocket as a result of the actions of people who have been driving those vehicles. We do have a policy in place, and the Opposition Leader knows it very well. I am more concerned about the fact that the honourable member knocked down a kangaroo and cruelly left it to die. I am more concerned about its welfare, because that is the sort of callous attitude he would take. The other thing I worry about is his safety, because he seems to be a bit accident prone. I do not support the view that he could not drive a nail into soap, but the truth of the matter is that I do worry. I suggest that the honourable member get some assistance in driving, because he seems to have a worse driving record than anybody in Q-Fleet. There are excellent driver training services available through Q-Fleet. I suggest that the honourable member, who is so concerned about accidents, look in the rear vision mirror to his own behaviour and how he drives himself. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the Opposition Leader, I welcome to the public gallery students and teachers from Boondall State School in the electorate of Nudgee. Ministerial Motor Vehicles; Q-Fleet Mr SPRINGBORG: My question is addressed to the Premier. I refer to a memo issued by the Premier to his cabinet colleagues in July 1998 which stated— Ministers will be unable to stymie freedom of information searches by tabling politically sensitive documents at cabinet meetings. Will the Premier clarify whether or not this instruction applies to him and will he also reaffirm this edict which was delivered by him in July 1998? Will he also now abide by it by tabling in this place or publicly those documents which he has sought, for politically sensitive reasons, to hide from the public for 30 years? Mr BEATTIE: I thank the honourable member for his question. This week I have tabled in parliament a range of documents. In terms of answers to questions on notice, I have already provided to the House information that has never been provided before. In that information I provided I set out the repairs in relation to ministerial vehicles. That was in response to question No. 44. I have also tabled the documents that go with it. This week I have tabled a range of material in relation to accidents and penalties involving vehicles driven by Q-Build and others—people that they service. The Leader of the Opposition says, 'What happened to accidents involving ministerial vehicles?' There they all are. I have already provided them to the House. They have been given in answer to a question on notice. Everybody can see the full detail. I have provided information about ministerial cars, the date and time of the accident and the total cost of the repair, excluding GST. That has never been done before. There is one category of documents that has not been provided. That relates to electoral vehicles or private vehicles prior to 10 November. All other information is out there. The Leader of the Opposition came in here earlier this week and waved around a whole lot of documents which I asked him to table, which he did. We had a look inside. They were just old news releases. He could not work out whether it was 603 or 635. The most relevant document in there was an old news release from Bob Quinn in which he was supporting the four-laning of the Ipswich Motorway. I have made it clear that we will stick by the principles of cabinet—the principles that have been around for a long time that no other government in the world has varied, including the opposition when it was in government. We have released information about all of the damage involving ministerial vehicles. It is on the public record. 978 Questions Without Notice 13 May 2004

We have not heard yet from the Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition has not come in here and set out the number of accidents he has had. Recently he wrote to me—after I had a report, I should say, from Ministerial Services. Ministerial Services has raised with me the fact that there are so many accidents involving his car it believes he should have been given a four-wheel drive. I am happy to look at that. He has now written to me as a result. I understand that he needs bullbars and a four-wheel drive. I understand that and I will consider that. But what the Leader of the Opposition should do is come in here and explain a number of things— the details of the accidents he has had in relation to kangaroos and others. He should also explain the details of the accident he had when I understand he was in one of his staff members' cars. I understand—and he will have an opportunity when he provides all this information—that he had some decals on the side of the car. Mr Seeney: That's not right. Mr BEATTIE: Well, the member should clarify that. Mr SPRINGBORG: Mr Speaker, I rise to a point of order. That is not right. I do not even know what a decal is. Mr BEATTIE: They are little stickers. You put them on the side of the car. Mr Springborg: I have never had one. Mr BEATTIE: In Jake Smith's car? Mr Springborg interjected. Mr BEATTIE: No, I am talking about Jake Smith's car. Mr Seeney: It was in my car. Mr BEATTIE: So the member is using a publicly funded car for political reasons and he has admitted it to the House. Mr Seeney: Every member does it. Mr BEATTIE: So it was the member for Callide's car. What he does not understand is that members' cars are all paid for out of their own money. As Deputy Leader of the Opposition, he has a publicly funded car. He has breached the guidelines. We had better send him off to the CMC to see about inappropriate behaviour. I hope Hansard got that. I really want his admission on the record. He has broken the rules. International Nurses Day Mr REEVES: My question is directed to the Premier. The Premier's affection for nurses, in particular the one who became his wife, is well known. In the past nine days I have spent a considerable amount of time in the RBH intensive care unit visiting my seriously ill cousin Maree Thinee, and I have seen first-hand how we have the best nurses in the world in Queensland. As this week is the week in which nurses world wide celebrate International Nurses Day, does the Premier have a view of the importance of our nurses? Mr BEATTIE: I certainly do, and I speak from first-hand experience when I speak of the love and care that nurses extend and not just to their patients. I thank the honourable member for his question. In this House yesterday the member for Aspley, Bonny Barry, spoke with passion about the role of the nurse and I thought it was a great speech. Just like her, to me nursing is not a profession or just another job; it certainly is a calling. It is important that we acknowledge and respect the hard work these caring people in our midst undertake. Often their role is not just to care for the physical wellbeing of those in their care; they are confidants, they are counsellors and they are a companion as well. Their role is not just a formal nine to five task; it is a total commitment. For many nurses their working life is lifelong. You do not just become a nurse and you do not just turn off being a nurse. It is an ethos; it is a way of life. The world truly is a better place for them. Could the world survive without politicians? Well, I guess in a sense it could. But could we survive without nurses? The answer to that is no. Yesterday was International Nurses Day. It celebrates the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. Nurses do not just work in hospitals and doctors' surgeries, as we know. They play vital roles in helping to implement strategies to address issues such as family violence, alcohol, drug abuse and other factors impacting on the poverty health cycle. In Queensland we have 50,579 nurses caring for around 28,000 patients every day. These nurses may work in a variety of settings including acute in-patient and outpatient centres in the community, and across our large state from metropolitan cities to remote locations. The work done by these nurses is extremely varied and includes caring for a postoperative patient following a heart transplant, implementing a health maintenance program for a newly diagnostic diabetic, monitoring the health of a patient with high blood pressure and all those sorts of things. We are a better place for their work and for them. 13 May 2004 Questions Without Notice 979

I did not want this International Nurses Day to go unrecognised by the government. I want to put on public record the appreciation of my government for the commitment and dedication that nurses give. I think everyone in this House and elsewhere should value their contribution. I know they are at the forefront of providing nursing care. From time to time there are arguments about what extra roles they should have. What I find is that nurses are continuing to broaden their horizons at every opportunity and I am delighted that this government is in partnership with them. I say to Bonny Barry, who has a long history in this area, and to her colleagues: well done, we love you dearly. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Before calling the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, I welcome to the public gallery students and teachers from Darling Downs Christian School in the electorate of Toowoomba South.

Cabinet Documents, FOI Exemptions Mr SEENEY: My question without notice is directed to the Premier. I refer to his public commitment on 13 July 1998, back in the early days of his government, when he said about FOI— Documents would only be exempted if they were of a personal nature or deemed to be commercial in confidence. The Courier-Mail went on to report— He admitted his stance had the potential to cause his government embarrassment but said he was committed to the principle. When did the Premier decide to abandon these principles in favour of protecting his rorting ministers? Mr BEATTIE: I thank the honourable member for his question. We have over a long period followed a very core principle, and that principle is that material is not taken to cabinet and exempted from FOI unless it is part of a cabinet decision—a core decision. It has been a principle that has been around for a long time. That is why I recently released other material—for example, information relating to electorate cars—after 10 November. We have also publicly released material relating to ministerial cars during the previous term of the government which was sought under FOI. Why did we do that? Even though it had gone to cabinet—and indeed the material between 10 November and 24 December had also gone to cabinet—we released it. Why? Because it did not fit within the principles that we had espoused. Those principles are very simple: if material goes to cabinet that pertains to a cabinet decision, then it is caught by the cabinet principle and is not subject to FOI. I am not aware—and the opposition has had many opportunities to produce this—of any government in the world that has a different rule. I remind the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that his predecessor gave a clear illustration in her book of how FOI operated when they were in office. She said a number of things about the member. One is that she would not vote for him. That is the first thing, and I am happy to share that. Mr Seeney interjected. Mr BEATTIE: Well, she is your friend. I will table an extract from a newspaper—which I do— which says that she would not vote for you. I have it here. Mr Seeney interjected. Mr BEATTIE: I am glad that he asked because I kept it here for him. Mr SEENEY: Mr Speaker, I rise to a point of order. I would just like to remind the Premier that 75 per cent of my electorate did vote for me. Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. Mr BEATTIE: Di McCauley said very clearly that she refuses to vote for the man who now holds her old seat of Callide. She described— Mr Seeney interjected. Mr BEATTIE: She set out in her book just how trustworthy the member is. She quite rightly described him as the ugly side of politics and will not vote for him. I table that for the information of the House. What the Deputy Leader of the Opposition has not told us about is the signs that he has put on a public vehicle. Why does he not tell the House about this? People who get an allowance to buy a car can put them on. There is nothing wrong with that. He has been provided with a publicly funded vehicle which he has abused. Tell the House the story. Let us hear it. Interruption. 980 Questions Without Notice 13 May 2004

PRIVILEGE

Members' Motor Vehicles Mr SEENEY (Callide—NPA) (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (10.48 a.m.): Mr Speaker, I rise on a matter of privilege. The signs that are on the side of my car are exactly the same as the signs that are on my electorate office and exactly the same as every member has on their electorate office. They are the name of the local member and his phone number. Is the Premier seriously suggesting that we should remove from our electorate offices our signs and our phone numbers? What an absurd suggestion! Mr SPEAKER: Order! We will not get into a debate on this. Mr SEENEY: Mr Speaker, I have risen on a matter of privilege. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Resume your seat. Mr SEENEY: You said this morning that you would listen to any matter of privilege in this House. Every member of this parliament has the right— Mr SPEAKER: Resume your seat. This is becoming ridiculous in the extreme. You have started to commence to actually debate an issue and bring other issues into it. I have told you there is no point of privilege. I now call on the member for Stafford, and this House will come to order. Mr Seeney: Mr Speaker? Mr SPEAKER: Resume your seat. Mr SEENEY: I rise on a matter of privilege. Mr SPEAKER: Order! No, resume your seat. I have already called the member for Stafford. Mr Seeney interjected. Mr SPEAKER: I have already called the member for Stafford. You might not have heard that because you are making too much noise. The member for Stafford.

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Resumed. Vegetation Management Bill; Sugar Industry Reform Bill Mr TERRY SULLIVAN: My question is directed to the Premier. Premier, since the state election the state government has already made major positive changes to Queensland's future through such measures as the tree clearing ban and the sugar cane reform package. What are the political repercussions of these reforms? Mr BEATTIE: After this morning's performance I would be delighted to be in coalition with the Liberal Party. No wonder they cannot get on with the National Party. I have got to say: all is forgiven, Bob. We understand now, we really do. I have to say that everyone is aware of the recent Morgan poll. When you have a look at the recent vote here, I want to congratulate the Liberal Party because they have not only gone up in the Morgan poll, party support has improved by 18.5 to 21.5 per cent. Since the election in February, Labor Party support has increased from 47 to 53 per cent. So, well done! The National Party vote went down, but I do not want to dwell on that. So far in 2004 there have been 16 divisions. The Liberals have voted with us on 11 occasions. They voted with the government on the Vegetation Management Bill, they voted with the government on the Vegetation Management Bill again—these are the divisions—Vegetation Management Bill, Vegetation Management Bill, Vegetation Management Bill, Vegetation Management Bill. Well done! That is very, very positive. That was not all. They went on and they voted with us on the Sugar Industry Reform Bill, Sugar Industry Reform Bill, Sugar Industry Reform Bill—these are just each division on each one—Sugar Industry Reform Bill, again Sugar Industry Reform Bill and again the Sugar Industry Reform Bill. I have to say I find that very impressive. So what has happened? On the things that really matter, the good policy issues like dealing with vegetation management, reforming the sugar industry, the Liberal Party have been with us. The only fear I have is this—and I have got to share this with the House; I really have to—if they continue to vote for us I am not quite sure how their vote will go. If it continues to go up we may be in great trouble. So, I have actually got to urge the Liberal Party, just occasionally guys, do your own thing, please. A government member: Vote with the National Party. Mr BEATTIE: That's right, vote with the National Party because if you vote with them your vote will go down. 13 May 2004 Questions Without Notice 981

Mr Quinn: Last night we voted with you. Mr BEATTIE: I take that to the next stage. Thank you again for voting with us last night. That is another partnership. It is part of a new coalition. It is good and I am really delighted about it. While I am talking about things, Bob—and you want to continue to see this vote improve—there are two things I would like to see you do. I notice on page 235 of budget paper No. 2, the federal budget, it shows the revised long-term detention strategy includes maintenance costs for a Brisbane immigration detention centre. I table that page for the information of the House. The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs 2002-03 annual report shows the preferred location is the Defence land on the old airport site. Bob, you have got to work with us, I say to the Leader of the Liberal Party very seriously, to stop that detention centre being built in Brisbane at that location. I know the member for Clayfield would agree. It is important that we stop the building. In the budget papers brought down by the federal government they have put money aside for maintenance for that facility. We need the Leader of the Liberal Party to come out and show the continued strong partnership with my government and fight that detention centre. Queensland Racing Board; Mr W. Ludwig Mr HOPPER: My question is to the Minister for Public Works and Housing and Minister for Racing. Can the minister confirm that AWU President, Bill Ludwig, will soon be appointed to the board of Queensland Racing as part of a factional deal within the ALP that saw the Beattie government sacrifice former Racing Minister Merri Rose due to her prior refusal to appointment Mr Ludwig to that board? Government members interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Mr Nuttall: What have you been taking? Mr SCHWARTEN: I congratulate the member on being able to address this House out of a policy vacuum. What a shame that the President Kennedy conspirators are now paled into insignificance. I have heard a lot of nonsense since I have been in this parliament—sometimes I might have said a bit myself, although I find it hard to believe—but there is nothing that compares to this. Nothing that compares to this. Such ratbaggery is unparalleled. The truth is there is a process for any of those appointments and again— Opposition members interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Deputy Leader of the Opposition! This is my final warning Mr SCHWARTEN: The Deputy Leader of the Opposition over there continues to interject and behave like a buffoon in this place and, Mr Speaker, I thank you for your protection in that regard. Can I say that if the member opposite were to read the act, and I know that will be a difficulty for the gentleman over there, he would know that such a question is beyond the realms of fantasy because, you see, the Australian Racing Board rules are very clear: governments do not appoint the thoroughbred racing board—very, very clear. Mr Springborg interjected. Mr SCHWARTEN: The lack of capacity to understand over there is paralleled only by their lack of ability to convince the electorate out there that they say or do anything worth while. No wonder they have got a room temperature popularity. No wonder. No wonder they continue to decline. Opposition members interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Member for Darling Downs! Order! Member for Warrego! Mr SCHWARTEN: Just as the crowds do at race meetings. Mr Johnson interjected.S Mr SPEAKER: Order! Member for Gregory! That is my final warning to you this morning. Mr SCHWARTEN: I do not know who is going to be on the board of Queensland Racing. Mr Johnson interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Member for Gregory, I now warn you under standing order 123(a). You are now warned. Mr SCHWARTEN: That is not an appointment I make. I have to tell the members opposite: anybody who gets on that racing board will have to have integrity, so that will rule out anybody over there. They will also have to have some intelligence, so again that means disqualification over there. The other thing they will have to have is that they will have to have some interest in taking the industry forward, because that lot over there want to keep it stuck in the horse and buggy days, with the split seats and all of the other nonsense that they carry on with. 982 Questions Without Notice 13 May 2004

Opposition members interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Member for Warrego! That is my final warning to you. Opposition members interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! The House will come to order! Leader of the Opposition, that is my final warning to you also. The member for Warrego, I warn you now under standing order 123(a). I can see some people leaving this place very shortly. I am ready to wait. I can wait. I welcome to the public gallery students and teachers from St James College in the electorate of Brisbane Central. I now call the member for Indooroopilly. Queensland Health Pathology Service Central Mr LEE: I refer the honourable Minister for Health to the Beattie government's ongoing capital works program to further improve health care in Queensland, and I ask: can the minister update the House on plans for a new central pathology laboratory for Queensland? Mr NUTTALL: I am pleased to be able to announce this morning that costs and design plans have now been agreed for the $75 million redevelopment of block 7 at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital campus. This redevelopment is one of the largest capital works projects to be undertaken in Queensland over the next two years. It is also possibly the largest refurbishment and reuse project ever undertaken in Brisbane. Queensland's new pathology centre will be known as the Queensland Health Pathology Service Central. It will be a world-class facility in terms of structure, design and equipment. It will support the specialist testing requirements of 32 pathology laboratories throughout the state. Most importantly for patients and doctors, the new pathology centre will offer a broader range of tests over much longer working hours—seven days a week. That means dramatically faster test results for regional Queenslanders. At the moment patients from regional and remote communities sometimes have to wait a week for test results that are usually available within 48 hours for Brisbane patients. Faster receiving and reporting processes will mean that specimens that might currently be handled by two, three or even four areas in a rather complex referral process will be directly referred to the new QHPS Central. A centralised state-of-the-art data service will cut result times even further. Five floors of about 8,000 square metres of floor space will be devoted to modern laboratory facilities. A 2,300 square metre core laboratory will be supported by a major new area for molecular and specialised testing services. Critical testing will stay at major hospitals throughout the state, but some specialised testing will be transferred to the new centre. The centre will also provide greater opportunities for more research and strengthen Queensland's health teaching and clinical support links with major teaching hospitals and universities around Australia. The capital works contract will generate at least 845 jobs and is due for completion by the end of 2005. This building represents a new phase in pathology excellence not just for Queensland but for Australia. It is the result of five years of preparation work to ensure that this new pathology laboratory will bring real benefits to Queenslanders in regional and remote areas who deserve access to the best health care that is available. The centre is crucial to meet our increasing demands for faster test results and the centrepiece of this government's plan for a pathology service that will keep pace with our patient needs well into the future. Residential Property Sales Mr QUINN: My question is directed to the Minister for Fair Trading. In January 2003, the former Minister for Fair Trading invited the public to provide input on improving the standard contract for residential property sales stating that buyers and sellers are the linchpins of the real estate market and their views are fundamentally important to the process. Given that the working party formed to oversee the improvements to the standard residential contract has not met for over 18 months, why has this input been ignored? How much longer will it be before a new standard contract is developed? Was this simply a PR exercise aimed at deceiving Queensland home buyers? Ms KEECH: I thank the member for his question. No, he is wrong. It was not a PR exercise. Anything that the Beattie government does is in the best interests of the people of Queensland and follows through on the election commitments for which we have the overwhelming support of the people of Queensland. Queensland has the greatest consumer protection regime not only in Australia but also internationally. That is well recognised. Mr Quinn: That is a bit rich when you didn't know the difference between an investment adviser and a mortgage broker yesterday. Ms KEECH: The honourable member will do anything to negate the responsibilities that his federal cronies have when it comes to regulations not only in the property industry field— Mr Quinn: You've got the responsibility for mortgage brokers, which you didn't know yesterday. 13 May 2004 Questions Without Notice 983

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Liberal Party has asked the question. Ms KEECH:—but also in the mortgage broking field. I am happy to debate with the member who has responsibility when it comes to property investment and mortgage brokers. I only wish that he would take up his end of the bargain and talk to his federal minister and ask for support when it comes to the debate that we are having with respect to the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs. I have indicated to the Office of Fair Trading and my commissioner that we are absolutely determined to ensure that the rights of consumers in Queensland are protected and enhanced. We do that in so many ways—through education and regulatory compliance. As I have said, they are recognised to be the best in Australia. We are working together with industry to ensure that compliance is advanced. Mr Quinn: When is this committee going to meet? Ms KEECH: I look forward to working with the state and territory members of the ministerial council from around Australia to ensure that the protection of consumers is advanced. Electricity Supply, Rural Areas Mr HOOLIHAN: My question without notice is directed to the Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy. Can the minister advise the House of any ways in which this government is improving the affordability and accessability of electricity supplies in remote areas? Mr ROBERTSON: I thank the honourable member for the question. It has long been a policy of this government that we will stand firm on our commitment to ensure that every Queenslander has access to fair, reasonably priced electricity, no matter where they live. Throughout our time in government, we have been steadily improving electricity supplies and access in rural Queensland. Therefore, I am pleased to announce this government's endorsement of Ergon Energy's plans to scrap capital contributions for upgrades on remote electricity supply systems. This policy will not only help build new community infrastructure and boost commercial development in some of the remotest corners of Queensland but also improve the quality of life for local residents and create local jobs. Ergon currently supplies 33 remote communities from systems isolated from the main interconnected grid, which consist of small generating plants linked to a local distribution network. Its supply capacity is limited and when a customer is connected generation capacity may need to be increased. Until recently, some customers in remote areas have had to pay a capital contribution to offset the cost of those system upgrades. Ergon Energy's new policy means that customers connecting to an isolated supply system will no longer have to pay a capital contribution towards generation upgrades. There are two exceptions to this—working property group schemes and single large commercial users that use loads greater than 150 kilovolt amps. Any new customer of this size will need significant new generation capacity so they will still be required to make a capital contribution towards that cost. This policy is about making electricity supply fairer and more equitable for customers in areas like the Torres Strait, Boulia, Palm Island, Mapoon and Burketown, in the electorates of Cook and Mount Isa, and ensuring that these communities have the same opportunity to access electricity as customers in south-east Queensland. Building in remote areas is already an expensive exercise without the added cost of the generation contribution which can sometimes stop important community infrastructure, like community centres, being built. Providing our remote communities with quality access to electricity is one of this government's priorities. Last year my predecessor, Paul Lucas, removed the electricity restrictions that had previously banned the use of domestic airconditioners, electric stoves, ovens and water heaters in Mapoon and the Torres Strait. Our support for this new policy further demonstrates that the Beattie government is not only serious about improving the quality of life for people living in remote areas of Queensland but also doing something about it. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Before calling the member for Gympie, I welcome to the public gallery students and teachers of Boondall State School in the electorate of Nudgee. Disability Support Miss ELISA ROBERTS: My question is directed to the Minister for Communities, Disability Services and Seniors. Will the minister advise what he is doing to address the issue of people with disabilities as they age and whose parents and carers are becoming too old to provide adequate support? My question specifically deals with those who require 24-hour a day support. Mr PITT: I thank the member for question. It is the first question I have had from someone other than a government member. I thank her very much. The member raises a very important issue. As I have been moving around the state and have had the opportunity to speak with people who have children or relatives who are suffering from a disability—particularly those people who are in advanced 984 Questions Without Notice 13 May 2004 years themselves—people have raised this very issue. Quite frankly, I don't think anybody has the answer. I think it is an issue that will vex us as a society for some years to come. I am pleased to see the federal government paying some attention to the ageing of our population. This whole issue is bound up within that particular context. I believe that as we move forward over the next few years people like me who have responsibility for this sector are going to have step up to the plate and work not only with the carers but also with the organisations providing that sort of support for people like that. We have to find new and innovative ways to make the transition from parental care or senior citizen care for younger people to a situation where society as a whole can also step up to the plate and do its bit. Citytrain Network, Mr HAYWARD: My question is to the Minister for Transport and Main Roads, and I ask: I am aware of the continued growth in the patronage on the Citytrain network. Can the minister advise of any additional initiatives of the Beattie government which will encourage even greater use of the Citytrain services? Mr LUCAS: I do thank the honourable member for the question. He is a person with a very acute interest in the transport industry, whether it be in the road transport industry or indeed in the rail sector. In this particular aspect with regard to the CityRail network— Mr Mickel interjected. Mr LUCAS: That is absolutely correct, honourable member. The honourable member who asked the question would be delighted, no doubt, as a proud member representing a number of rail areas in his electorate, in particular with respect to the rail station at Burpengary. Some 584,000 people used this station between July 2003 and April this year—584,000 passengers. The Queensland government is committed to encouraging public transport use. We are committed to the future of QR and to the safety of QR passengers. One of the most important things that we can do with public transport is to give confidence to users in relation to their safety. The more people who use the service, the more safe other people feel and therefore the more passengers who use it. In this society individual members do feel vulnerable. We are not all built like the proverbial. Many of us get older, thinner or are more intimidated by the presence of others. The more we can assure people of safety in our Queensland Rail locations, the better it is for their personal safety and they will be voting with their feet. I am pleased to announce that Queensland Rail had record patronage in the six months to December 2003—that is, 24 million passengers. That is up six per cent on previous figures. Since 2001, the state government has proudly spent $6.9 million on after-dark security to make the Citytrain network even safer. This provides extra security presence at selected suburban stations in the evenings, and it includes patrols of the station surrounds, platforms and car parks, accompanying customers to and from car parks, and assisting people to use ticket vending machines. After-dark security first began at three stations in July 2003—Morningside, Dutton Park and Carseldine. It was expanded in September 2003 to Park Road, Burpengary, Ferny Grove, Enoggera, Auchenflower, Indooroopilly and Oxley. In March this year we included a further 11 stations: Toowong, Cleveland, Woodridge, Toombul, Albion, Bray Park, Birkdale, Mitchelton, Sunnybank and South Bank. This year a further 11 stations will be included, too. We select stations on the basis of their patronage, existing security, nearby infrastructure and facilities, bus interchanges, et cetera. We are monitoring this initiative on an ongoing basis, but the figures are very good so far. Safety is paramount. I will not tolerate misbehaviour on and around our train stations. Our passengers deserve to have a safe environment. Our staff deserve to have a safe environment. I want to thank the Queensland Police Service, particularly the railway squad for the work they do, and our revenue protection officers, who will soon be TransLink officers. I also want to thank QR staff. I welcome this very important initiative. Toxic Waste, Brisbane Water Supply Mr RICKUSS: I refer the Minister for the Environment to the dumping of thousands of litres of toxic waste from an electroplating or galvanising plant into the upper reaches of the Brisbane River catchment and the claims of local EPA staff that they are not sufficiently resourced to catch and prosecute those responsible despite the fact that there are perhaps only five possible sources of the toxic waste in south-east Queensland. At a time when the minister's government claims to be focused on protecting our environment, why is it that he is failing to adequately resource those front-line officers responsible for ensuring such environmental vandalism does not occur again? Mr MICKEL: I am very pleased that the opposition is now interested in funding the environment, because what we saw the other night from the federal government was a decrease in funding. What we have seen with research is a reduction of $32 million on the big issues—the big issues that concern the 13 May 2004 Questions Without Notice 985

Barrier Reef. We have not seen anything from the opposition about increasing funding for the environment. In fact, it all points to reductions. As to the specific matter, I do think there is a grave issue here. If the honourable gentleman has evidence of dumping of toxic waste, then it is an issue that I will investigate for him immediately. I hope he is more judicious in showing up to receive the report than he was yesterday when I invited him for a briefing with the whole department and he went missing in action. So I hope today that, when I get the information for him, he is waiting patiently there for the officers to brief him. I could have saved the honourable gentleman a troubled night's sleep and helped with this issue yesterday. When I find that information for him, he will be the first to know, and I will be happy to put his mind at rest.

Q-Build, Apprentices Mr O'BRIEN: My question is to the Minister for Public Works, Housing and Racing. In my electorate of Cook, Q-Build apprentices have made a significant contribution to local communities. Can the minister please inform the House how Q-Build apprentices are making a difference in other communities across Queensland? Mr SCHWARTEN: I thank the honourable member for his interest in what is a very vital subject, and it certainly is an improvement on the last question that I received. The fact is that the honourable member is absolutely correct: in his electorate there are a number of Aboriginal apprentices. In fact, in Queensland we have targeted indigenous people and we have some 24 apprentices throughout the length and breadth of the state. It is a program that is working very well. We also target women, but we have not had as much success in that regard, attracting only four apprentices—one wood machinist and three chippies. These 380 young people certainly do make a valuable contribution. They are the numbers that we have on our books on the moment. We are the largest employer of apprentices of any government in the world. There is no other government in the world that has 380 construction apprentices on their books. These people make a great contribution to those communities, especially up in Cape York. The idea is to keep them in those communities to do the valuable maintenance work that we know they can do. I also might add that they make a bit of a difference in other parts of the state, and I am delighted that the Western Sun in Cunnamulla took the opportunity this week to showcase a young student who also has an apprenticeship, and I thank Education Queensland for its excellent cooperation in this regard because this is one of our school based apprentices. His name is Colin Maxwell. He is undertaking an apprenticeship with Q-Build working one day a week to finish the first year of his apprenticeship by the time he obtains his senior certificate. If he is any good—and I am sure Colin is—he will go straight into an apprenticeship with Q-Build. That really does make a significant difference in a place like Cunnamulla—that is, to get a kid a job or an apprenticeship in training. A lot of these kids end up out there with building licences. They become part of the 55,000 that we have in this state who really make their mark in the community. I notice in the same paper that the shadow minister made a very nasty attack on me and told me that I did not understand how the racing industry worked and what a valuable contribution it makes into these communities. Let me say that I stand by what I have said before, and I did not include in this— Mr Johnson interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Member for Gregory, I have warned you. The member will now leave the chamber under standing order 123A(2). Mr SCHWARTEN:—the people who grow the lettuce to put on the bread that comes from the baker that goes in the smoko that this kid takes to work. Mr Johnson interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! You will leave this chamber. Mr Johnson interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member will leave the chamber. Mr Johnson: Yeah, I'm going. Whereupon the member for Gregory withdrew from the chamber. Mr SCHWARTEN: Some 4,800 people are employed in the racing industry. That is the number of licensees. There are 55,000 licensees in the building industry, and Colin is one of the 135,000 people who are employed in the building industry. The 24 indigenous apprentices are part of the 135,000 direct employees. I just ask honourable members opposite not to gild the lily in this regard and not to continue with this myth, because I will match weight for age any statistic that they put up. 986 Questions Without Notice 13 May 2004

Mortgage Brokers Mrs STUCKEY: My question is to the Minister for Fair Trading. I refer to the minister's answer to my question yesterday in which she surprisingly did not understand the difference between an investment advisor and a mortgage broker. Given that the minister has now had 24 hours to take some advice, learn the difference between an investment adviser and a mortgage broker and exactly who has legislative responsibility for mortgage brokers, I once again ask: with the regulation of consumer credit being a state responsibility, what action has the minister and her department taken to prosecute rogue mortgage brokers given that the ASIC report released over a year ago revealed rising incidences of fraud, secret commissions and kickbacks? Ms KEECH: Yesterday I gave a full and wholesome response to the member's question. Clearly, she was happy with the response that I gave yesterday. I am not too sure whether the standing orders cover points of order 24 hours late, but for her interest, I am happy to give— Mr Beattie: Do it again. Ms KEECH: Yes, I will do it again. I thank the Premier. Once again, I am happy to stand in this House and talk about the excellent reputation that the Queensland government and the Office of Fair Trading have in relation to consumer protection. We lead the nation and we also lead internationally. I thank the member for the opportunity to advise the House of the absolute contempt in which the Howard government holds consumers in Queensland.The federal government refuses to accept its responsibilities for areas of consumer protection. It has washed its hands of that and insists on shoving the load onto the states and the territories. Mrs Stuckey interjected. Ms KEECH: I am talking specifically about finance or mortgage brokers and investment seminar spruikers. Unfortunately, the Liberal Party just does not care about regulating this area. The federal government agency, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, funded a report into financial brokers. That is the only area where the member is correct. That report, completed by the New South Wales Consumer Credit Legal Centre, identified major problems and called for uniform national and state laws. We need a national whole-of-government and whole-of-industry approach. That is what the Queensland government is calling on the federal government to support. Unfortunately, as I said, the federal government simply does not care about Queensland consumers. That call meant nothing to the federal government. This rapidly growing sector is screaming out for regulation. Mrs Stuckey: Your web site says it's unregulated. Ms KEECH: Queensland is doing everything that it can, but we need the support of the federal government. Where is the member's party support? It has just gone out to lunch. This sector would be regulated now had the federal government put pressure on this report and not delayed the process. Yet again, the responsibility has been taken up by the states. We will protect consumers. We are preparing an options paper on national regulation of the sector. It will be presented later this month to the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs, of which I am the chair. The Howard government simply does not care about consumers. The Beattie government does. Cape York Peninsula, Exemptions from Alcohol Restrictions Mr WELLS: My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy, and I ask: why are tour companies being granted exemptions from alcohol restrictions implemented in parts of Cape York Peninsula? Ms LIDDY CLARK: I thank the member for his question. He has a greater understanding of the Aboriginal people and the Torres Strait Islander people than the opposition members obviously do. I also have to say that I had a fantastic time in the member's electorate last Saturday. As the member knows, there was a coming together of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists for Murri art. It was certainly fantastic. I also have to make comment about the opposition members who yesterday in this House brandished a draft copy of a review of the alcohol management plans in Napranum. This was a draft copy for the community justice group. If the members opposite understood the protocols of the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander people, they would know that they were the ones to see it first: not them and not me. There also appears to be some grandstanding from members in the community about what tour operators can do and not do in the cape. As we all know, the Queensland government has implemented the alcohol management plans in conjunction with the community justice groups. But we also recognise that we need to walk a fine line between restricting alcohol and damaging the great cape's growing tourism industry. 13 May 2004 Questions Without Notice 987

To create this balance, permits to carry more alcohol than that allowed under restrictions are granted by the Liquor Licence Division to applicants who meet specific circumstances. Twenty-one permits had been issued by the end of last month and these were issued to Mornington Island church representatives for the use of sacramental wine in religious services; to the Weipa Anglican Church— two permits—for the use of sacramental wine in services in Napranum; to a Mount Isa church representative for the use of sacramental wine in Mornington shire; to a Cairns church representative for the use of sacramental wine in Kowanyama; to the Hope Vale Lutheran Church for the use of sacramental wine in Hope Vale; to the Thursday Island Catholic Church—three permits—for the use of sacramental wine in Seisia, New Mapoon and Bamaga; to Ringrose Transport of Mount Isa—two permits—for the transport of liquor to the Hells Gate and Wollogorong roadhouses; to Cape York Motorcycle Adventures—five permits—to allow the carriage of liquor on organised tours through Seisia, Bamaga, Injinoo, Umagico and New Mapoon; and to Punsand Bay Safari and Fishing—five permits—to allow the transport of liquor through Bamaga, Injinoo, New Mapoon, Seisia and Umagico.

If a tour operator is granted a permit, strict conditions apply. The permit specifies the dates, type and amount of alcohol allowed in a tour vehicle while in a restricted area. The conditions specify that only the amount of liquor allowed under the restrictions for the particular community can be removed from the tour vehicle. Any other liquor must be securely stored within the vehicle and be removed only outside of the restricted areas.

There is no intention to make tourists exempt from these restrictions. The permits merely allow tour operators to carry alcohol for their guests as they travel around Cape York, most of which falls outside the restricted areas.

Vegetation Management Act, Compensation

Mrs LIZ CUNNINGHAM: My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries. Since the passing of the Vegetation Management Act, what processes have been developed to allow landowners access to compensation and when will that access be available?

Mr PALASZCZUK: I would like to answer the question that has been directed to me by the honourable member but, unfortunately, the responsibilities for that area lie with the Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy.

Carers, Financial Assistance

Mr PEARCE: My question is to the Minister for Child Safety. In my electorate and elsewhere in Queensland there are many people such as grandparents who are struggling financially to act as carers for young able-bodied relatives, yet in the federal budget last Tuesday there was no assistance announced for these families. I ask: what can be done to address this situation?

Mr REYNOLDS: I thank the member for Fitzroy for that important question. I know the interest that he has in child safety and child care in the Fitzroy electorate. There needs to be a comprehensive, national response to the financial plight of a whole range of carers such as grandparents who look after children, their grandchildren in particular. There was nothing at all specifically in the federal budget for elderly Australians struggling to provide for young relatives in their care. This is a glaring omission from the federal budget and it is an issue that many Queenslanders are very, very concerned about.

Recently, in a national program relating to Queensland when this issue was under discussion, hundreds of Queenslanders contacted my department very, very concerned about the federal government's lack of ability to be able to pay for grandparents who, through no fault of their own, are accepting the responsibility and the care of grandchildren. In this regard, the federal government has absolute responsibility for the income maintenance and family income support policy. Indeed, the lines are very clear. Where no child protection concerns exist and families make private arrangements for the care of children, the responsibility for income maintenance and family support is and always has been that of the Commonwealth. Today I call on the Prime Minister; Larry Anthony, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs; Senator Kay Patterson, the Minister for Family and Community Services; or indeed the federal members of the coalition here in Queensland to take this issue seriously. The grandparents of Queensland take this issue very seriously. We know from our electorate offices how passionately people care about this issue. My department has taken numerous calls. I want those people to contact federal ministers and federal members to take this issue seriously.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The time for questions has expired. 988 Address-In-Reply 13 May 2004

PRIVILEGE

Members' Motor Vehicles Mr SEENEY (Callide—NPA) (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (11.30 a.m.): I rise on a matter of privilege. During question time this morning the Premier, in a desperate attempt to divert attention from his own hypocrisy over FOI, raised the issue of decals, as he calls them—magnetic signs—on the sides of my car. My staff have had a quick look in the car park and they have informed me that at least five members of the government's back bench have these stickers on their cars. Mr Beattie interjected. Mr SEENEY: You are so rude. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Mr SEENEY: You are so rude. You are all about being rude. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Member for Callide, I will listen to your point of privilege. Mr SEENEY: Five Labor backbenchers' cars in the car park have signs on them. I encourage members to put signs such as mine on their cars. My sign has the name of the member and the phone number. What is different about some of the cars in the car park is that they have party information on them. My car has never had that and never will have. Apparently the car of the member for Indooroopilly has a sticker which says 'Peter Beattie and Labor'. That is something very different. That is a misuse. In addition, the information on my signs is the same as on my electorate office, and so it should be. I was in Bundaberg the other day and saw— Mr SPEAKER: Order! We are not going to have a debate. Resume your seat. Mr SEENEY: That is the sort of misuse— Mr SPEAKER: Order! Resume your seat! I warn the member for Callide under standing order 123A.

PRIVILEGE

Members' Motor Vehicles Hon. R.E. SCHWARTEN (Rockhampton—ALP) (Minister for Public Works, Housing and Racing) (11.32 a.m.): I rise on a matter of privilege. I draw the attention of the House to the fact that the member who raised the previous point of privilege is the driver of a vehicle that is owned by Q-Fleet and is fully publicly funded. The vehicles he has referred to— Mr Seeney interjected. Mr SCHWARTEN: I did not interrupt you. The vehicles to which he referred are not owned by Q- Fleet. They are these members' personal vehicles. There is a fundamental difference. I draw the attention of the House to that fundamental difference. The honourable member concerned has a fully funded, taxpayer-funded vehicle that is provided by Q-Fleet, comes with a fuel card and is completely maintained by Q-Fleet. Mr SEENEY: Mr Speaker, I rise to a point of order. I make the point that my electorate office is also funded by the government, as is the office of the member for Rockhampton. The information on my car is the same as the member for Rockhampton has on his office. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Resume your seat. This is getting to be a ridiculous debate again. If the opposition wishes to bring this up in the form of a debate, it can move a motion next week and there will be an opportunity to debate that issue if it wishes. I will not tolerate frivolous points of privilege, as is happening at the moment.

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY Resumed from 12 May (see p. 946) Hon. K.R. LINGARD (Beaudesert—NPA) (11.34 a.m): I am pleased to participate in the Address- in-Reply. I once again thank the people of Beaudesert, who have returned me for what is now the eighth time. This is the highest vote I have ever received. For the first time in those eight elections I did not have to go to preferences. The electorate of Beaudesert, as is the case with many south-east Queensland electorates, is one of those unusual electorates. I have signed 10,000 welcome letters over the last three years, yet 13 May 2004 Address-In-Reply 989 there has been an increase of only 2,500 people in the electorate. It is a very mobile electorate, as is Albert. The number of new people coming into the area is something that we as candidates have to face. There were four very important issues in the election. No. 1 was the problem with the hospital at Beaudesert. No. 2 was the lack of water in the Beaudesert area. No. 3 was the lack of water in the Boonah area, especially the Warrill Creek area. No. 4 was the decline of the One Nation vote in the Boonah area. The hospital at Beaudesert has always been a very sore political point, going back to when Ken McElligott was the minister, when he promised a hospital at Beaudesert which never occurred. Wendy Edmond was always under pressure to provide the hospital. It was in the period of Mike Horan as Health Minister that the hospital at Beaudesert was provided. A magnificent 40-bed hospital was provided with a magnificent new maternity section. Unfortunately, the hospital has been completely downgraded and even degraded to the extent that the whole maternity section of 20 beds and two birthing units is now completely unused and sits completely idle. This was one of the issues that arose before the last election. I was sorry for the ALP candidate, who had to try to say that women would go to the Logan Hospital to have their babies and the only thing that would be provided at Beaudesert, in a brand-new, magnificent 20-bed hospital, would be a midwifery section. Regardless of what the Health Minister says, there is no doubt that the hospital services there have been downgraded. All sorts of obstetric services that should have been provided have not been. Expecting people from Rathdowney and areas near the Queensland-New South Wales border to have to come to the Logan Hospital to have their babies and be provided with only a midwifery section at Beaudesert is extremely concerning to the people of Beaudesert. There is no doubt that it is continuing, and we continue to receive letters. I posted 140 letters to the Minister for Health yesterday. There were at least 60 previous to that. A letter from a person from Beaudesert says— This situation was really brought home to me recently when I fell ill and required ambulance transport to hospital. The decision was made to take me to Logan Hospital because Beaudesert Hospital was regarded as little more than a first aid station. This is a hospital that has 40 beds—a brand-new hospital. Everything is provided at the Beaudesert Hospital but it is now completely downgraded to the point that a person is now taken to Logan for first aid treatment. A letter to the Health Minister states— We the community asked that the Hospital be restored in the shortest possible time that this community would allow and this has been far to long as far as we are concerned our hospital is a vital service which needs to be fully restored back to what it was before the former Health Minister and your Party made these changes. Is it your intention to bleed this community dry of its emergency services and make us travel for current and up to date Emergency Treatment ... Another letter to me states— We have always been so happy with the service we've received at Beaudesert Hospital. The staff have always been so good. The only complaint I have is staffing levels. That is to say, recently we needed to take our baby in: because of a gastric complaint he was suffering from dehydration. The doctor and nurse did their very best and I was very appreciative of their assistance but there simply were not enough of them. They were run off their feet and could not spread themselves thinly enough. There really is a crisis in our public healthcare system isn't there! Last Monday, a person who had a tree fall on top of him went for an X-ray at Beaudesert and was told that he would have to go to Logan Hospital. He went to Logan Hospital on the Tuesday. He was asked to come back on the Wednesday. On the Wednesday when an X-ray was taken they found that there was an infection, and that person is still in hospital at Logan Hospital. Quite obviously, this is not good enough and it needs to be restored. I know that there is a shortage of people and doctors in the obstetrics area, but surely the Health Minister cannot allow a brand-new hospital with 40 beds to be completely degraded and downgraded to the extent that people have to go to the Logan Hospital. The second thing was the Maroon Dam and the use of the water out of the Maroon Dam before the last election. The Maroon Dam is now down to 20 per cent. The difficulty is that SunWater believes all of the water out of Maroon Dam should be allocated immediately and sold for urban use or industrial use. That is okay when there is plenty of water, but quite obviously when times of drought occur there is no water stored at Maroon Dam. So to maintain supply for industries such as AJ Bush and Davis Gelatine and the cities and the towns, it means the irrigators, the farmers, who were originally promised Maroon Dam for agricultural viability, are the first ones off the system. Even worse, people reliant on those rivers below the wall of the Maroon Dam who have never previously been affected are then told by SunWater that their riparian rights, their rights to use the river, must be forsaken in favour of industries and urban usage. It is quite obvious that that will be a concern to those people. What Beaudesert has always asked for and the coalition has agreed to is the construction of a Bromelton weir—a weir which in good times, times like just recently when there was plenty of rain, would see water diverted from the weir and stored at Bromelton for times of drought and not used by SunWater to be sold. This was brought up before the last election and, unfortunately for the ALP, the minister said, 'No, we do not believe in any new dams. We will not be building any new dams.' To say that to the people of Beaudesert meant that there was no hope in the future. We now find Maroon Dam low in water. There is no future if SunWater continues to sell that water. 990 Address-In-Reply 13 May 2004

We have a similar situation at Boonah. The Moogerah Dam is down to 10 per cent. Before the election, it was down to two per cent. At present the Moogerah Dam is at 10 per cent. Swanbank has been taking water from the Wivenhoe Dam but now SunWater has agreed that Swanbank can fill their storage dams from Moogerah. Moogerah at present is only 10 per cent. Ten per cent is the lowest level that the skiers can use, the lowest level that we can use as far as tourism is concerned, and yet a minister and SunWater have said they will take Swanbank off the Wivenhoe and fill their dams from Moogerah, and Moogerah is at present only 10 per cent. At present Moogerah provides no water for irrigators, no water for farmers and only water for Boonah and some water for Ipswich. When you approach SunWater, its attitude is, 'The government makes the decisions as far as the dividends we return.' SunWater must make a commercial decision that it will bring Swanbank back on to Moogerah. We have asked the minister. The minister is hiding behind the fact that he has 30 days to reply to a question on notice, and yet in the Courier-Mail on Saturday was the announcement that Swanbank would now take its water from Moogerah. Before the election it was down to two per cent, and now it is 10 per cent and this government is allowing SunWater to take water out of Moogerah. What the farmers of this area, Warrill Creek, have asked is that this government relax its rules and at least at this particular time provide some finance so that Swanbank can use water from the Wivenhoe. Some $16 million was made by SunWater last year. Farmers at present have not used any water for two years out of the Moogerah Dam, but yet they have to continue to pay maintenance costs. Those maintenance costs have been increasing. People of Boonah who are farmers who were provided with the Moogerah Dam for agricultural viability back in the 1960s now find that they have had no water for two years and have had to pay maintenance costs—they have had to pay increased maintenance costs—and now when the dam gets to 10 per cent they find that Swanbank can not only use the water but also fill their storage dams with the water from Moogerah. Quite obviously, it is a ridiculous decision. I would ask the minister either to come good with some sort of answer to my question that was placed on notice or to come good with some system where in times of critical shortage like the present a special decision can be made and assistance can be provided to those people who are on the Moogerah Dam. I would also like to compliment a group of people at Beaudesert called Carpbusters who over Easter run a contest where many families can come down to the Beaudesert area and fish for carp and a special contest is allocated. A government member: It's a great event. Mr LINGARD: It is a great event, and I thank Queensland Events Corporation, which this year came in behind Carpbusters and provided a lot of publicity. It was rewarded with 1,700 competitors over the Easter weekend. They came to the Beaudesert racecourse and from there used it as a base and went out to the dams and rivers and fished for carp, and they took 1.5 tonnes of carp from the local waterways. There were 1,700 competitors and they hauled in 3,552 carp. I have known that contest to be going for at least six or seven years and generally each year there has been a similar result. I congratulate AJ Bush—a controversial company which came from Murarrie to the Beaudesert area. It lent support and it lent finance. It takes the fish and processes them afterwards, but this particular contest has been an extremely good one. Money raised from the competition is used to buy Australian native fish, including bass and Mary River cod, for release into the catchments. More than $60,000 worth of native fish have been released in the past seven years. It is an excellent competition and something that needs to be continued. I put in a request to Mains Road for assistance in the Running Creek area for the repair of bridges that have been destroyed recently as well. Assistance is needed on the road which goes over the top and down to the New South Wales border. I also think the two bridges between Beenleigh and Tamborine Village that are still to be completed need to be fixed very quickly because people travelling between Beenleigh and Tamborine Village all of a sudden hit two single-lane bridges and they have proven to be extremely dangerous. I put in a special request for assistance with police at Beaudesert. One of the difficulties when you do not have a 24-hour police station is that when something occurs at night and people ring the station they are then referred to Beenleigh. Beenleigh is obviously a very busy station, especially with the Logan area. If something happens at 1 o'clock in the morning and police cannot get there immediately, they have to wait until 8 o'clock when the Beaudesert police come on. Quite obviously these kids see it as a great game if they can get away with something at 1 o'clock and know full well that police will not be anywhere near them until 8 o'clock in the morning. So once again I join the many people who request extra police. If a 24-hour police station cannot be provided at present, at least when people ring up they need to get some sort of immediate attention, otherwise quite obviously people will be most concerned all of the time. I also criticised recently in the parliament the trail bike program, which was announced in August of last year. The Police Minister at that particular time came down with the Commissioner of Police into the Beaudesert area and made an announcement about the noise caused by young people on trail bikes and the disturbance felt by people in the area over the weekends. It is not only the disturbance but 13 May 2004 Address-In-Reply 991 also the concern for the police who up to eight times a day over the weekend answered phone calls from people who had concerns about the trail bike programs. After that announcement, those bikes were taken back to the city, never to be seen again. Quite obviously it was an excellent thing for me to be able to say before the election, 'Well, here is the ALP coming down, making great promises, bringing all these trail bikes down,' and the Commissioner of Police and the Minister for Police appearing in great photos on the front of the paper, and yet the bikes have disappeared back to the city. Imagine how many votes I won on that alone. I must thank the minister, though, because after speaking in parliament two weeks ago, those bikes were down there for three days over the long weekend. I hope that that program continues. If the police do have these trail bikes, they can chase these young fellows who are riding incorrectly and quite obviously that is a good thing. I thank the member for Lockyer, Mr Rickuss, who has also been behind that program. Greenbank is an area that he shares as well. I also bring to the attention of the House the policy on abandoned vehicles in Queensland. Many times when I have been driving along Mount Lindsay Highway I have seen a car on the side of the road that has quite obviously been abandoned. There is nothing more disappointing than two days later driving past and seeing that vehicle still sitting there. I have asked about the policy and said that surely the police would have a right to remove that vehicle. The policy seems to be that if the police believe that that vehicle is owned by somebody and there is an insurance company involved they will not touch it. That vehicle just sits there until it becomes completely wrecked, windows smashed and looking unbelievably bad. If it is a vehicle that does not seem to have any registration and does not seem to have an owner the council has the responsibility for removing that vehicle. To me it seems ridiculous that if police see a vehicle on the side of a highway and they believe it is a private vehicle, they do not touch it for a week or two weeks. That is obviously just encouraging mistreatment and vandalism. I would ask the Police Minister to look at what the policy is. If a vehicle is quite obviously left on the side of the road surely police must have the ability to ring an operator and instruct that it be removed off the road and away from there. If a vehicle has no number plates and is completely trashed, surely police can also request an operator to remove that vehicle, at whatever the expense to be reclaimed from somebody, even if the cost has to be borne by government. Surely you do not just leave a vehicle sitting on the side of a road becoming completely vandalised. Thank you. Mr ENGLISH (Redlands—ALP) (11.52 a.m.): I am honoured to once again rise in this House and join in the address-in-reply debate. The privilege to once again represent the people of the electorate of Redlands in this parliament fills me with great pride. This job is a difficult job but it is a job that I enjoy and one that I volunteered for. I am looking forward to the challenge that faces me in the next three years. My electorate of Redlands is one of the most beautiful parts of Queensland. This is proven by the significant growth currently being experienced. This growth, however, brings with it challenges to both infrastructure and service delivery. During the term of this parliament the Beattie government will continue to work towards addressing these issues and challenges. The Redlands area has been hit by the two colliding factors of increasing population and decreasing bulk-billing rates. The Howard government's neglect of the bulk-billing system has meant that GPs are abandoning the system faster than free beer goes at a wharfies' picnic. Families in the Redlands find it difficult to find a doctor that bulk-bills. Many of those doctors that still bulk-bill place conditions on this such as they will only bulk-bill up until midday, and after that it is full payment. I do not know about other parents, but I know that my daughter does not get sick only before midday. The result of this is a significant increase in attendance of people at hospital accident and emergency departments. The Beattie government has not just expressed its concerns at the neglect of our health system by the Howard government but has put its money where its mouth is, and has allocated $4.2 million to the upgrade of the Redlands Hospital Accident and Emergency Department. This will further improve service delivery to my constituents. However, I call on the Howard government to forget their Big Mac tax breaks and spend their war chest where it is needed, in our health system— perhaps increasing the Medicare rebate to make bulk-billing more attractive to GPs. I know families in my electorate would appreciate more bulk-billing doctors. The roads in my electorate are under stress with the rapid growth we are experiencing. This government will contribute money towards upgrading the intersections of Island Outlook and Cleveland- Redland Bay Road and also the intersections of Thornlands Road and Cleveland-Redland Bay Road. This is despite the Redland Shire Council agreeing to upgrade the intersection of Thornlands Road and Cleveland-Redland Bay Road at their own cost. This government will step in to help support the Redland Shire Council because it is a difficult intersection and it is the right thing to do. The intersection of Mount Cotton, Duncan and Lyndon roads 992 Address-In-Reply 13 May 2004 will also undergo a significant upgrade. Even with these upgrades and those planned in the road implementation plan, the roads in Redlands are struggling to cope. With limited industry in my electorate, which is being addressed by the Redland Shire Council, the Department of State Development and the Redlands Chamber of Commerce, many of my residents leave to work elsewhere. This puts great strain on our arterial roads. I ask the Minister for Transport and Main Roads to look at the residential development in my area, look at the traffic counts and consider bringing forward some of the four-laning work to relieve the stress on the Redlands arterials. The staff at the Redland Bay Police Station, both the general duties staff and the Water Police staff, do a fantastic job. However, they are limited by the number of staff in the station. I would like to thank the previous Police Minister, the Hon. Tony McGrady, who along with the Police Commissioner, Bob Atkinson, visited my electorate on a number of occasions to see first hand the unique challenges that police have in my electorate. Following these visits there were an extra three Water Police staff transferred to Redland Bay. I must say, however, that further increases in staff are not possible because of the size of the station. That is why during this parliament we will spend $2.3 million to expand the Redland Bay Police Station. The subsequent increase in staff will allow Redland Bay to be designated its own police division. This will result in more police on the beat as well as a sense of local ownership of the police, as the officer in charge will then be based at Redland Bay. I invite our new Police Minister, the Hon. Judy Spence, to visit my electorate and I encourage her to find the money for this upgrade sooner rather than later. The residents of the southern bay islands look forward to the improved police presence that this upgrade will bring. The residents of Macleay Island, however, are currently concerned about ambulance services on their island. I note the Queensland Ambulance Service is listening to the residents and I would like to compliment the acting area director, Mr Tony King, and the work he and his team are doing. I am pleased that the minister, the Hon. Chris Cummins, will visit my electorate soon to gain an understanding of the issues surrounding service delivery to a community based on four separate islands. The schools in my electorate have also benefited from the Wired for the Future funding program. Thornlands State School is a good example of this funding in action. Thornlands State School, under the proud leadership of principal John Shelley and deputy principal Jan Burton, has experienced growth. With more buildings and more computers greater strain is put on the electrical system. This would sometimes result in numerous power failures in one day. The Wired for the Future funding initiative means that the electrical system at Thornlands State School will be upgraded to meet current and future demands. Other schools to receive funding will be the Redland Bay State School, Victoria Point State School, Victoria Point State High School and the beautiful little Mount Cotton State School. Living on the edge of picturesque Moreton Bay means that I live in boating heaven. I know that many boaties in my electorate and from many other electorates who come to Victoria Point, Redland Bay and the southern bay islands will appreciate the $326,000 that our government will spend to upgrade boat ramps and landings in my electorate. Another issue that is causing concern in my electorate is the uncertainty surrounding the ferry service to the beautiful Coochiemudlo Island. I can inform members of this House that Queensland Transport has called for tenders. Tenders have closed. Those tenders are now being assessed and I can assure both honourable members and the residents of my electorate that come 1 July there will be a ferry service operating to and from Coochiemudlo Island, even if it is Peter Beattie and me in a row boat. One of the centrepieces of our election program was our promise to ban broadscale tree clearing. This government wasted no time in delivering on this promise. The very first bill passed by this 51st Parliament was the Vegetation Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004. This government delivers on its promises. Politics is a team sport. My win in February can be attributed to my team. I would like to publicly thank my electorate officers, Glenda Little and Kelly Patterson. The dedication of these two ladies, combined with their pleasant and friendly nature, mean that the residents of the Redlands and their concerns are dealt with in an effective and caring manner. I would also like to thank all my friends, family, supporters and members of the Labor Party who volunteered to assist in what was a long and difficult campaign. In mentioning some of these hardworking, dedicated volunteers who gave up their limited recreational time to assist in my campaign, I need to apologise beforehand for any people I forget to include. I appreciate every person's contribution, large or small, and I would not be here today without you and your support. Single working mothers are generally superwomen. My campaign manager, Jenny Bird, lived up to that accolade. In between working and managing her family Jenny also found time to direct my 13 May 2004 Address-In-Reply 993 campaign. I thank her for that. I know that at times the attention she could give to her family may have suffered. I appreciate the efforts she made. Ms Nelson-Carr: They are not really superwomen; they are women who can do more things than a man at the same time. Mr ENGLISH: I am only a male. I am fighting millions of years of genetic development. My apologies. Other volunteers who supported my campaign include Kevin Childs, Ruth Milner, Alan and Di Smith—very keen Labor and union supporters—Rodney and Helen Chapman and Greg Cook. Greg Cook undertook many roles in the campaign. He was responsible for putting up my signs. To show the dedication of my supporters, Greg Cook and his family were actually on holidays on Stradbroke Island at the time the election was called. Greg jumped on a ferry and came back to the mainland. He proceeded to put up my signs and then return and complete his family holiday. This is surely above and beyond the call of duty. I thank Greg and his family for their help. Carol Evans, a resident of Russell Island, worked tirelessly as both a booth captain and a central figure in the EV and PV campaign. Carol commuted daily from Russell Island to the mainland to help out. She did this at some cost to herself. I would like to thank Malcolm for his work both as a booth captain and in running numerous street stalls, particularly at the bus terminal at Victoria Point. I thank him and his wife for their support and dedication to the Labor movement. A life member of the Labor Party, Kath Hughes, was again instrumental in my campaign. It was unfortunate that through ill health her husband was not able to contribute as fully as he would have liked. Mick Byrne is a great worker at the Redland Bay end of my electorate. Frank Patterson is another fantastic worker who gave up a lot of time that he could have spent with his family to help with my campaign. Trevor Bevan, Bob Arnot and Peter Wilson were also central to manning both information booths and booths on the day. I thank them for their support and leadership. My campaign office was ably staffed by Donna Andrewartha and her family. It really was a family affair. Any time people walked in there was Donna, her daughter, her granddaughters and other family and friends helping out. I thank Pam Schmidt who, in a difficult personal time, provided me with significant support. As all members of this House understand, a shoulder to lean on, an ear or some kind words can be more beneficial than $1 million. Mick Meehan is a very community minded gentleman and has been there for the broader community and also assisted me in aspects of my campaign. John and Gail Guerin are a lovely couple who live at Mount Cotton. They are a fantastic Christian couple. Their faith supports them. Their support was invaluable in getting me through some difficult times. I would like to thank Milton Dick, the ALP organiser who supported and advised me during my campaign. Milton has the responsibility for many electorates. Another organiser who was beneficial to me was Mark Ward from the Victorian ALP. Mark assisted both me and the member for Springwood in our campaigns. Because Mark focused on only those two electorates he was able to give us a lot of quality time and support. I can certainly say that, without his advice, I would not be here today. I have written to the Victorian ALP and said that I would love to have him back for the next election campaign. Allan Hicks gave me a lot of personal time. He is a proud member of the Electrical Trades Union. I publicly acknowledge the support that the union gave me during the campaign. I thank my entire SEC. As all of us are aware, we need a very good supportive structure to fundraise, run functions and run the campaign. I collectively thank my SEC. I have a very good working relationship with the Queensland Teachers Union. I thank John Battams and other organisers for keeping me informed of the issues impacting upon teachers in our community. I encourage them to keep representing their membership forcefully. At times, the government and unions may have differences of opinion, but, at the end of the day, we have the best interests of the workers at heart. I would like thank my daughter, Kelsea, for her unconditional love. It is a rare thing. Kelsea understands that her daddy is busy and I cannot spend as much time as I would like with her. I would also like to thank my parents, Con and Dee English, for their love and support. I most certainly need to thank the people of Redlands for the confidence they placed in me. It was heartening to receive a swing in my favour. I think the party worked hard for it. I will be honest; there are problems in the electorate of Redlands. There were problems when I came into office in 2001 and there are problems in 2004. There will be problems in 2008, 2015, 2020 and 2080. I do not have the power and I cannot promise to make the Redlands a perfect environment. However, I can promise the residents of Redlands that I will continue to work hard and tirelessly to improve my electorate. I will continue to take my constituents' issues up to the ministers and to the government without fear or favour. I will continue being their voice to government and I will continue to work hard to make the Redlands a better place; however, I cannot make it perfect. Mrs REILLY (Mudgeeraba—ALP) (11.17 a.m.): It is a great honour to be here as the re-elected member for Mudgeeraba. I have to be honest and admit that my win in 2001 was a surprise to many 994 Address-In-Reply 13 May 2004 people, including me. But since then I have been totally committed to representing the people of Mudgeeraba and fighting for what the electorate needs. I went into the recent election knowing that my staff and I had done our very best and firmly believing that the government, which I have had the honour of being a member of, is taking this state forward and is delivering for Mudgeeraba and the Gold Coast. So my heartfelt thanks go to the people of Mudgeeraba for the faith they have shown in me. I assure them that I take very seriously the enormous responsibility which they have charged me with, which is to continue to represent them and their needs to the best of my ability. I am immensely proud and humbled to be back. I most certainly do not take either my position or the people of Mudgeeraba for granted. With the assistance of my dedicated and most professional and efficient staff and the support of my family and friends I know I will be able to continue to work hard and to represent them as best I can. Without the support and help of friends and family I would not be here. I want to start by thanking my husband, Bernard. Mr Lawlor: He is long suffering. Mrs REILLY: My long suffering husband, as the member for Southport says. He knows my husband well and suffers long and hard with him many a Friday evening. I thank Bernard for his unfailing faith and encouragement. I thank my mum for doing everything that I do not get time to do— that is, being a domestic superwoman—and my brother, Jim, who does everything from chauffeuring my husband and our son to child minding, letterbox dropping, envelope stuffing and anything else that I care to ask of him. My son, Louis, who may be only four, shows amazing insight and generosity in relation to my work in the electorate and the parliament. I am particularly grateful to know that I am blessed to have such an insightful and wonderful son and wonderful family. My gratitude extends to my campaign team and my many friends and supporters—whom I would not have time to name today without taking up all of my time—who spent hours doorknocking with me, standing in the sun at mobile offices on Saturdays, folding direct mail, stuffing envelopes and working on booths on polling day. They know who they are and I hope they know how much they are appreciated. But I do have to make special mention of David Nelson, my ALP organiser, who would never let me get away without thanking him for his enthusiasm and dedication to the task. I also have to thank David Anthony and everyone in the party office who had a hand in the campaign and my staff Kath Cardona and Sally Freud and their families who were there throughout and are still with me. Thanks also to my former staff members Liz Pommer, Lois Shipstone and Lisa Tetlow. Thanks also to Emily's List for its ongoing support, mentoring and inspiration. It a truly worthwhile organisation and one that I am proud to be a member of. Very importantly, I want to thank my parliamentary colleagues whose friendship and counsel I treasure and is a gift and a bonus of being a member of this place that I had never imagined I would have. I especially want to thank Kellie Trigger—my dear friend, my electorate officer and my campaign manager. She has been at my side since my start in politics. She works like a Trojan. She has a fine tactician's mind. She is a fine strategist and she has unshakable conviction. I could not do without her sound, tempering advice, and I thank her and wish her every success in her own political endeavours as the candidate for McPherson in the upcoming federal election. I also want to thank the ministers and their staff and especially the Premier and the Deputy Premier who gave me so much support, inspired me and believed in me throughout. We have achieved much together over the past three years, but I know that there is always more to be done. It is this opportunity that I relish to continue the work that I have started, and that means taking the fight up to the very same ministers and lobbying them for services and infrastructure that the electorate needs. It is a task that I relish and they know I do not shy away from. The opening of a new public primary school to service the rapidly growing southern part of the electorate this year was not before time. Local schools Mudgeeraba State and Mudgeeraba Creek State School have been experiencing overcrowding for many years and many classes were in demountable buildings. The difficulty in an area like Mudgeeraba—which has challenging topography, hills, flood plains and traversing powerlines—was finding the right location for a new school. Several sites were investigated before a decision was made. I kept a close watch on the process, involving myself where I could to put forward the views of local residents. The minister and the department worked hard to address initial concerns that residents raised about traffic, and my office worked very hard to communicate constantly between the minister's office and the electorate so that people knew what was going on. Happily, work started in the middle of last year and the $22 million state-of-the-art Clover Hill State School opened to 435 students from preschool to year 7 for the first day of school this year. All credit must go to the minister, Anna Bligh, and her staff, Cynthia Kennedy in particular, who pretty much laboured that whole process, officers of Education Queensland, Q-Build, RoadTek staff, contractors and the architect. They designed and constructed a unique and magnificent facility that provides an educational experience and an environment unmatched in this state. I do want to make special mention of the site managers and workers on the site who sweated through sweltering conditions out of pride and commitment. They worked enormously long hours seven 13 May 2004 Address-In-Reply 995 days a week. I think they only took Christmas Day off to make sure the project was completed safely and on time. We had enormous support in the Mudgeeraba community for the development of Clover Hill. I want to thank all those community members and local residents who took part in the birth of this great facility, and all credit must go to principal Stephen Loggie, who has shown enormous vision and dedication and will take that school community forward into the future. Local residents and parents involved themselves right from the start—naming the school, coming up with the uniform and the direction for the curriculum. They should be very proud of their achievement. Education continues to be a major priority in Mudgeeraba because of its rapid growth, and many people ask about plans to build a high school for the electorate. Mudgeeraba does not have a state high school. It is unusual. Students attend either Nerang, Robina or Merrimac high schools, Varsity College or any one of a number of fine independent schools. There are no plans currently on the drawing board, but I know that the minister and Education Queensland are well aware of the growth and demand the area is experiencing and also the challenges we face in locating a new high school. I am confident that, as soon as budgetary constraints allow, this, too, will be addressed. I will continue to raise this with the minister and with the planners. I will also be watching the progress of the education and training reforms program. I want to make sure that our local schools have every opportunity to participate in all facets of the ETRF reforms—that is, in the introduction of the preparatory years, in the introduction of developmental programs for young people who are leaving school early or at risk of leaving school and also in the roll-out of IT communications and middle schooling. There are a whole raft of reforms which together herald a new and exciting era for education. As the mother of a child in preschool, I am particularly interested to see those through. There are some older schools in the electorate, such as William Duncan State School and Gilston State School. They of course need further improvement of facilities and capital works. The commitment that we have to addressing those was shown by the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. Rob Schwarten, who answered my call and made a special visit to William Duncan State School in Highland Park early in the year to personally inspect sites that I had raised which were a problem, like steep stairs, uneven footpaths and those basic environmental facilities that needed upgrading. Thanks to his intervention, we did secure additional funds to address those matters. That will go a long way to improving safety in the school environment. With rapid growth, the demand for services for children with special needs is constant and growing, and speech therapy is in particularly high demand. These and other therapies are absolutely vital for a child's development and must be provided early and in a timely way to make all the difference to that child's future ability to learn. I do not think that these services have kept up with growth and demand, and I know that that has been admitted in recent years on the Gold Coast. But it is being addressed, and it is an issue that I have raised with the minister and continue to raise with the department. I hope to see that addressed soon. Health is also a major issue in Mudgeeraba, and it has always been one of my priorities. I lobbied the former Health Minister for an accident and emergency centre at the Robina campus of the Gold Coast Hospital from the day we purchased it and took over from the former private St Vincent's Hospital. I was delighted with the election commitment to build such a facility. It will service the western, southern and central parts of the Gold Coast and reduce pressure on the Gold Coast Hospital's A&E at Southport. The facilities at Robina have already been put to good use since the state government took possession. One of the first actions that I put in place was to move the child health and family health clinic from the cramped and inadequate space in my own electorate of Mudgeeraba into the electorate of Robina and into the former private health professionals rooms because they are a better and more adequate space. The clinic now offers an extended and improved service to families not only in Mudgeeraba but also throughout Robina and nearby suburbs. We also have a new oral health clinic that has opened in those former health professionals private rooms, and there are additional plans to improve facilities there. I look forward to working with the Health Minister and Queensland Health staff and local community health providers to make sure that these facilities meet the needs of local people. We have also had improvements to policing and community safety in Mudgeeraba. The local police station moved to 24-hour operation. This means that officers are deployed from the Mudgeeraba station 24 hours a day to patrol the local area and be available to respond to calls in a timely and efficient manner. I notice that the former Police Minister, the Hon. Tony McGrady, is in the chamber. I want to thank him—and I am pleased that he is here—because he worked very hard with me to address the community safety issues and the policing issues in Mudgeeraba. We are very lucky in Mudgeeraba and the hinterland because it is a relatively quiet place. It has less crime and social disruption than other areas. There is of course the regular opportunistic property crime that every suburb sees. Outside of that, though, our biggest problem is hooning—that is, localised hooning in suburban streets. I am just as disturbed by this activity and noise and the lack of consideration for residents and other road users as I am for the safety issues. I am pleased to see the hooning laws talking effect. Local police have already had major operations working on local hot spots, and I know they are continuing their efforts. However, it 996 Address-In-Reply 13 May 2004 is an ongoing problem. It exists wherever roads exist. We all need to be ever vigilant in reporting and providing information to police in a timely fashion as soon as we are bothered by this issue. There can be no argument that Mudgeeraba is the green behind the Gold Coast. We have the World Heritage listed Springbrook National Park in our care, and we must be mindful that any development in surrounding areas can potentially have adverse effects not only on the national park but the precious water catchment for the Hinze Dam, the Gold Coast's major water supply. That is why we have to ensure that these fragile areas are protected from overdevelopment or ventures which are not environmentally sustainable. But we can and we should promote and encourage small scale tourism and genuine ecotourism opportunities and be innovative in how we deliver those and encourage local business of the type which builds loyalty, understanding and awareness of the values of the region and the need to conserve its unique qualities and biodiversity for generations to come. It is about finding a balance. It is all about balance. Springbrook is an active and thriving community. There are young people and families who live in Springbrook who go back for generations in that area. They cherish the unique environment which surrounds them, but they do expect that some basic services be provided that other communities have. That is why I have worked very hard over the last three years to improve roads and road safety on the mountain, to improve facilities at the local state school and the drop-off area at the school, to support local business and tourism where I can to make sure that this fragile environment is preserved for all time and to make sure that the people who live there have a high quality of life and a safe standard of facilities and environment. I am confident that the joint planning process that has been undertaken in partnership with the Queensland government and the Gold Coast City Council will determine a long- term solution based on science and knowledge for the future of all the land zoned in the vicinity of the Springbrook National Park. This includes the Settlement. I know that outcomes for this parcel of land have been a long time coming. Frankly, no-one wants to see decisions made and movement forward on this issue more than me. I would like to get on to other issues. I am working closely with the new Environment Minister to progress the Settlement process as quickly as possible and I am hopeful of good outcomes sooner rather than later. We are experiencing rapid growth in residential development and it is important that we manage that growth and maintain the lifestyle and character of the hinterland. The establishment of a new Department of Urban Growth and Infrastructure Management under the leadership of the Deputy Premier, Terry Mackenroth, will ensure that growth is matched by necessary infrastructure and that it is managed and sustainable. With growth comes increased traffic congestion and pressure on both east-west arterial roads and the Pacific Highway. As I drive along the Pacific Highway every day, I am very, very conscious and mindful of that. There are major areas of concern with regard to roads in the Mudgeeraba electorate and throughout the Gold Coast. I raise these issues regularly. I meet very regularly with officers of the Department of Main Roads and with the minister to ensure that we have the same priorities and that the minister understands and knows and that Treasury knows how important this part of south-east Queensland is. I know that they understand and are committed to this issue, because we saw record amounts of funding for the region over the past three years. Again, record amounts have been committed, with $99.3 million committed in 2004-05 for state controlled roads in the area. We are going a long way, but we still have a long way to go. I will continue to work on those issues. We have a very heavily car dependent population. I believe that we cannot just build our way out of transport problems. We have to look to more and improved public transport to relieve traffic blocks. In my first term I worked very closely with the local bus operators, Surfside, to improve bus routes in the Mudgeeraba hinterland. We developed a trial of a small bus, the hinterlink, which ran specified routes on demand. It serviced a population who were perhaps otherwise housebound, such as older people and people with a disability. Unfortunately, although the service ran for a year, it was not taken up as much as we had hoped and it was not viable. To be honest, it could not be subsidised because Queensland Transport could not subsidise a service that was not viable. But we achieved through that trial some extensions of certain routes and some improvements. We also looked at other innovative ways in which we could improve public transport. I want to continue to do that not only for the transport disadvantaged in my electorate in the hinterland but also for commuters, because we have to try to encourage people to get out of their cars and use public transport. But it is a real chicken and egg situation. Until people have a quick, efficient and affordable method of public transport, they will not be tempted to get out of their cars. The improvement to the Robina line is very, very welcome. That was another election commitment. The allocation of $247 million to duplicate the lines and to improve the frequency of the Robina to Brisbane rail line is very much welcomed by people in that part of the Gold Coast and through other areas of the Gold Coast. I thank Surfside for their efforts and I look forward to working with them and other operators to improve this most important area of public transport. I have other personal interests that I am going to address in the future in the House. These include homelessness, particularly youth and family homelessness. I am in talks with a Gold Coast 13 May 2004 Address-In-Reply 997 project for homeless youth regularly. I will continue to take up their issues and I will do so publicly. Closely connected to that is the issue of affordable housing and the rehabilitation of prisoners. I will continue to push for Supreme Court sittings for the Gold Coast. A regional city the size of the Gold Coast should have Supreme Court sittings. I was pleased to see that there will be trial sittings held later this year and I implore the Chief Justice to take those trials very seriously and to consider further sittings in the future. But we will wait to see the outcomes of those trial sittings. I also wait with great interest the review of the DPP—the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. My husband was a crown prosecutor for 12 years in the DPP. Although he is now at the private bar, we still have many friends who work for the DPP, although the numbers are decreasing. I cannot speak highly enough of the commitment and dedication of these public servants who work under enormous pressure. They have an extraordinary workload. They suffer enormous pressure, as do their families and their relationships. Their remuneration is relatively poor compared to their workload and responsibilities. I can see that now that my husband has left the DPP and gone to the private bar. There are unrealistic expectations placed on young graduates, on junior staff and legal officers. There is no mentoring and there are no formal strategies to train graduates and get them ready for court. Career pathways are limited. There is a distressing culture of stress and strain. Over the years I have talked with the Attorney-General about this matter and I know that he is very keen to see improvements in the area. He understands, as we all do, that the DPP is the key to delivering justice in this state, particularly for victims of crime. It behoves all of us—it is our duty—to get it right so that the DPP keeps the people with the most ability, quality and dedication to the law. That is what these people have: a straight dedication to the law and getting it right. They do everything that they can to get it right. We should try to keep them within the system. It can be very hard to describe the work of an MP, because so much of what is done involves individuals. Some people you meet and have contact with only once; with others you build a longer relationship. You process their problems, you work over their ongoing and complex issues with them for a long period. My staff do very well with that sort of work. I cannot thank them enough for the work that they put in trying to help individual people with major problems. These are things that you cannot advertise. You cannot promote these achievements to the public and to the media. So often the community does not understand that 80 per cent of an MP's time is spent being a counsellor, a supporter, a guider, a director and a lobbyist all at the same time. But for each and every one of those wins that you have, although it may be a small win, it is a big deal for that constituent. Every time I get something that a constituent needs, that is the satisfaction that I need to continue in this high-pressure environment and to put in the hours that I do. I am forever grateful that I have the opportunity to be there for those people. I want them to know that I will never abandon them. That is what our office is for. That is why the door is always open. In working with the chambers of commerce, Commerce Queensland, industry, organisations and agencies—all of that is not the hard stuff; that is what is at the core of my dedication to Mudgeeraba. I thank the electorate of Mudgeeraba for the opportunity to represent them. Ms LEE LONG (Tablelands—ONP) (12.27 p.m.): Firstly, I would like to say what a great honour it is to be returned for a second term. It is very humbling to be re-elected with increased support from my constituents. I would like to express my gratitude to them all for their endorsement. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who assisted me over the past term, especially those who came out on election day on 7 February 2004 and manned all 28 booths and scrutineered that night. I am very grateful for the time and effort put in by everyone on that day. I give special thanks to Norm, Des, Sally, May, Maureen, Mary and Peter, Lee, Ed and Peter and also to my daughters, Jacqui, Michelle and Vicki, for their support on the day. I could not have done it without their help. The week leading up to election day was extremely wet and we were all very worried that we were going to have a re-run of the 2001 election. However, when polling day dawned the weather thankfully eased somewhat. In my electorate of Tablelands, the years 2000 and 2001 were two years of almost continuous rain. Then 2002 and 2003 were two years of almost no rain. Such are the vagaries of the weather. Thankfully, this year's wet season has returned to a more normal pattern with good monsoonal rains falling across far-north Queensland, normally the wettest part of Queensland and Australia. Watching the water flow over our waterfalls and in our rivers and streams on the tablelands really brings home the amount of rain that we get in a normal season. However, the majority of this water ultimately runs out to sea. Yet just a few short months ago our farmers and irrigators were suffering acute water shortages and there were severe restrictions placed on our urban users. That is not to mention the poor quality of urban water supplied during that time as well. It is blatantly obvious to any sensible, thinking person that in times of plenty the conservation of water should be a top priority. In the world's driest populated continent, I believe that governments should be duty bound on a continuous basis to drought-proof the state of Queensland, not just by forcing people to use less water but by constructing more dams and holding storages, particularly in the far north of the state, where normally we receive so much rain. Tinaroo Dam has gone in a very short time from approximately 20 per cent of capacity to 100 per cent. We need to remember that this single dam and its associated irrigation system are the 998 Address-In-Reply 13 May 2004 essential centrepiece of a massive agricultural region. They also support tourism and recreational activities. The dam has done nothing but good for generation after generation of Queenslanders. In the future, more dams could be built along our rivers and streams which could act as settling ponds to stop much of the run-off and sediment running out to sea. In times of drought, as the water recedes, excavators could clean the dams out and return the soil to the land. The rains we have just received have been normal monsoonal rains, yet they caused so much damage to our road network. That is why we say that our roads have to be built to withstand our climatic conditions as well as the heavy road transports now placing their own demands on our highways following the severe constriction of our rail system. The Tablelands electorate has always been a very productive area providing much wealth to this state, yet our roads are very substandard in comparison to those in the south-east. Many of our main roads continue to be rough and narrow with bad shoulders—certainly not places for bike riders to ride in safety or pedestrians to walk in safety. Three of our range roads leading to Cairns were cut due to flooding and landslides during the recent wet, in particular the highly used Kuranda Range road, which services the northern end of the Tablelands and is a major link to Cape York Peninsula. It suffered major problems, including a serious crack in the road, which continued to cause delays and restrictions on use for many weeks afterwards. Most of our trains have been taken off the rails and there are now very few rail services to the Tablelands and beyond north or west, even though there is an area to the north in the cape as large as the state of Victoria, not to mention the western areas. As I have previously stated, the majority of transportation is now done by road transport, which is much bigger, longer and heavier than ever before, and most of our roads have not been built to cope. In the far north we would like our fair share of the wealth created by us spent on our roads. Forget the one vote, one value mantra. Let us look at where the wealth is created and put a fair share of that money back into those areas. The Beattie government has promised to upgrade the Kuranda Range road over a period of some 10 to 15 years. This time frame is far too long. The Beattie government should, as a matter of urgency, provide an all-weather exit route for the people of Cairns to the Tablelands should an emergency arise, such as a cyclone or a tidal surge. The wet season we have just had serves as a timely reminder of just how vulnerable Cairns residents are. A recent CSIRO study has warned that far-northerners can expect to face more than an increase in storm surges and severe wave conditions that can have a significant impact on them over the decades to come. Coastal communities, the report says, are facing extreme storms and cyclonic conditions. So for the Kuranda Range upgrade to take over 10 years is far too long. It would be appropriate also at this time to raise the matter of Quaid Road, which was built in the latter half of the eighties—a beautiful, relatively straight road to the coast that has just been left idle. We all know that the Beattie government can cut through any red tape if it so wishes, so now might be an appropriate time to look at the opening of this road to the public, in addition to upgrading the Kuranda Range. Mr O'Brien: Nonsense! Ms LEE LONG: It is a jolly good idea. Mr O'Brien: It is falling into the creek! Ms LEE LONG: We need a bit of Smart State thinking around here. Thank you very much, member for Cook. Whilst some improvements have been made to the Gillies Highway, it is still the longest and most windy of all our range roads. This was the road the Minister for Child Safety, the Hon. Mike Reynolds, took last year when visiting the tablelands. Even he experienced travel sickness due to its many bends. A recent convention held on the tablelands was attended by southern visitors who travelled via the Gillies Range. They said there was no way they were going back to Cairns via that range again as they, too, had suffered travel sickness. These are the range roads that many of our already sick patients have to traverse when they are forced to attend the Cairns Base Hospital for services which were once fully supplied on the tablelands. The Beattie government claims that Queensland has an efficient public hospital system. I am sure there would be many who would dispute this. As our state and federal governments squabble over who will pay for the health of their common constituents, the Beattie government continues to indirectly force patients away from the free public hospital system with long waiting lists and by directing them to private doctors, GPs, unless they have a life-threatening problem. The sign 'accident and emergency' continues to mean just that. Queensland Health just does not want our minor ills and chills anymore. The theory is that if a patient is first seen by a GP then the federal government will pick up the costs involved. It is just a game of cost shifting on the part of the Beattie government. Most people are still confused about this game. They still cannot understand and/or believe that our once wonderful system is all but gone in 2004, that we are actually going back to Third World standards and that those who cannot afford to pay the gap for health services will ultimately be 13 May 2004 Address-In-Reply 999 left on the scrap heap. This is the end result of the ALP Hawke government's introduction of Medicare back in 1984. Before 1984 Queensland had the best health system. Last year the federal government promised over and over that there would be no free trade deal with America if sugar was not included. Yet even while it was saying that the Nationals' Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile, went ahead and did the dirty deal, and there was nothing sweet about it. The Premier of Queensland, Australia's largest sugar producing state, has said hardly a word about the whole free trade deal, either. Ordinary, average Queenslanders, including our sugar growers in the Tablelands electorate, feel betrayed by the federal government and abandoned by their state government. Three years ago when I made my maiden speech, I made mention of the difficulties that were being experienced in the Tablelands electorate by our tobacco, dairy, timber and mining industries. Since then tobacco has been wiped out as an industry. In the dairy industry farmers continue to leave on a monthly basis and those who are staying are battling lower and lower farm gate prices. Mining continues to struggle under the burden of native title and government regulation, and our remnant timber and native hardwood industry is under threat. Now, three years later, in the Tablelands electorate we find sugar farmers being paid to exit the industry, the banana industry fighting to stave off disease ridden imports and quarantine protections being weakened, fishing struggling to stay afloat and country racing finding it hard to kick on and stay in the race. Even my urban friends are beginning to feel the effects of the free trade monster with more and more jobs going not to us but overseas to places such as India, Brazil and other countries. Telstra is one such example. Let us see if the member for Cook can deny that. How much harder are we going to be hit by both state and federal governments? According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, over the next 30 years the number of farming families is expected to drop by a further 50 per cent. If half of our farming families are expected to disappear under state and federal policies, then the flow-on in our rural communities, small businesses and small towns will be devastating. Members in this House have heard me speak about the way rural industries are being forced into collapse and how regional services are decaying. The same forces—the economic theories, the international agreements and the government policies—that have brought this about are also beginning to affect our urban centres as mills and factories downsize. The question has to be asked where the jobs for Queenslanders, young and old, are going to come from in the future if the present trend of primary industry closure continues. No primary industry and no secondary industry equals fewer jobs. I would like the member for Cook to tell me where the jobs are going to come from. Most people do not believe that tourism and IT will be enough to drive Queensland into the 21st century. The National Farmers Federation blames the duopoly of Australia's supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths, and says that an overhaul of the grocery code of conduct should be conducted to enable farmers more bargaining power, to give them the ability to obtain a fairer farm gate price. Yet we are told continuously that economic rationalism is good for us, that we have to accept some short-term pain for long-term gain and so on. The Beattie government says that it has set out on a program to enhance the welfare and prosperity of the people of the state of Queensland. But I believe that these theories are changing the way this state operates and what happens to the wealth produced by the workers of Queensland and Australia. According to University of New South Wales sociology professor Michael Pussey, Australia's gross domestic product can be broken up into three pieces. One is the government's share, called public money; another is profit share, essentially big business and company profit; and the third is wages and salaries—the workers' slice of the pie. From 1980 to 2000 these policies shifted the balance, with six per cent of our GDP being taken out of wages and salaries while seven per cent was added to profit share. Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics figures for 1999-2000, ordinary Australians were almost $37,753 million worse off in that year while corporate profit share jumped $44,044 million. It works out that something like $2,000 which should have gone into the pockets of every ordinary person in every electorate of every parliamentarian here instead went into the bulging corporate coffers of big business. It goes on year after year while we are told it is all for our own good. A booming Australian economy is no good if it is booming at the expense of its own people. It is supposed to be vital to do these things, and it is supposed to be necessary to sacrifice our sugar industry, our dairy industry, our timber industry, our fishing industry, our tobacco industry and so on because it will be better for everyone else—not for us but for everyone else. Well, it is not better for people in rural areas. Even the world's largest economy, the US, is beginning to feel the same pain. There are now concerns over there that jobs are being exported to low-cost countries such as India and China. We know here in Australia that Telstra is already sending hundreds of information technology jobs to India. Where are we, after years of Smart State rhetoric, if Telstra thinks it is better to send jobs to India than to Queensland? Have we had any meaningful progress at all from the Department of Innovation and Information Technology? Apparently not, because that department does not even exist anymore. 1000 Address-In-Reply 13 May 2004

I note the education and skilling of Queenslanders is cited as an essential part of the transforming of this state into one with a wider economic base and new high-tech industries. I remind the House of an answer I was given on 26 November last year by the Education Minister, the Hon. Anna Bligh, about government predictions which Queenslanders can expect in the future—and that is more lower paid casual work and lower job security, and how the intense workload now placed on our schoolchildren was justified. The minister's answer was that the intense workload was simply to give our kids a chance to avoid the worst excesses and difficulties of globalisation, technology and the rapidly changing economic environment—not to give them better lives but to maybe help them avoid the worst of things to come. That is distinctly at odds with the stated direction—either that or the government's own published predictions are wrong. Whichever it is, it is not good for Queensland. The minister's answer referred in passing to the changing economic environment. It is changing, rapidly, and there is an enormous difference between fair trade policies with the good of Australians and Queenslanders as their main goal and the ridiculous kind we now have in place. That includes our tax burden. I note again claims that Queensland's taxes remain at a very low level. That is some claim. As we all know, previous Beattie governments have introduced or increased more than 800 fees, charges, taxes and levies. We have to do better. We also have to do better in health care. During the previous parliament I rose to speak in this place about constituents who died from what I believe was nothing more than underresourced hospitals. We do not want that to continue to happen. We do not want to hear from a wife about how she could not find a proper bed or an oxygen mask let alone a doctor for her quadriplegic husband—and that is after he was admitted to a public hospital. We do not want to hear about the illness of an anaesthetist in a short-staffed hospital which left an aged pensioner with part of her bowel protruding out of her body for weeks. We do not want to hear about wards being closed, nurses being bullied, patients getting bed sores because there are not enough nurses to take care of them and so on. We do not want to hear about hospitals becoming palliative care centres without decent facilities to meet all the normal needs of their communities. But I fear that we will because this government is still pursuing the flawed visions of its own Health 2020 directions statement. While I recognise that there is now a new minister in the Health portfolio—and I wish him well— the fact remains the ALP has been in power for 15 of the past 17 years and is now entering its third successive term. We all hope a massive improvement in how this government will deal with the most important issue of all, the health of Queenslanders, is not too much to ask for. Queensland once had a public hospital system which served us well. We did not have accident and emergency departments where you needed to be in a life or death situation before you got treated in a reasonable time frame. We had outpatients units, where even minor ills and chills could be treated without difficulty and where you were not directed to go away and find a GP. While ever the government of the day can find hundreds of millions of dollars for football fields or walking bridges, then it cannot plead poor when it comes to health. With so many decisions in this place dominated by the interests of the populated south-east, I hope that regional Queensland and especially the Tablelands electorate is not overlooked. In this new parliament I hope for many things, and one is more transparency. I believe the abuse of cabinet privilege and the restrictive freedom of information laws are against all the precepts of democracy. We all know there are some negotiations and decisions which require discretion. But once completed, once the deal is done with the money and resources of the people of Queensland, there is no good reason not to tell us what the details are. I do not think there is anything to praise about a government known for its spin doctoring rather than for its transparency. I would like to believe that this government will enhance the welfare and prosperity of the people of Queensland. I would like to believe that it will include rural and regional Queenslanders as equal partners in those increases. I would also like to believe the burdens forced upon us by both state and federal governments are equally shared by all Queenslanders, but I fear it will not be so. It was not the case in the last parliament and there is nothing to indicate this one will be any different. However, the people of the far north, especially of the Tablelands electorate, are fighters. They are also innovative and creative, and will continue to build their own future. While we are rich in natural attractions, productive land, minerals and other resources, we also have the spirit that has already made the far north and the Tablelands electorate in particular the most dynamic part of Queensland. Mrs LAVARCH (Kurwongbah—ALP) (12.45 p.m.): The 2004 state election saw the return of the Beattie Labor government with a substantial majority and a renewed mandate to govern Queensland. While the government lost a handful of seats, and it is sad that some of our colleagues were not returned, and our primary vote was shaved slightly, the result was still quite overwhelming. I want to take this opportunity to thank the electors of Kurwongbah for their support and for giving me the honour to represent them in the state parliament once again. As always, I am humbled by this support. I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge that in the public gallery this afternoon we have the principal and school leaders from Mitchelton State High School in the electorate of Ferny Grove. To give the House some indication of how fantastic the people in Pine Rivers are, when Mitchelton State High School tragically had two fires and lost its computer equipment, the schools in the Pine Rivers district put on a concert to raise funds for Mitchelton State High School. 13 May 2004 Address-In-Reply 1001

Mr Wilson interjected. Mrs LAVARCH: I hope that all is well at Mitchelton State High School and the ICT equipment is working to its capacity. Coming back to the 2004 state election result—and, as I said, we did lose a handful of seats and our primary vote was shaved slightly—the result was quite overwhelming. Such a strong result is an unambiguous endorsement of the Premier and the Beattie government, but it would be wrong for the government to be complacent about its position or to take for granted the continuing support of Queenslanders. Such support is achieved only through hard work, clear leadership and performance on key concerns to the community. All institutions, particularly the institutions of government, suffer from high levels of public cynicism and a degree of outright distrust. Often voters make their choice on the basis of the least disliked party or candidate and not because of an enthusiastic embrace of the policies or philosophies of the chosen candidate. The 2004 campaign again saw the fragility of the Liberal-National Party coalition and the fact that the conservative parties were not ready for government. Sure the coalition survived the actual election campaign, but its immediate destruction after polling day put in the sunlight what we all knew hid in the shadows, and that is the Liberals and the Nationals in this state can barely tolerate each other. Voters are not stupid and this fact could not be papered over by the odd joint policy announcement and a few cheesy photo opportunities of the two leaders smiling for the media. I take no particular joy over the shambles that purports to be the alternate government of this state. No person who goes beyond short-term political advantage and no person who cares about the strength of our democracy can be happy about the dismal state of the conservatives in Queensland. We all know our system works best with an effective opposition, but the responsibility to form an effective opposition and demonstrate that the conservatives are an alternate government rests with the two parties themselves. The Courier-Mail cannot do it, nor can the electronic media, for reasons that the media seeks to report a contest. The actions of the media in propping up the opposition is really a case of the media going beyond being a commentator and a reporter of events and becoming a participant themselves in those events. What the poor performance of the Liberals and Nationals does is make the obligation of the government even greater to provide effective leadership. A strong mandate requires a commemorative performance by the Premier and his ministry. This is a task that I am confident the Premier and all the ministers can meet. Queensland is well positioned in many respects. Our economic growth is strong and the basic services of health, education, transport and police are well administered. The state has always enjoyed many natural advantages, from its climate to its immense resource base, but there are also many challenges. Firstly, the reality of the global economy is that Australia is a relatively small player. While as a nation we generally punch above our weight, increasingly power is being concentrated. The recent decision of News Corporation to move its principal listing from the Australian Stock Exchange to New York shows this point once again. Against this backdrop Queensland remains the third state in a small nation. We know that national headquarters of most sizeable Australian companies and the Australian arms of international companies are generally based in Sydney. Even Victoria, historically a centre of finance and an interstate power source to Sydney, is struggling to be much more than a branch office state. Queensland is also a branch office state. Of course, there are exceptions and we in the state government are working hard to find opportunities to encourage companies to locate here. But we cannot deny the reality of national and global economic power. This reality not only applies to financial services, but more broadly to the service sector. I take some pride in being the first female lawyer elected to the Queensland parliament, and I follow the fortunes of my former profession with some interest. Law is another example of the nationalisation process moving decision-making away from Queensland. Law is very much a small business industry with 70 per cent of lawyers in Queensland practising as sole proprietors. The 30 per cent of private lawyers in larger firms have moved to a national model, with the largest firms operating as single national partnerships. These firms are headquartered generally in Sydney and economically they are the powerhouses of industry. This means that core business decisions are made by leadership structures that are based interstate. Increasingly this can result in strategies such as employment, training and investment decisions within the firm's Brisbane office being taken elsewhere. I raise these issues not to complain about them or to pass any judgment about the centralisation of control in law as well as in other industries but merely to note the reality of the situation. In the wider sense, this experience has major implications for the state government. The centralisation of power and key decision-making really means that for a state you have to do a few things very, very well. By this I mean that it is unsustainable for each state to try to have a full range of economic programs in all areas; rather you have to play to your strengths. That is why the Beattie government's vision and the Smart State agenda is so important to our state's future. At its heart Smart State is about playing to our strengths. It is about recognising our strengths and promoting, supporting and encouraging those 1002 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004 strengths. It means building Queensland's natural advantages by value adding. It means embracing new technologies to provide an economic diversity which can buffer the state from reliance on primary industries or minerals. Australians and in particular Queenslanders have always been good innovators. Smart State is the use of innovation to develop new economic opportunities and new jobs. The Smart State is about using knowledge, creativity and innovation to maintain prosperity and the quality of life for all Queenslanders. It is not just about jobs for clever people like scientists or engineers, and it is not just about Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The Smart State is about all of us from all walks of life in all areas of Queensland. The program looks to ensure that our agriculture, mining and tourism industries remain competitive and sustainable; that new leading-edge industries like biotechnology, ICT and new media are supported as they grow; that the range and quality of our community services like transport, health and education continue to improve; that productivity across government and industry continues to increase; that we look after our environment at every turn; and that our regional and remote communities and disadvantaged groups equally benefit from the knowledge economy through access to equitable jobs and infrastructure such as the Internet. The government's new investments detailed in the 2003 publication Queensland the Smart State—Investing in Science: Research, Education and Innovation demonstrate that the government is not resting on its laurels when it comes to the Smart State platform. It demonstrates that the Beattie government is actively reviewing policy, funding programs and future directions overall to continue to invest wisely in opportunities and the quality of life for Queenslanders well into this century. Every day we hear the success that comes from having this vision and this agenda. We hear the Smart State stories. Last week in this parliament we heard the Premier congratulate local biotech company PanBio for their recent deal with the American giant PATH—that is, the Program for Appropriate Technologies in Health—over the Japanese encephalitis diagnostic kit. This is a very good example of a Queensland company positioning itself and using its strength to be a player in the international market. It is also an example of a company successfully capitalising on the Smart State's aggressive marketing of and support of Queensland biotech companies overseas and leveraging its competitive advantage in the areas of diagnostics and tropical health for the greater good. Another good example of the Smart State strategy at work is the experience of the Sunshine Coast software development company Typefi. This company is currently a tenant in the Innovation Centre on the Sunshine Coast, which is part of the Incubator Program proudly supported by the Smart State. But this company will not be supported by the incubator for much longer—not because we do not want them but because they have been so successful they are off to new headquarters. They have grown from just three staff to 20 in about 20 months and are about to double their staff again following a deal they made with software publishing company Adobe Reader—another clear example of the tangible support provided to emerging knowledge companies that ultimately deliver quality jobs to Queenslanders where they work and Queensland playing to its strength. In conclusion, the Smart State platform of the Beattie government demonstrates this government's commitment to working towards our strengths by concentrating our efforts and our resources on stimulating new momentum in our traditional industries, as well as the birth of new industries, so that we can ensure a future for Queensland given the economic circumstances and realities both nationally and internationally. It is with this vision, implemented through comprehensive strategies, tailored for local communities to encapsulate regional strengths, that the Beattie Labor government will continue to deliver economic growth, prosperity and a very bright future for all Queenslanders. Debate, on motion of Mrs Lavarch, adjourned. Sitting suspended from 12.58 p.m. to 2.00 p.m.

TRANSPORT AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading Resumed from 20 April (see p. 170). Miss SIMPSON (Maroochydore—NPA) (2.00 p.m.): The Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill seeks to amend a number of acts for various purposes, the most significant of which is to put in place legislative machinery paving the way for a more integrated ticketing system in Queensland under TransLink. Another significant amendment, which is yet to be tabled but which we have been briefed about in broad terms, contains the new provisions to close loopholes in order to ban paedophiles from holding driver authorisation for public transport. The bill will revoke existing contracts for bus operators who have essentially had franchise agreements over exclusive territories. They previously won these contracts to deliver agreed minimum 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1003 service levels. They retained the fare box revenue and they were attracting some government subsidies for certain routes. Under the new contracts, the state government will pay operators for specific services on a per kilometre basis. Those subsidies will be paid to the operator as the passenger fares will be collected by the bus operators and returned to TransLink instead of being retained by operators. I am advised that initially the TransLink network, which will start in July 2004, will operate on the existing transport network of buses, trains and ferries in south-east Queensland with the same timetables but with a new way of paying operators. Passengers will use one integrated TransLink paper based ticket across different modes of transport per trip. This will also involve common fare zones, concessions and ticket types for passengers. We have been hearing about the pending arrival of an integrated public transport network for some time. Integrated ticketing is only a part of that. It was initially introduced into Queensland on selected routes in 1997 by my colleague Vaughan Johnson when he was transport minister. It was proven that it could be done. The roll out of the more extensively integrated ticketing system for south- east Queensland has been a long time coming. While it has been achieved in other states of Australia with great success, it is certainly overdue in Queensland when we consider that there is the challenge of making public transport relevant to our growing population. We all need to support effective and more accessible public transport to maintain the environment and quality of life in our communities. Initially it will be a paper based ticket. It is envisaged that a smart card will follow. We have raised some concerns about the implementation of the new technology. Technology can make life easier, but we want to make sure that, given the expense associated with a smart card, it does deliver what is intended. This first phase will be a paper based integrated ticket. The roll out will be watched carefully. The answer to a greater uptake of public transport utilisation is to deliver services which fit with people's lifestyles and their social dynamics. If we only look to apply mechanisms that punish car drivers it will not work. We have to look at the social factors surrounding why people will choose to shift to another mode of transport. It is really about delivering better public transport services that are flexible and meet the demands of people's lives. A truly integrated public transport system with buses meeting trains and other modes of transport is certainly an essential part of meeting those consumer needs if public transport is to be seen as an attractive alternative to the car. Under this bill, new contracts will be drafted changing the contractual arrangements. Negotiating the new fees for transport operators is no small matter. I understand that these contracts are still to be finalised before the mooted introduction in July. I seek the minister's confirmation on the record that the contracts will be offered to all existing contracted operators in the TransLink area. For passengers, the most significant change, other than the extension of the integrated ticketing system across south-east Queensland, will occur in the new phase of implementation which will affect the kinds of services delivered and the timetables. I understand that these will be outlined in the new network plan which will be available for public consultation later in the year. The new network plan will certainly deal with where those services are and the rationalisation of existing services. I certainly welcome the minister's advice as to what we can expect with the roll out of the new network plan. As important as the ticket system is, the strategic issue for south-east Queensland and the rest of Queensland is the coordination and true integration of services which need to run more seamlessly and are more responsive to public demand. This would make public transport attractive. How these services are delivered to meet current demand is important, but the future planning needs of south-east Queensland as new housing developments are brought on line is also a significant matter. We will be looking at whether there will be savings and whether those savings will be passed on in the way of lower fares. I ask the minister to advise the House whether TransLink will be offering any concessions for the unemployed. We have seen in other states that government public transport systems have been able to provide concessions to the unemployed in recognition that they have a valid need to use our public transport system in a fair and cost-effective way. I also seek advice from the minister regarding the consultation process. The explanatory note states that the proposed amendments have generally been supported. That is all it says about consultation. I would certainly welcome the minister's advice on who has been consulted and what is meant by 'generally supported'. Obviously there are complex issues concerning the contracts and fundamental changes in the way those contracts are going to operate. The explanatory note is a little light on concerning the amendments being generally supported. I welcome the minister's feedback on that. The other issue to deal with in the explanatory notes is the estimated cost for government implementation. Once again the explanatory note is very light on in this regard. It does not provide an outline of the estimated cost for government implementation. It does say that there is a potential cost for government if compensation is deemed to be payable to operators whose contracts may be terminated. I once again welcome the minister's advice on the record of the scope of envisaged compensation. What is the likely risk factor to government as far as compensation is concerned? What are the time frames for compensation? If initially the network is essentially the same and it is not going to be 1004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004 changed until the new network plan has come in, what sort of time frames are we looking at? If operators significantly lose out in terms of the services they had been providing, I welcome the minister's advice on the appeal provisions and the likely process that operators will face in order to have those matters adjudicated and appeals upon adjudication. One of the issues with TransLink when we make such a change to where the government, essentially, retains the fare box revenue instead of the operator retaining it and having incentives to expand their service and grow their business is what entrepreneurial incentives will there be for government to identify market needs and respond. This issue of operators no longer being the ones who have to carry out the market research in order to determine what services need to be provided has been flagged in the minister's second reading speech and certainly has been flagged publicly. The issue then becomes: how is government going to be responsive to the needs of the community and to the changing needs of the community as far as being flexible enough to deliver timely services and consider how to provide new and innovative ways of addressing not only existing public transport needs but also the changing public transport needs of communities which are in transition? The development of a network structure will involve rationalisation. While we would all hope that there will be an extension of a number of services, I would certainly welcome the minister's feedback as to what sorts of impacts we are likely to see exist in services further down the track. Floating some of the issues of concern about standards of vehicles, obviously that has been fairly strictly regulated in the past. But vehicle standards and roadworthiness must remain a critical responsibility of the operator. We would certainly want to see a high standard encouraged and maintained in the type of public transport units that are being used on our roads. While this issue has been discussed in briefings, I would certainly welcome the minister's explanation on the record with regard to the courtesy and community transport sector. As this is obviously a different type of public transport that is being provided, what provisions are in hand to ensure that the courtesy and community transport sector does not interfere with the transport operations? I would welcome the minister's further response in that regard. Another interesting issue that came up in the briefings—and I thank the minister and his staff for those briefings—related to the Brisbane City Council. Obviously one of the most significant providers of public transport services is the Brisbane City Council. Apparently the Brisbane City Council has not had a contract since the end of last year. I would invite the minister's explanation on the record as to when it is envisaged that that situation will be resolved as to the nature of the Brisbane City Council contract, the length of the contract that it is likely to have and, if there is a variance in the type and the length of the contract from other operators, what general parameters he envisages—for example, the length of time of that contract. I understand that it is up to a 10-year contract for other operators that will be contracting with the government to provide public transport services. To reiterate a point, with regard to TransLink and the future of integrated transport systems, the real issue is going to be not just the integrated ticketing system but the coordination of services. That is really where the rubber hits the road, so to speak. Commuters will really only start to see the big benefits when there is a truly coordinated public transport system. People want to see buses that meet trains and ferries—that is, a system where there is coordination—and there should be good processes in place to address the anomalies. The extension of the integrated ticketing system and the roll out in this first phase from the previous ticketing system is welcomed, but the really big ticket issue, so to speak, is the integration of the actual services and the responsiveness to community needs as those communities are in transition. I want to come to the other significant issue in the legislation which we are debating which has already been floated publicly, and that is the new provisions with regard to driver authorisation. These have not yet been circulated in the chamber, and we will certainly be looking at the detail of those. Minister, are they very far away? Mr Lucas: They will be here very shortly. They are being printed as we speak. Miss SIMPSON: Thankyou. I thank the minister's staff for the briefing in broad terms upon those— Mr Lucas: You got two briefings. You got one from me last night. Miss SIMPSON: Yes, and from the minister as well. I trust that when we get the amendments there will be some time to look at the actual drafting of those amendments. But in good faith, based upon the briefings, we certainly support the provisions. I understand from those briefings that when we actually see the amendments they are supposed to reflect provisions within the Children's Commissioner's jurisdiction as far as the various categories of criminal offences. Once again, there were explanatory notes. I will make this comment: I do appreciate the briefings, but it is a little difficult to go into detail upon those provisions until they are actually tabled in the House. The National Party opposition has certainly raised its concerns as to the standards of checking of people's records. There was a very high profile anomaly recently in that the outcome of a magistrate's case was that a driver was still allowed to continue to drive a bus even though there had been serious 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1005 charges brought against that person. It is unacceptable to have people in a position of such trust and access to children continuing to have the legal ability to drive school buses and public transport and be placed in that position of trust where they may put children at risk. We certainly welcome these new provisions that are to be tabled based upon the briefings that have been provided. However, I flagged a number of issues in the briefing—and I want to flag them here also—which may become potential loopholes in the future. How this new amendment that is yet to be tabled interfaces with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act is something that we will be watching very carefully. I would invite the minister and the department to revisit this issue to ensure that those operators who are employing people are in a position where they can reasonably gain the information they need as to the appropriateness of some of the people they are employing whilst also ensuring that if potential drivers do have to make declarations they are legally able to make those and that they do not conflict with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. The other issue of concern to us is how we actually do checks and ensure that the checks are rigorous with regard to people who come from overseas. There are a number of different jurisdictions that do not have the level of criminal history checks and trails that we have in Queensland or Australia generally. I have a concern as to what will be done with regard to checking the criminal history of people who are coming in from overseas to ensure that those issues are also picked up. This is not only about those people who have been convicted; it is also about those who have been charged. With regard to the blue card as it operates now, there is the ability to pick up people who have a history of charges. There is a fundamental issue here of protection of the public—protection in this case of children and vulnerable persons. The blue card provisions enable consideration to also be given to issues that may not have resulted in a conviction, but there is sufficient evidence or sufficient smoke to highlight that there is an issue of concern about that person. That is a question that I have asked as to concerns about this legislation. I was assured that previously there was the provision to look at charges that have been brought against people, but this gives more express power to the department to deal with some of these issues. Following on from that, one of the great anomalies that we currently have is with regard to the recording of information for forensic patients—those who have not actually had a charge against them but who may have in fact committed a rape or a serious heinous offence. Some of those people will never be charged, but they do proceed into the mental health system and go through the tribunal. In other words, the trigger for them to go into the mental health system is not being charged with that offence. It may never get to that point, but there is no doubt about the fact that there has been a serious offence committed but that issue does not end up being one that is tried through a court. I certainly also seek the minister's advice and confirmation on the record that the powers exist to deal with this issue. Although we discussed this issue in the briefings, I think that it is a very important one and certainly an issue that I would flag to the government in the future as to how it is dealt with. Likewise, how are those issues of prior history of serious offences, which are not criminal offences under the law because they go through the mental health system, dealt with in other state jurisdictions? It is extremely important, because unfortunately and tragically we are having to deal with these issues more and more. I hate to think that there could be potentially loopholes when we are seeking, by having driver authorisation in our public transport system, to have a rigorous system of providing the most qualified and safest people to be in a position of trust. I will come back to those provisions and the alterations. I understand that the categories are going to be A, B and C, that they will follow broadly what the Children's Commissioner follows, that they will also pick up other sexual offences and that rape will be in the top category of automatic exemption. Once again, we will need to see the detail of those provisions and I will comment on them further in the committee stage. I would like to discuss the other amendments contained in the bill. As I said at the start, this bill will amend a number of acts for different purposes. In broad terms, some of the other amendments contained in the bill are certainly not controversial. This bill amends the Land Act 1994 to allow the registration of building management statements over a perpetual lease and to delegate certain management functions for rail corridor land to Queensland Transport. There is also an amendment to the Land Title Act 1994 to ensure that building management statements for both leasehold and freehold lots will be included in the appropriate land title registers. The Transport Infrastructure Act 1994 will also be amended so that, if a sublease for a railway line passes from QR to another railway manager, any obligations for interruptions to neighbouring land transfer to the new manager. There are some amendments to the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994. This is retrospective legislation and this deals with the issue of legislation which was made subordinate legislation and gazetted but which was not actually presented to the parliament for the possibility of disallowance. As I understand, it concerned speed zones in marine areas. The understanding of the department had been that it did not require to be subject to disallowance, as is usual subordinate legislation, by the parliament. This provision will be retrospective to ensure that those previous actions that had been taken under the law are ratified and that there is no challenge or dispute. 1006 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

Other amendments contained in this bill relate to the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act. I want to comment about those amendments as far as they apply to local government. The provision to declare footpaths as a shared zone between users will enable local governments to provide clarification. I seek the minister's explanation as to what examples they have had of conflicts in this regard and how the minister hopes that this matter will be resolved by an amendment to the act. I understand that there also is a redefinition of a minor traffic offence and that the amendments also will allow councils to provide some stopping zones for emergency vehicles as well as helping to regulate these shared paths for the use of bicycles and wheeled recreational devices, pedestrians— Mr Lucas: You're a keen cyclist yourself. Miss SIMPSON: I am a keen cyclist who has lapsed in recent times. I am doing more walking. So I am competing with cyclists. Mr Lucas: You don't use your mobile phone, though, with a cycle. Miss SIMPSON: I am too busy holding on to the bike when I am cycling. I certainly know that this is an issue in regard to the jurisdictions of councils. Often it is a point of conflict in communities. I would certainly welcome the minister's explanation as to how this amendment is going to resolve some of those potential conflicts. At this point, I would say that we will welcome the amendments when they come forward in the committee stage. Our intention is to support the legislation. I have raised some issues of concern. As I have said, it is not ideal that we do not have those amendments before the House at this time when I am making my contribution to the second reading debate. I know that there was a feeling that quick action needed to be put in place to deal with these anomalies in the law. I appreciate that. On that basis, we are willing to cooperate. Subsequently, we also reserve the right to raise questions in the committee stage and to seek the minister's explanation in regard to those amendments. Mr FRASER (Mount Coot-tha—ALP) (2.25 p.m.): I rise to speak in support of the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill. A principal feature of this bill is that it provides the legal framework to enable the registration of volumetric title above leasehold land that is a transport corridor. This facility is a key part of the bill before the House to which I will address my remarks. I wish to deal firstly with the legal architecture proposed by this legislation before making some remarks about the potential community benefit contemplated by the legislation for communities and in terms of the broader public good. As the House is aware, the land tenure of rail corridors was changed in 1995 to leasehold in the name of Queensland Transport. That was to preserve the state's ongoing strategic interests in those corridors. Although this leasehold tenure of transport corridors satisfies transport requirements, it limits the ability for adjacent freehold commercial developments to be located above a transport corridor. This bill amends the Land Act 1994 by providing for volumetric subdivision of leasehold lots similar to the existing provisions in the Land Title Act 1994 for freehold land. Holders of freehold title to units or apartments in residential developments will be immediately familiar with the concept advanced under this bill. New building management statement provisions will allow the registration of a building management statement over both the leasehold transport corridor and a freehold commercial development over the corridor. That will simplify the complex interrelationships involving support and access between transport corridors and commercial developments over the corridor. Prior to my election, a previous Minister for Transport and Main Roads had identified the space above Milton train station in my electorate of Mount Coot-tha as a prime example of an area that would be suitable for development. The policy considerations that underpin this legislation are worthy of our thoughtful approval. As inner city land reaches a premium, the demand for centrally located space is heightened. Urban growth brings about increased traffic flows, among other things, which is detrimental to our environment, our economy and urban amenity. In recognition of that, governments at all levels have strived to improve public transport services and patronage. In this context, and more broadly, it is a truism that the claims on the public purse will forever exceed the availability of appropriated revenue. So, if a developer wants to build office space above a railway station, if he wants to provide jobs accessible by the commuting public from the train line below, and that developer will pay for the opportunity by providing improved public facilities—for instance, through a major upgrade to the approximate train station—then that would seem to my mind to be perfectly sensible. In fact, development aimed at providing commuter destinations located directly on public transport corridors is axiomatically preferable to the possible location of such a facility encroaching upon residential area or any other area not so conveniently serviced by public transport. Local residents and, indeed, the broader community benefit from an improved train station. The broader benefits include job opportunities readily accessible by those without private transport and the potential for reduced traffic, particularly of single-occupant commuter vehicles. This is the sort of smart land use strategy that we need to adopt to ensure that we maintain urban amenity and livability. 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1007

As well as meeting the rigours of overall community benefit, factoring in the return to the state and the public purse, improved public facilities and the preservation of the primary function as a transport corridor, it is important that it is perfectly clear that any proposed development must be approved by the relevant local authority. The developments proposed within Brisbane and the decision about the precise size, nature and visual amenity of the development at urban train stations will quite properly be a matter for the Brisbane City Council. This legislation will provide the legal framework for such developments to be contemplated, but does not of itself approve any single development nor indeed provide the legislative process for final developmental approval. Any such developments, from the standpoint of the state of Queensland, must accord with established government policies for volumetric land development of rail corridor land. Plainly, the primary consideration is the present and future operation of the corridor as a transport route. The requirements of this primary functionality are extensive and will significantly affect design and construction of buildings. For this reason, potentially interested parties are clearly warned to contact Queensland Rail when proposals are in germination stage. As I said, one such candidate for this type of development aimed at increasing our sustainability as a city is the Milton train station in my electorate. Milton train station is located in a predominantly commercial area, across the road from the famous Fourex man and down the street from Suncorp Stadium. Significant pedestrian access upgrades to Milton train station along Milton Road and to the stadium were made in conjunction with the construction of the stadium, including a footbridge across Milton Road to the southern plaza of the stadium. This proposed legislation will provide for the state of Queensland to benefit in the short and longer term and, importantly, for local communities to benefit. In terms of the proposed development at Milton train station, it is important in the context of this debate to note that the proposed development is under ongoing negotiation between the state of Queensland and the project proponents. To be clear, this legislation will not approve a development at Milton, or any other single development for that matter, but it does propose the legislative architecture for suitable developments above corridor leasehold land to be contemplated. While the proposal does continue in ongoing negotiations, it is a matter of public record that the development contemplates a building height of five storeys above the railway corridor. The development will also include parking spaces—an essential feature in the context of the busy streets around Park Road, Cribb and Little Cribb streets. The main type of employment to be offered will be call centre work. This type of industry has high levels of employment to capital ratios and is perfect for a development contemplated on a public transport service. For the many students living in close pedestrian proximity, the development will avail jobs for those seeking flexible employment to sustain their education. For the local community, this development will see a brand new Milton train station, with a wider platform, improved safety and disability access, a new passenger concourse in the level immediately above the train station and improved access to Park Road. This facility will also provide new office accommodation for Queensland Rail. These public assets will be provided at the expense of the developer, not at the expense of the taxpayer, and represent a dividend to the state. The proposal may also incorporate residential and commercial components. The attractions of this form of land use are many. In the final analysis, you could say that the state, in the short and long term, gets something for nothing. Like all MPs, I am passionate about my electorate. I am lucky to live in a great part of a great city in a great state. There are not too many places so desirable that you can sell the thin air to benefit the community. I wish also to make a brief comment on the other major achievement contemplated by this legislation—the introduction of TransLink. This legislation provides the legal capability to introduce integrated ticketing for travel by bus, train and ferry. This will provide a more efficient, simpler public transport system without waiting times between modes. This will provide for improved performance management of public transport providers, the removal of artificial boundaries in the south-east corner to provide for true integration and for one set of fare evasion enforcers. These amendments precede the introduction of smart card technology, which will further enhance the attractiveness of public transport. This government has a proud record, including the Inner Northern Busway and the South East Busway, as well as the commitment of funding for new rolling stock for Queensland Rail when it comes to public transport. Better public transport to encourage higher public transport patronage has to be a part of our efforts to address the sustainability of the south-east corner and manage urban amenity. I commend the bill to the House. Mrs ATTWOOD (Mount Ommaney—ALP) (2.33 p.m.): I am pleased to support the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004. The electorate of Mount Ommaney has a major state road called the Centenary Highway, which its residents heavily rely upon to commute to work and to the city. Residents also rely upon rail transport as an alternative to the use of private vehicles, and the Oxley and Corinda railway stations are handy to those people living in the suburbs of Oxley, Corinda, Sinnamon Park, Seventeen Mile Rocks and Sherwood. This bill is to amend acts administered by the Department of Transport and Main Roads and also those administered by the Department of Natural Resources. 1008 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

The Transport Infrastructure Act 1994 allows obligations on QR about interruptions to neighbouring land to be transferred to a new railway operator and allows the chief executive to acquire leasehold land to become new rail corridor land. The review of QR obligations under section 260 was a result of the transfer of the Beaudesert line to Beaudesert Rail. Other historical railways are still to be granted subleases. There is no agenda to change railway management in Queensland, and there is no proposal to close branch lines. The Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act 1994 is to be amended to define a ferry to include a vehicular barge that carries walk-on passengers for fares. Schedule 4 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 includes a ferry within the definition of a road. This amendment does not affect that definition and the application of the road rules to drivers on a vehicular ferry. The Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 is to be amended to allow local governments to regulate shared paths for the use of bicycles, wheeled recreational devices and pedestrians. I often get inquiries from constituents about whether there can be a speed limit for cyclists on shared paths. There is no speed limit for bicycles. This issue has been previously examined by the department. It would be very difficult to enforce in any event as virtually no bicycles have speedometers. The Land Act 1994 is to be amended to allow the registration of building management statements over a perpetual lease and to delegate certain management functions for rail corridor land to Queensland Transport. If volumetric freehold is sold, the freehold lot generally would be located above the rail corridor in strata. Likewise, the rail lines and platforms normally occupy the full width of the rail corridor, with no room for expansion sideways. However, the leasehold rail corridor would contain the land below and further expansion could occur by tunnelling at a low level. The freehold lot generally would be located above the rail corridor in strata. Likewise, the rail lines and platforms normally occupy the full width of the rail corridor with no room for expansion sideways. There is no implication for the future as the leasehold rail corridor would contain the land below and further expansion would occur by tunnelling at a low level. Construction of railways on or above ground structures is generally opposed by the community due to visual, noise and privacy issues. The volumetric policy provides that a maximum of 50 per cent of the net proceeds of any sale or lease premium for volumetric development of rail corridor land, after all agencies and the rail manager have recovered their reasonable costs, may be allocated to the railway manager. Treasury will decide on a case-by-case basis the distribution of the remaining 50 per cent or more of the proceeds the state receives between consolidated revenue and possibly state departments with an interest in the land. The TIA provided for Central, Brunswick Street, Roma Street and other sites to become commercial corridor land. Milton is a new project. Commercial corridor land is freehold land owned by Queensland Rail. Generally QR leases the space above the corridor for the development. However, at Roma Street the volumetric lots above are owned by the Department of Public Works. The transit centre at the front is privately owned. QR has easements through the building for access by passengers. Progress in finalising the Milton project is proceeding satisfactorily, with regular meetings between the developer and Queensland Transport and QR. It is expected that negotiations will be completed by 30 June 2004. Local residents often complain to me about the amount of graffiti along railway lines. Graffiti on a railway or railway stock is an offence under section 10(4) (b) of the Transport Infrastructure (Rail) Regulation 1996. Authorised persons for a railway—police and QR employees—have powers to issue $150 penalty notices for the offence. The maximum penalty that can be given by a court is $3,000. Rail corridor land is private property and a local law would not apply. An amendment at clause 55 to facilitate the introduction of integrated ticketing in south-east Queensland involves the termination of several public passenger transport service contracts. There is a potential cost for government if compensation is deemed to be payable to operators whose contracts may be terminated. Residents look forward to the changes in this legislation. I commend the bill to the House. Mr FINN (Yeerongpilly—ALP) (2.38 p.m.): I rise today in support of the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004 and make brief comment on the aspects of this bill that will support and encourage increased public transport use in south-east Queensland. This bill includes the legislative provisions to bring to fruition the hard work and vision of this Labor government and the Soorley and Quinn Labor administrations in Brisbane city of an integrated public transport system in south-east Queensland. The bill provides for introduction of new contracts to allow the implementation of integrated ticketing, fares and services, as well as more efficient revenue protection measures. These are important elements of the government's initiative to integrate the various modes of public transport within south-east Queensland. The integrated transport initiative, known as Translink, will transform the public transport network into one system that allows passengers to travel easily by bus, train and ferry. The integrated system will commence in July this year and initially use paper-based 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1009 tickets. However, this is an interim phase of a longer-term plan for smart card ticketing. The smart card ticketing system, which I will talk more of later, will be completed by December 2006. Once the integrated TransLink system is introduced, passengers will benefit from a system that is simpler and easier to understand and use, one ticket to reach their destination with no additional cost for transfer between modes, reduced waiting times between coordinated services at key locations, increased flexibility when planning journeys on public transport and a reduction in urban air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions through increased public transport use. These benefits will not be realised without changes to sections of the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act 1994 that deal with service contracts. New service contracts ensuring the state is able to control and monitor service delivery and performance standards will for the first time include performance management provisions encouraging operators to improve services. This will occur through not only penalties for poor performance but also incentives for good performance. This bill also removes artificial boundaries that have led to inefficiencies in the public transport system. These boundaries have meant, for example, that services from Redlands travelling to the city cannot pick up passengers in Brisbane boundaries. A Redlands bus with more room for more passengers is required to drive past people in Brisbane waiting to travel to the same destination. Removing the boundaries will enable service rationalisation and increased service levels along key corridors. The legislation also addresses the need to reflect an integrated approach to revenue protection. Currently there is one set of provisions for revenue protection and authorised person requirements for rail and another for all other modes. This legislation amalgamates these provisions and implements the efficiency of one set of statutory provisions covering authorised persons who are able to work across all modes of the integrated system. The definition of 'fare evasion' and 'tickets' in the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act is also amended to enable the smart card system to be implemented. The smart card system is an exciting innovation that will make the public transport system even simpler to use—one card to access all modes and at the same time calculate fares. Passengers will simply tag their smart card past a reader at the start of a journey and again at the end of their journey. The tag on/tag off approach using fast smart card technology will not slow people down. The card does not even have to be removed from a passenger's wallet or handbag to be read, making tagging on and off even quicker. Importantly, the system also calculates fares quickly and accurately so that passengers and public transport staff do not have to worry about calculating the fare. This bill will deliver on the long-held vision of the integrated public transport system in south-east Queensland. Integrated ticketing, fares and services will be a major driver in increasing the number of dedicated public transport users and will prove to be a crucial element in managing urban growth in the south-east corner of the state. The system this bill enables is a smart system for the Smart State both for the ticketing regime and, more importantly, for the environmental benefits that flow from accessible and user friendly public transport, and I commend the bill to the House. Mr WALLACE (Thuringowa—ALP) (2.43 p.m.): It is with pleasure that I rise to support this forward-thinking bill. Queensland Transport is one of the most important departments administered by this government. May I start by congratulating the minister on his handling of this portfolio in the short time he has been at the helm. I would like to offer the minister my sincere thanks for agreeing to meet with Thuringowa and Townsville community leaders at a breakfast I organised at the recent cabinet meeting held in the north. I know that the Chamber of Commerce, Townsville Enterprise Ltd, Mayor Tony Mooney and the Townsville Port Authority left the meeting greatly impressed with the way the minister is handling this department. This bill is important for a number of reasons, not the least by giving the Department of Transport the flexibility it needs to operate in a new millennium. Because transport covers so many aspects of our daily lives and expends so much of our public funds, it is essential that it is able to operate in the most economical manner possible. The various aspects of this bill will assist in achieving that goal. Main Roads controls over 34,000 kilometres of state roads in Queensland and carries some 80 per cent of Queensland's traffic. I know that in my electorate of Thuringowa, which has one of the fastest rates of population growth in this state, this network is essential. That is why it is pleasing to see the Beattie government support Thuringowa residents with the construction of the Douglas Arterial Road. I have already spoken to the minister about future needs, including the Shaw Road extension and the eventual main road bypass of Thuringowa city. It was extremely disappointing, therefore, that there was no funding in Tuesday night's federal budget for important roadworks in the north. There was no money for our eastern transport corridor to the Townsville port, which once again recorded increased growth in freight movements last year. There was no money to floodproof the Bruce Highway, which I would remind honourable members is part of the National Highway between my electorate and Cairns. Members might recall that recent heavy rains in the north closed the highway near Tully. This is the umpteenth time that this has happened in the last five years and it is clearly unacceptable. One can imagine the outrage if the National Highway were cut 1010 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004 between Melbourne and Sydney. I am sure Peter Costello would find the money quick smart to rectify this problem. Why are we in the north second-class citizens? Why do our calls for action fall on deaf ears? One would think that, with the multitude of federal Tory members, including De-Anne Kelly, Peter Lindsay and Warren Entsch who represent the north, we would have had a fair go in the federal budget. The end result: not a brass razoo, not even a zac for our highway which is desperately needed. I suppose that just goes to show how ineffectual Tory members are in this state. Thank God the ALP enjoys such a majority in this place, where active local members are delivering for their respective electorates. As a former local government employee, I am particularly pleased to see that this bill gives local governments across the state a number of powers in regard to the use of our roads. In my previous position, part of my duties were to process correspondence for Townsville Mayor, Tony Mooney. I am sure that I am not exaggerating when I say that 60 per cent of the mail that came in related to traffic infringement notices such as not obeying street signs or paying parking fees. The city solicitors— Mr John Woosnam and Mr Tony Bligh—who do an excellent job in Townsville's case are kept constantly busy helping to answer this correspondence by searching through various pieces of legislation, by-laws and local laws to justify the council's position. This bill will make their job and that of other councils regulating parking a lot easier. It is especially pleasing to see that local governments will also be allowed to specify parking fees and parking application fees by resolution. The current process of setting these fees through local laws is both time consuming and an expensive exercise. The other major aspect of this bill is the introduction of TransLink services for south-east Queensland. This is to be commended. However, as it will have minimal impact on the residents of Thuringowa and north Queensland, I will leave its discussion to other members in this place. It is therefore without hesitation that I commend the bill to the House. Mrs LIZ CUNNINGHAM (Gladstone—Ind) (2.47 p.m.): I rise to support this legislation and I thank the minister for the briefing that was made available this morning. His officers were attempting to cover a broad range of people for briefings in a small window of opportunity, so I thank him for that. I am particularly interested in the proposed amendments and the high level of protection that the amendments will afford our community. Again, it is a sign and an indictment of the type of people they are that people who have either shown themselves to be predatorial or who have a history of predator activities would even try to get a licence which will expose them to further opportunity to come into contact with children. The amendments have drawn some criticism particularly from the civil liberties groups in Queensland. They are an important part of the community—a balancing part of the community—but I believe if our electorates were polled overwhelmingly, and I am talking in the 95th percentile, people would agree that the protection of children is of the utmost importance. I commend the minister for the amendments. I commend him for the prompt action in light of the case that drew this situation to light and the fact that at the first possible opportunity the amendments have been brought to the House. In the explanation that I received, I was advised there would be three categories of offences. The first is category A offences, which were, as it was explained to me, 'do not even bother applying' type offences. I think that is a very adequate description, where the people in that category have shown themselves to be not trustworthy. They have no self-discipline and there is no reason why the community could feel or should feel that they are appropriate people to have unsupervised access to children. Mr Lucas: We cannot take the risk. Mrs LIZ CUNNINGHAM: That is exactly right. As I said before, the vast majority of the community would support you in that stance in relation to that risk. The category B offences are offences that most people would find unacceptable. They are offences against the community. However, there is an option left to ensure that justice is done and justice is seen to be done. Circumstances that can arise when these offences may ensue can have varying backgrounds and therefore the opportunity is given for the applicant to demonstrate that their situation was an exceptional case. I also commend the fact that in regard to category B offences the Commissioner for Children and Young People will be an adviser to the approval process. The office of the Commissioner for Children and Young People has had time now to accumulate quite a significant cross-section of experiences and information and I believe will be a very informed adviser to the process of commenting on these applicants. The category C offences are, as it was explained to me, the status quo, the current circumstances. The fact that it is a tiered system ensures, as much as possible, I believe, that the different circumstances facing individual members of the community are addressed. It does not put a mandatory blanket on people who have a 'criminal history; end of statement'. It does identify those particular crimes that are heinous as far as the community is concerned and I believe that the structure that the minister has adopted is one that will best fit the community situation. 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1011

Obviously there is no report from the Scrutiny of Legislation Committee, but this amendment to the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill would certainly highlight some fundamental legislative principles. It does breach the rights of the individual—that is, the individual applicant—but it breaches them in an effort to ensure as far as possible protection for the vulnerable people in our community. It is not just young children; it is adults with impaired decision making, maybe adults with disabilities, older people who have mobility and other problems and are prey, as the papers show us day by day, to people who have no morals or very few morals at all. This protection is certainly welcome. There is one question I do have for the minister, if he would be able to canvass it in his reply, in relation to the blue card process, which called up not only convictions but also a pattern of allegations. The blue card process I felt was very strong because it not only dealt with convictions; it dealt with patterns of behaviour that may not have reached the court for varying reasons. Sexual misconduct towards a child is often very difficult to prove. Because of their nature or because it is the parents' decision, children may not be put before the courts due to the risk of further traumatisation. The blue card did catch those people who had a history of allegations of sexual offences. My question is why the blue card process was not perhaps a vehicle for these exclusions. The other query I have—and I have not had time to read the amendments, so I acknowledge that it could be in there—is whether the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act will come into play at all— Mr Lucas: No, it will not Mrs LIZ CUNNINGHAM: That is excellent, because there are people who do change their ways, but history and research shows that in a lot of cases of sexual offences against children and paedophilia those people are unable to be rehabilitated. There may be a period of time where their conduct is not detected, but the level of reoffence is very high. I commend the minister for these amendments. As I said, in spite of the concerns that have been expressed in the media about the impact on individuals' rights, I believe overwhelmingly the community will support the minister in these changes. As has been publicised, the safety of our children and other people who are vulnerable is much, much more important. Mrs LAVARCH (Kurwongbah—ALP) (2.54 p.m.): I rise to support the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004. This bill amends a number of acts under the portfolio responsibility of the Minister for Main Roads and Minister for Transport, but this afternoon I wanted to confine my comments to that part of the bill which provides the legislation to facilitate the introduction of TransLink. For us in Pine Rivers, TransLink in a word is all about convenience. The residents of the Kurwongbah electorate and Pine Rivers generally know only too well the fuss involved with purchasing different tickets for different modes of public transport. I am delighted to speak on the introduction of TransLink, which will come about on 1 July this year, as it will see vast improvements in the way south-east Queenslanders use public transport. TransLink will mean one single public transport network of 23 zones covering south-east Queensland, from Noosa to Coolangatta and west to Helidon. Because of a single public transport network system, only one single ticket will now be required for people to use buses, trains and ferries within the new system. Zones, fares and concessions will be standardised across the system providing one set of rules for everyone. There will be a number of different ticket products available to passengers, including singles, daily tickets, off-peak dailies, weekly and monthly tickets. These TransLink tickets will let you reach your destination by bus, train or Brisbane City Council ferry within the zones printed on the ticket. For example, currently, a student travelling from Petrie in the Kurwongbah electorate to Griffith University would need to purchase two tickets to travel that journey. Upon the introduction of TransLink they will only need to get one ticket. Instead of getting a ticket for the train from Petrie to the city and another to catch a three zone bus ticket to the Nathan campus, they will only need a zone 1 to 6 ticket which will cover their entire journey—bus and train. Better still, passengers in this scenario will only be effectively paying for the Petrie to city component of their journey—a considerable saving. TransLink is extremely student friendly. Full-time students who attend approved courses can travel for 50 per cent of the adult fare at all times. Next month Queensland Transport will announce the new fare structure and publish a comprehensive public transport directory with the new zones and fare information. I have certainly had a lot of inquiries in the electorate office asking when this information will be available. There are so many people waiting in anticipation for TransLink to come into effect. Through the public transport network plan, TransLink is also working towards improving integration of services at key locations, reducing waiting times and ensuring better connections so that in the future their journeys should be quicker, too. The benefits of TransLink do not stop at providing convenience and considerable savings. We must also recognise that TransLink is a big win for the environment, as making public transport more efficient and convenient for people will lead to fewer vehicles on our roads and less greenhouse gas emissions. To give you an example of the environmental benefits, at peak hour each bus replaces 40 cars. Forty cars fill the entire length of the Victoria Bridge. Replacing 40 cars with a bus will decrease greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40 per cent compared with 40 cars travelling during peak hour. 1012 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

TransLink has seen the Beattie government, the Brisbane City Council, Queensland Rail and other private operators work cooperatively together to improve the integration of services. Can I take this opportunity to ask the minister to pass on my congratulations to all those involved in the project. I commend all those government and private agencies that have played a role in implementing TransLink across south-east Queensland. May I commend the bill to the House. Mr NEIL ROBERTS (Nudgee—ALP) (3.00 p.m.): The provision of an efficient public transport system can provide a number of significant benefits to our community. One of those is improved safety and security. Information shows that, based on the number of trips and the kilometres travelled by the public, there are far fewer injuries and accidents on public transport than in private vehicles. Additionally, because of the presence of staff and many patrons and increased security surveillance, public transport can also be safe for students or children travelling to and from school and safe for the more vulnerable in our community as they move from place to place. I applaud Queensland Rail for the recent announcements of an increase in hours that stations in my electorate will be open. Staff will be on duty until the very last train. That is a significant issue for many patrons. An efficient public transport system also delivers significant environmental and health benefits to our community. Fewer cars on the road, less congestion and vehicle emissions, more efficient use of our energy supplies and less energy required to transport large numbers of people are good for the environment. It will lessen the number of injuries and health conditions. Encouraging people to move from vehicles to public transport will lead to an overall reduction in asthma and other respiratory conditions. That, in itself, could make a significant contribution to reducing the pressures on our health budget and also improving the lifestyle of large numbers of people. The economic benefits of an efficient public transport system are also well known. It would use less energy and make more efficient use of increasingly scarce fuel resources. It would have less impact on our very expensive road system. A good system which encourages people to use it can encourage a lot more people to get to their workplaces, major employment areas and retail centres in a much more efficient way, thus saving individuals, and the community generally, money. There are also social benefits, including increased and improved access to services, recreational opportunities, entertainment and employment. It also makes communities more inclusive. I was very pleased this morning to hear the minister outline news of the increased patronage of Queensland Rail. It deserves our congratulations. The reality of it is that the majority of people—and the figure is around 60 per cent—still use the car to travel to work. For many people that will always be the case. Public transport is simply not practical for some people due to their work situation. It does show that there is significant scope for authorities and governments at all levels to encourage better and more regular use of our public transport network. Recent Australian Bureau of Statistic's figures show that less than five per cent of people regularly travel to work on public transport, whether that is trains, buses or ferries. There is significant room for improvement in the use of public transport in our community. Given the benefits, there are significant incentives for communities and government to invest in having an efficient public transport system within our state. That presents significant challenges to government. The reality of public transport is that it will never be a profit-making venture for governments. Subsidies will always be required and will be provided to operators in both the public and private sectors to provide public transport initiatives. However, governments can play a key role in enhancing the efficiency and value for money it receives from the investment that it puts into the public transport network. One of the many challenges I believe that is confronting our public transport system is getting the balance right between what could be referred to as our mass transit systems—for example, our rail network and our busways which are transporting large numbers of people from outer metropolitan areas to the cities—and connecting with the niche markets which could be anything from a heavily populated central business district of a city, a special event, a regional centre or some other high density destination. I think we are doing the mass transit part of that equation pretty well, although patronage levels need to improve. In the south-east corner, and particularly in metropolitan Brisbane, we are well serviced by railway corridors. We have been building a very effective busway network. Through initiatives of the Brisbane City Council we have started to improve the provision of public transport within some of those niche markets such as the central business district. I acknowledge the Brisbane City Council's effort in that regard in providing the free downtown loop service that operates regularly between major destinations in the city. I still think there is a bit of a problem in having the mass transit part of our public transport system connecting efficiently and conveniently with some of those niche market activities. There is a need to improve that connectivity between those two components of our public transport system. That is where the development of an efficient and effective public transport system can help. The creation of TransLink presents us with a great opportunity, I believe, to start addressing issues such as the one that I have outlined. As has been indicated by other speakers, TransLink is a 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1013 partnership between Queensland Transport, Brisbane City Council, Queensland Rail and private bus operators via the Queensland Bus Industry Council. That integrated network of public transport providers, covering rail, bus and ferries, will provide an integrated service between Noosa in the north, Coolangatta in the south and Helicon in the west. One of the key initiatives of TransLink, which is one of the main provisions of this bill, is the introduction of an integrated ticketing service. This is welcome news to commuters in the south-east corner. The bill introduces a number of measures to facilitate that. In particular, there are provisions which create a more appropriate contractual relationship between TransLink and those public and private providers who will be providing the transport services. As has been indicated by other members, an integrated public transport system is much more than just having an efficient integrated ticketing system. Some key issues that need to be addressed are things such as having almost seamless transfers between the various modes of transport. That goes to very practical issues. For example, when a bus arrives at a railway station there needs to be a covered walkway to enable people to transfer to the other mode of transport. The convenience of accessing one form of transport and then another needs to be easy and comfortable. An integrated system is much more than ticketing. There needs to be convenience and ease of access to the various modes of transport. It needs very good timetables to ensure that people, once they arrive at a connection point, are not standing around for 10, 15 or 20 minutes waiting for the connection. Timetabling is a critical issue. Purchasing and accessing tickets needs to be easy so that people are not spending additional minutes in a journey from point A to point B engaging in those sorts of activities. The introduction of the smart card in 2005 will basically address that particular issue. That is a welcome initiative that will be implemented by TransLink. All of these initiatives and issues will require substantial effort and resources of government at the state, federal and local level. This bill is a significant step towards providing a truly integrated public transport service in Queensland. It is an important first step, but we must acknowledge that there are many more steps that need to be taken to achieve that objective. I believe that the establishment of TransLink is well placed to deliver a system which will enhance and improve public transport opportunities for the public. Accordingly, I commend the bill to the House. Ms STRUTHERS (Algester—ALP) (3.09 p.m.): The electorate of Algester is a transport and economic hub of south-east Queensland. I am therefore keen to support initiatives such as this bill that seek to get people and things moving more efficiently not only around my own local area but also around the state. My electorate is also a heavy vehicle capital of the south-east corner with many trucking companies based around Acacia Ridge. The Queensland Rail and national freight yards are also in Acacia Ridge near my electorate office. There are hundreds of trucks in and out of these yards every day, many using the local roads. This is both good and bad. As members can imagine, it means that there is lots of economic activity in my area and jobs generated through that activity. On the down side, there is lots of congestion and noise with the heavy vehicles using those local roads. I have been very conscious of that as the member for the area and have advocated a number of initiatives. It is pleasing to see that the minister has been very cooperative and given me a good hearing on many of my local road issues, and I look forward to him continuing to go into bat with the federal government to get more support and funding for the projects that are needed locally. With regard to the bill, I want to focus particularly on the positive TransLink integrated ticketing initiatives but I also want to talk about some of the transport challenges in my local area. The bill paves the way for the introduction of integrated ticketing for public transport in south-east Queensland by TransLink, and many other members have spoken positively about that today. I want to reinforce the great value of that as a system that will allow easier and more accessible public transport access around the south-east corner. It is a great step forward but, as other members have said, we also need, in order to improve access to public transport, to continue to look at bus routes and how people are crossing the city as well as going direct into the city CBD to ensure that the routes and the volume of buses and trains meets the need of public passengers and the growth of areas. Particularly in areas like Parkinson and Calamvale in my electorate where there is no direct access to passenger rail, we need to be constantly mindful of that population growth to ensure that the bus volumes meet that growth. In covering many of the outer suburbs, my electorate has many public transport challenges, particularly given that some of the suburbs are 25 kilometres or so out of the city and, as I said, not alongside a passenger rail route. It is pretty reliant, in public transport anyway, on bus transport. I will continue to lobby for the appropriate services for my local area with regard to that, but the big issues that people are constantly talking to me about relate particularly to the heavy vehicle congestion and issues with the Logan Motorway. The Logan Motorway is a very well utilised route. It allows people to traverse the city and the outer areas without going along the very busy Ipswich Motorway. There are two major problems that local people raise with me. I commend people for raising these issues with me. The Forestdale Neighbourhood Watch has been very vigilant about the Logan toll road issues, as have residents in Forest Lake. The P&C from Pallara State School has written and raised this issue with me. What is happening is that many heavy vehicles accessing the Coles distribution yard at Stapylton 1014 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004 appear to be avoiding the toll booth in order to avoid the cost and using local roads like Johnson Road, Ritchie Road in Pallara and Forest Lake Boulevard. That is causing some safety risks and congestion problems for local residents. The Brisbane Urban Corridor Study has been a very good process using state and Commonwealth funds in cooperation. Through that process I have actively raised concerns about these issues with the Logan Motorway. I personally made sure that members of that review team travelled along the Logan Motorway and saw first-hand the problems, particularly around the Stapylton booth. I have certainly joined the calls for the tolls to be reviewed along the Logan Motorway. Possibly lowering the toll for heavy vehicles is one strategy, but it is grossly irresponsible for federal members like Minister Ian Campbell and Minister Hardgrave to call for the removal of the tolls without at the same time committing funds from the Commonwealth to ensure that this could happen. It is grossly irresponsible. It sets up expectations from the public. The public gets its hopes up that these sorts of things will be addressed and the toll will be removed and then it is let down because the Commonwealth does not come up with the money. That is grossly irresponsible political action, but it is what we have come to expect of people like Gary Hardgrave who are full of huff, puff and rhetoric and do not deliver on these sorts of initiatives. There would not be one member in this House who likes paying tolls. However, the reality is that if we want the road infrastructure that is desperately needed—if we want that built well in advance of waiting for available public funds—we need to get a public contribution. That is the way of modern road infrastructure development. We would all love to see tolls removed, but it is irresponsible to call for that removal without actually putting up the money to fund the debt on a construction of a motorway like the Logan Motorway. Again, I commend the Minister for Transport, Paul Lucas. He has given me a good hearing on these issues. I certainly know that he will continue to go into bat to try to get this cooperation from the federal government. The other issue in my local area that people have raised with me—and I commend them for it; it has been an issue for a long time—is the need for a grade separation at the Elizabeth Street rail crossing at Acacia Ridge. As a kid living in this area, I have watched and seen the growth of traffic and congestion along Beaudesert Road. Mr Lucas interjected. Ms STRUTHERS: I used to ride my green dragster along Beaudesert Road safely from Salisbury to Acacia Ridge. I would not dare do that these days, not because I would probably fall off the bike but because it is just far too busy. In those days—this is quite a few years ago—one could ride their bike safely along that road. There is quite a significant volume of traffic and those long 1,500-metre trains come through that crossing and hold up traffic for 10 minutes or so. It is causing a big build-up of traffic for a few kilometres either side of the crossing. As members can imagine, people are getting very cranky. Again, I have gone into bat hard personally on this issue over the years to ensure that this grade separation occurred. Similarly, my predecessor Len Ardill worked hard on this issue. The minister is very aware of this problem and, again, it requires federal cooperation through the AusLink program. So I am certainly giving my assurance to the people in my local area that I will continue to try to address the transport challenges that we have in our local area. I give my assurance that I will not be making irresponsible claims. I will certainly be trying to work cooperatively with the Commonwealth to get the required level of support and funding that we need to make these projects happen. I commend the bill to the House and commend the efforts of the minister. He has got his head well across the transport initiatives in a very short period of time. We look forward to some very positive road and transport infrastructure initiatives over the coming years. Mr MALONE (Mirani—NPA) (3.16 p.m.): I rise briefly to talk to the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill and commend the shadow minister for her speech on the second reading debate putting the position of the National Party in respect of this matter. Transport in Queensland is a very important issue and has a huge impact on the livability and transportability of people throughout Queensland. An issue that I will go into more detail later in my speech is the fact that the Bruce Highway was cut at Tully recently. Even though that is quite a distance away from where I live, it impacts pretty severely on people travelling up and down the coast. Nowadays people travel for sporting events, conferences and many other reasons. Therefore, that impacts pretty dramatically on their lifestyle. More importantly, it breaks the transport corridor between north Queensland and south Queensland, where the bulk of the population lives. For those people in north Queensland who rely on transport for their livelihood in terms of getting produce to market, it becomes a huge issue. Even though it is within the province of the federal government, there are important priority guidelines that the state government can put in place to ensure that we look at all of those black spots up and down the highway. Most members in the House would realise that my electorate covers a fairly considerable area of highway between Rockhampton and Mackay. It is nothing to skite about, but is rather unfortunate that area is probably the worst in terms of accidents on our highways anywhere in Australia. We all scratch our heads from time to time wondering how we will be able to minimise the number of accidents that 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1015 happen on that stretch of highway between Marlborough and Sarina in particular. The unfortunate part about it is that many of the accidents are single vehicle accidents. They are not head-ons or otherwise. The road between Cairns and Brisbane is a fatigue zone. People unfortunately try to drive from Brisbane to Townsville and find that somewhere around north of Marlborough or south of Sarina they fall asleep or fatigue overcomes them. Unfortunately, we have had some very major accidents in that area. Also it is not an area that is densely populated, so we have problems getting emergency service people there. I would like to commend all of those people who support the professionals with respect to the retrieval of accident victims—the central Queensland helicopter service, the Capricornia helicopter service and all of those people who work within that area such as the ambulance people who do such a great job and the members of the rural fire service who turn out quite regularly. A whole group of people put themselves out to look after people who get hurt on the road. It is so sad. Main Roads had a program of placing audible lines on the side of the road and had implemented a fairly extensive roll out of that program. Unfortunately, that roll out did not go the whole distance of the highway. As I travel that part of the highway fairly regularly, I think it is important that we look at trying to roll out those audible lines even further. I know myself that if you feel even slightly sleepy or pull to the side of the road, those audible lines certainly get you back on the road pretty quickly and wake you up. Ms Nelson-Carr: Do you fall sleep very often? Mr MALONE: No, I do not fall asleep. Fatigue is one of the things that affects all of us—not only people in this House. Certainly, when you are doing long hours and travelling back for three hours on a fairly desolate bit of road, you can stare at the white lines and become a little bit mesmerised. But I believe, and many people have told me, that the audible lines on the edge of the road make a difference. I have consulted with the police on this matter and they seem to concur with me. If we save only one person's life a year by having audible lines the whole length of that section of the highway, from my point of view that is certainly a step in the right direction. I reiterate that it is not only the people who get hurt or get killed on the road; it is the impact that such events have on the reasonably small number of people who live up and down that road and who have to go out and pull people out of cars, direct traffic, or whatever else that happens. I can relate to a truck driver who spoke to me once. He had come across an accident in the very early morning. It was very foggy. He pulled his truck up and put his hazard warning lights on. Unfortunately, other traffic on the road basically kept going at 120 kilometres an hour. It was a very dangerous situation indeed. It is a wonder more people were not killed out of that incident. That truck driver was just horrified to think that people were so blase about the way in which they travelled. Of course, that does not go for everybody, but it is an issue that needs to be addressed. The role of the police on that part of the highway is certainly conducive to trying to keep the people focused on their driving skills. Unfortunately, as I said, there is basically 300 kilometres of road from Sarina through to the other side of Marlborough which is a very difficult part of road to control. The other issue is that during the winter months we have a lot of people in caravans—the grey gipsies we call them—travelling up and down the highway. Some of that road has a speed limit of 120 kilometres an hour. It can become rather frustrating when you reach a long line of traffic that is tagging along behind a number of caravans and are not able to get past. From my point of view, we need more overtaking lanes on that section of road, even though the road is reasonably straight, because of the amount of traffic. Sometimes it is fairly difficult to pass a slow-moving caravan. I for one can assure the minister that it becomes fairly frustrating. When drivers get frustrated, they are inclined to make wrong choices. Unfortunately, that can lead to an accident. That is another issue that certainly needs addressing. I turn to the Peak Downs Highway, which runs from Mackay through part of my electorate out to Moranbah and further out to Clermont. It runs about 10 kilometres out of Mackay and goes through the small town of Walkerston. Most of the heavy equipment that is going out to mine sites is being transported along the Peak Downs Highway. Some pretty big loads—huge loads, in fact—of mining equipment are being transported. But more importantly, there are dangerous loads of fuel being transported in B-doubles. Some years ago QR was hauling fuel out to the mine sites. For some reason or other, lately there has been a trend for the trucking companies to haul out the fuel in B-double tankers. My observation is that probably up to 10 or 15 B-double truck loads of fuel go through a very small section of Walkerston. I think that is a situation that is ripe for an accident. I go back to my predecessor's predecessor, Tom Newbery—and I am talking about 30 years ago—who at that stage also talked about a bypass through Walkerston. So the talk of a bypass through Walkerston has a long history. I do not think that anybody has ever been able to agree on how it might come about. As the minefields grow and the mining companies keep expanding, this is an issue that will have to be addressed sooner or later. It is something that the government and the minister need to keep an eye on. As I said, it is an area where there is an accident waiting to happen. From my perspective, the other issue relating to transport is the accommodation of parking and infrastructure at schools. There are a number of schools in my electorate where this matter is becoming 1016 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004 a bit of an issue. The roads are being used to a greater extent, as are roads right across Queensland. For parents dropping their children off at school, it is becoming a problem. The other issue that I would just like to address very quickly is in relation to the changes to the machinery inspections process throughout Queensland. I know in the previous term of the government it was raised with the then minister. We were assured that things were being sorted out and that people were able to access the transport appointment office here in Brisbane fairly quickly. I can assure the minister that only a couple of weeks ago I had a call from a person who had waited in segments of three periods of over 20 to 25 minutes to try to get through to that office. I do not know if the minister understands how a transport operation works— Mr Lucas: It is not acceptable. Mr MALONE: Absolutely. The real problem is that those people are not quite sure when they are going to get the appointment or where their truck is going to be at that particular time. These guys are running interstate operations. Under the old system, they would make a number of appointments to make sure that they were able to have the truck at that appointment spot at that time. Mr Lucas interjected. Mr MALONE: I am just trying to explain to the minister exactly how it happens. Unfortunately, when you have to pay for each slot, it becomes fairly difficult. So there are a number of issues there. I am sure that somebody has raised them with the minister. Indeed, the way in which the self-regulatory system works may be able to be expanded to enable those guys to go to a private provider or somebody who may be able to do those inspections in a more flexible manner than is happening currently. It is an impost on those operators. Certainly, the people who I am talking to cannot afford to sit on the end of the phone for 20 minutes, half an hour or even 40 minutes waiting to get an answer from Brisbane to find out when they can take their truck in for an inspection. As the minister just said, that is not good enough. I would like to raise quickly the issue of driver reviver stations. There are two driver reviver stations on the Bruce Highway south of Mackay. I would like to commend the volunteers who go down and man those volunteer stations. They are people from Lions, Apex, scouts, cubs—you name it. They go away for the weekend and do a great job. Recently, the issue has been raised that a number of those organisations have endeavoured to sell food or goods at those driver reviver stations and that is upsetting some of the providers of food further along the road. My view is that they are volunteers and they should be entitled to get some recompense for the volunteer work that they do because that money goes back into the community. It is a difficult issue, but I think that commonsense should prevail in the end. The driver reviver stations play a great role, particularly on long weekends. I commend all of the volunteers who staff the stations at Yaamba and south of St Lawrence. They do a great job. The Lions Club in Sarina—we are also setting up a Lions Club here in the parliament—is setting up a little parking area just south of the Plane Creek bridge in Sarina. I commend Main Roads for its support. There is bitumen access into that area and the boys are working hard to put a hard pan down for caravans et cetera to park off the road. Hopefully that will become popular over time and people will be able to have a rest in an area where they can pull off the road and actually park, rather than try to get a park in the middle of town. I commend Main Roads for its support. District Director Ken Williamson in Mackay has been excellent. I work very well with him. In Sarina we have a so-called taxi service that really is a limousine service. As most members would realise, a limousine service has to be booked by phone. It cannot be hailed. Unfortunately, that restricts people being able to use taxis. Another complication has arisen just recently. An operator who has just taken over one of the hotels is supplying a courtesy bus. That has taken quite a bit of the patronage from the limousine service. This operator is actually picking up people from the closer beaches and bringing them into the hotel and then taking them back home later on. It seems to me that there needs to be some regulation of the role a courtesy bus can play, because he is taking away very considerably the livelihood of the limousine service. We have real difficulty in maintaining a service in Sarina. Indeed, there is only one car so quite often during busy times, during the week et cetera, there is a need for more than one car. Unfortunately, the service is supplied out of Mackay, which is more than half an hour away. It becomes quite an issue. Another issue for the local governments in my electorate is the TIDS funding from Main Roads. I understand that the funding that goes to councils to implement their road program is in some doubt. There is a real need to maintain funding, particularly to the rural local government authorities, because they are finding it very difficult. For example, it is quite expensive to replace wooden bridges and so on. An issue I have raised in this House a number of times relates to QR crossings, particularly for the coal line in the area between Yukan and Sarina, where members of the public, farmers and, more particularly, the haul-out operators on the cane farms have to cross QR rail lines. There are two QR rail lines, a north coast line and a mill operated tram line. Unfortunately, QR will not come at putting lights on those crossings. The issue is obviously one of safety. QR will not even look at putting lights or boom gates on the crossing unless the individual farmer agrees to pay half the cost, which I understand is 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1017 around $150,000. As members would well realise, it is well beyond any single farmer to fund that at current levels. The trains are doing up to 80 kilometres an hour. They are electric, so they are almost silent. Sooner or later there will be a significant issue in terms of farmers, and the general public for that matter—school kids et cetera—crossing those three QR lines. That issue really applies only in that 15- kilometre area between Yukan and Sarina. It happens in no other area on the coast that there are two coal lines and a north coast line running parallel to each other. It is an ongoing issue that has been on the books for a long time. I am sure that the minister has been briefed on it. Sooner or later someone will have to take the bit between their teeth and do something about it. With those few words, I commend the bill to the House. Ms STONE (Springwood—ALP) (3.35 p.m.): I am extremely pleased to rise to speak on the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill. Mr Lucas: Extremely pleased? Ms STONE: Extremely pleased, and soon I will tell the minister why. This bill seeks to amend a number of acts dealing with Queensland Rail, shipping laws and shared footpaths, to name a few. However, for the people of the Springwood electorate the most significant change in this bill is the introduction of integrated ticketing for public transport in south-east Queensland by TransLink. That is why I am extremely pleased to speak on this bill. I have spoken many times in this place about the changes needed in Logan to improve public transport. As I travel around the electorate I receive many complaints regarding fare structures and prices. With Logan residents easily able to access Brisbane City Council bus services at Eight Mile Plains, the impact on patronage to the Logan bus service is quite large. The fare structure is regularly compared to Brisbane, and many people in the Logan area feel that they are not receiving value for money. The introduction of TransLink will see this comparison of fare structure and prices disappear forever. From July 2004 TransLink will provide one single public transport network covering south-east Queensland. One ticket will be all that is needed to ride buses, trains and ferries. Zones, fares and concessions will be standardised. This is a huge change for the people of the Springwood electorate. For many years they have put up with fewer concessions, higher prices and sometimes multiple fares to reach their destinations. TransLink will introduce a system where operators no longer will have the market rights to an area. Instead, they will be paid to operate the required type and number of services. This will certainly benefit outlying areas such as Logan. Saturday, 30 August 2003 was a huge day for Springwood and an enormous leap forward for public transport in Logan with the opening of the Springwood bus station. I believe there are three parts to the equation of having the best public transport, and the Springwood bus station is only one part that goes to making Logan more mobile. Since the opening of the bus station Logan residents have had improved access to public transport with more frequent direct and comfortable bus services. It seems like just a short time ago that the people of Logan would stand on the side of the Pacific Highway and flag down a Greyhound bus. That bus service that we remember was around only 20 years ago. Today we have the Springwood bus station and the Hyperdome bus interchange with more bus services than ever before. What I believe can be improved is the linking of services not only within Logan but also throughout south-east Queensland. I am pleased that the department is reviewing local services within Logan. I have submitted on numerous occasions, just like I have spoken in this place on numerous occasions, the improvements residents are telling me need to be made to our local bus routes. I do hope that these suggestions will be adopted and it will be only a short time before the local services residents want will be running. As I have always said, good public transport in my area needs three things. One is the infrastructure, and the Springwood bus station has certainly assisted in satisfying that need. Second is the need for services to be frequent, convenient and quick. I believe that we can do better with regard to local services. The 248 new services in Logan since the opening of the bus station have certainly improved the bus services in my electorate and bus services throughout the whole of Logan City. However, there is still one part of the equation missing, and that is affordability. TransLink will provide that missing link. Standardised zones and concessions and the need for only one ticket will provide affordability of fares that Logan has never seen before. For too long the people in my electorate have had to pay too much for public transport, and for many it was not an alternative to driving. TransLink will see this change. It will revolutionise public transport in Logan and outer regions in south- east Queensland. One only has to go interstate to see the difference one ticket for public transport makes with regard to convenience. I am often reminded of this fact by the community. Indeed, it has been a topic of discussion at many meetings and functions. Finally I can say that the government is delivering, and a one-ticket purchase is all that will be needed for public transport in south-east Queensland. In future we 1018 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004 will see the implementation of the smart card. This, too, will go long way to making public transport even more convenient. I am proud to belong to a government that is making inroads in making public transport affordable and accessible to the people in my electorate and to others in the south-east region. The one thing I have always said I would stand up and fight for was improved transport services for the people of my electorate. TransLink will put an end to the major part of this fight, and I am sure that in the future we will be making only small changes to ensure that we keep up with the local community needs. I am aware that work should commence shortly on extra car parking spaces for the Springwood bus station. These spaces will certainly be needed when integrated ticketing begins. It is important that we get all these factors right at the beginning and have the station more accessible. That is one factor that will go a long way in making people change to wanting to catch the bus. To the minister, I want to say that this is bigger than Ben Hur for my electorate. We cannot wait for 1 July in the Springwood electorate. We have been waiting for years to have an affordable and good bus service. I would like to invite the minister to come down when TransLink opens because the people of Logan are ready for it. We will be there waiting. The queues will be fantastic. When the local bus services are better, we will invite the minister down for that, too. I want to tell the minister that I will be walking to his door regularly to inform him of the bus services, because it is a very important issue to my electorate and I will keep fighting to make sure we get it right. Ms NELSON-CARR (Mundingburra—ALP) (3.40 p.m.): The objective of this Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004 is to amend the acts administered by the Department of Transport and Main Roads as well as the Land Act 1994 and the Land Title Act 1994 administered by the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy. Amendments seek to clarify standards to improve definitions and remove duplication in both process and standards across all acts being considered. Queensland Transport is responsible for developing and managing land, air and sea transport in Queensland, and I congratulate Queensland Transport and the minister on providing leadership by developing and ensuring implementation of very strategic transport policies to help improve the system. One of the things I like about Queensland Transport is that it works very closely with the community, industry and government agencies, and this will ensure a coordinated, consultative and integrated approach to addressing and resolving transport challenges. Main Roads looks after Queensland's 34,000 kilometre state controlled road network. It works in close partnership with local governments, industries and communities to determine priorities for work on the state controlled network. As many have said today, the introduction of TransLink in July is a fine example of this for south-east Queenslanders. It will dramatically improve the way south-east Queenslanders use public transport and it will make life so much more convenient. It will also have environmental benefits by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions quite substantially. Without the population sustainability in north Queensland, we have to really think outside the box when it comes to public transport and use. But I would have to say that the federal government's budget which was brought down on Tuesday night was very disappointing for north Queensland and that is to say the least. Money in the kitty for the crucial eastern corridor was not forthcoming. There was no funding at all for crucial port road-rail hook-ups, and the only new money announced for roads in the greater Townsville region was $550,000 for flood related roadworks between Ingham and Tully—a very short distance, although they will be pleased to receive that funding. The member for Herbert, Peter Lindsay, has rejected criticism of this lack of money. I find it quite ludicrous. He believes the state government should now fund roads of national importance or our National Highways. I do not know where he expects us to get the money from, but his not being disappointed in the federal government's budget as far as roads are concerned is breathtaking. Mr Lucas: He has failed the people of north Queensland. Ms NELSON-CARR: He has failed the people of north Queensland, and he is keeping a very low profile when it comes to roads. The National Highway between Mackay and Cairns is nothing short of a disgrace. We have constant flooding and disadvantage to north Queensland. We are held to ransom because of the condition of these roads, and we do know that roads of national importance will no longer exist and Mr Lindsay will not announce whether north Queensland will benefit from the five-year $3 billion AusLink land transport system. He will not make a comment at all. So no specific projects for north Queensland have been suggested, there is no money for the eastern corridor and there is no money for stage 2 of the port access. Townsville is booming and, in order to service the region, these vital infrastructures must be constructed. It is absolutely appalling that our National Highway can be cut off with monotonous regularity and not be considered for urgent attention. I think the member for Herbert has a lot to answer for and he should remember that he is in Australia's most marginal seat. There is an election this year and I hope that the people of north Queensland decide. Mr Lucas interjected. 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1019

Ms NELSON-CARR: Bypass him totally. Finally, I would like to congratulate the minister again, but I would like to draw to his attention an innovative scheme in Townsville called the Townsville and Thuringowa Transport Solutions Initiative. This is part of a community endeavour involving the council and government. It is a partnership and it is in its initial phase. It is the brainchild of the Townsville Regional Committee on the Ageing, or TRoCotA, and it is piloting a service agreement with Townsville Taxi and other agencies to provide transport on a volunteer basis to people who are otherwise unable to access the service. It is a group of people who are volunteers who may use their own transport or source transport that comes from an organisation like Family Services where that bus or that car is idle for a day or two, particularly over weekends, so that those most vulnerable and marginalised in our community can access it. I wish them well in their endeavours and will be seeking support from our government when the time comes. This is a positive, practical service which will give transport options to those in our community who are most in need and at times when public transport is unavailable. Well done to TRoCotA and to the frail aged, disabled or disadvantaged: may you experience increased enjoyment in your community. I think this is something that could be a pilot or a model in other parts of regional Queensland. I thank the minister and I commend the bill to the House. Mr ENGLISH (Redlands—ALP) (3.46 p.m.): It gives me pleasure to rise and join in this debate this afternoon. The Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004 has a number of components in it. I would like to touch on those that affect my electorate the most. As many members before me have said, integrated ticketing brings with it the prospect of great improvement in public transport in south- east Queensland. I have explained the possibilities of this to constituents by outlining that in my electorate the previous system of boundaries has worked against the local bus company. National Bus Lines provides generally a good service. However, we have the farcical situation that once it passes the border from the Redland shire into the Brisbane City Council area it can no longer pick up. So along Old Cleveland Road a National Bus Lines bus could be half empty or one-third empty following a Brisbane City Council bus but the National Bus Lines bus is not allowed to pick up along that route. This negatively impacts on the financial viability of public buses in my electorate. Hopefully, with the destruction of the boundary system, this will improve the financial viability of buses in the outer urban electorates because now they can run along Old Cleveland Road and collect passengers along the way. This will reduce duplication of effort and hopefully free up additional buses to put on extra services. I know that National Bus Lines has been running close to the wind financially for a number of years and I know how important the service provided by National Bus Lines is to the people of my electorate. So I, along with the residents of Redlands, hope that when integrated ticketing comes in on 1 July this year we will see reduced duplication of effort and greater service delivery to people right across south-east Queensland. I was disappointed that in phase 1 of the integrated ticketing system process the ferries for the southern bay islands, and in my neighbouring electorate of Cleveland ferries to Stradbroke Island, are not included in this process. The initial media releases were somewhat misleading when they spoke about ferries being involved in integrated ticketing. They certainly meant the Brisbane CityCat network but that was never made clear. I know my residents were most disappointed. I am heartened to hear that the ferry services to the southern bay islands, to Coochiemudlo Island and to other islands in the south-east Queensland area will be considered and included in the future roll out of integrated ticketing. Just to try and explain the difficulties faced by some of my constituents in using public transport, you might be a resident on one of the southern bay islands—we will pick Russell Island—and you might work in Brisbane city. You catch the bus which is provided by Redland Shire Council from your home down to the ferry terminal, you pay one fare. You go down to the ferry terminal, you jump on board the ferry operated by BITS, pay a second fare, and are ferried to the mainland. At Redland Bay you will disembark from the ferry; you will then jump on your National bus and pay a third fare. Of course, you could go directly into the city, but let us assume for the purpose of this discussion that you want to catch a train in. You then catch a train from Redland Bay into Cleveland, jump off the bus at Cleveland, jump on the train at Cleveland to commute into the city and you have to pay your fourth fare. At least two of those tickets will now be included in the integrated ticketing. Once you jump on the mainland the National bus fare and the train fare will be included in the one integrated ticket. That will be a huge step forward for the people of my electorate. However, I am sure they will be much happier when we see that phase two roll out including the ferries so my constituents from go to whoa will only have to buy the one ticket. Whilst we are talking about ferries, when I was looking through this bill in preparing my speech I saw the definition of ferry was being changed and I initially had some concerns about how this would impact on service delivery on the Coochiemudlo ferry route. I have received briefings from the department and I have received assurances that the alteration in the definition of ferry will not impact on how that service is delivered at Victoria Point. There will still be the passenger ferry alongside the current existing barge service. The barge will still be allowed to carry walk-on passengers and that will not be affected by this change in definition. 1020 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

I am pleased to be able to put on record that I had concerns, like many of my constituents would have concerns when they see this legislation, but those assurances have put my mind at rest and I wish to put the minds of my constituents at rest that that will not be affected. Much has been said about the recent court decision to allow a convicted paedophile to retain his bus driving licence. A lot of people have been trying to make cheap, rather pathetic mileage out of this problem. As I said earlier this morning in a speech in this House, no-one has a monopoly on wisdom. People on both sides of this chamber when introducing legislation introduce the best legislation they can to try and fix the problems that confront our society. The government assumed that the previous legislation would prevent a convicted paedophile from being put in the position of driving school buses. As a result of a court case we found out that there were weaknesses in that legislation. What I think is a highlight of this government is that that problem was identified last week. Within a week our government has responded and introduced amending legislation into this chamber to close that loophole. I am sure the opposition would have done the same if they were in our position. The fact that there was a loophole there is not an indictment on this government. This government amends bills continually in this House because loopholes have been found in legislation. It is what we do. It is our bread and butter business; closing loopholes, fixing problems that have been identified in bills. I find it difficult for anyone to score political points in this situation. A problem has been identified. The minister, the Hon. Paul Lucas, should be congratulated for responding quickly and decisively to the highlighting of this loophole, and he should be congratulated for bringing this legislation before us in such a short time frame. I would like it to go on record that I am very, very proud of this government for responding quickly and congratulate the minister and his department for bringing this legislation before the House which I believe will make the Redlands a better community and certainly south-east Queensland a much safer community. I commend the bill to the House. Dr FLEGG (Moggill—Lib) (3.54 p.m.): I rise to speak to the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004. Mr Lucas: Don't talk about Cameron Thompson. Dr FLEGG: He doesn't get a mention. Let me say at the outset that the Liberal Party will be supporting this bill in recognition of the fact that most of its provisions are machinery matters to implement TransLink and update regulations in other areas of transport. We have a number of concerns which I would like to remind the government of. But I begin by taking up some of the themes that the minister introduced in his second reading speech. I hope the minister will take my contribution today as a constructive one. If not it will not be gilding things but it will be constructive. In that speech the honourable minister said, speaking of the network of state controlled roads — This network carries 80 per cent of Queensland's traffic. It is the lifeblood of the state's economy and regional development. The network helps all Queenslanders' quality of life by giving them access to jobs, health, education, recreation and other services. Well, if the state controlled roads are the lifeblood of the state's economy as he claims we are in serious need of a transfusion. During the life of this government road spending in Queensland has declined from 20 per cent of total infrastructure spending to a paltry 14 per cent. Particularly in the urban south-east of the state many of the major state controlled arterials are choked like a cholesterol filled artery. As the minister alludes to, this chronic traffic congestion is harming the access of Queenslanders to their place of work, education, health care or recreation. We hear almost on a daily basis in this place rhetoric blaming the federal government for just about anything related to roads. Mr Lucas: If it is a federal road, yes I do. Dr FLEGG: The minister does not mention the state roads. I will. One cannot blame the federal government for the lack of interest and the inactivity of the present state government in addressing even in a planning sense the major problems that confront and frustrate urban residents of our state. I need look no further than my own electorate and surrounding areas. Moggill Road, a state controlled road through my electorate, has grown beyond its capacity. It is choked every morning for kilometres from Kenmore. A surgeon at Ipswich Hospital who lives in Rafting Ground Road contacted my office to report that when responding to an emergency call out to Ipswich Hospital it took 22 minutes to do a right-hand turn out of Rafting Ground Road into Moggill Road. It took him longer to get out of Rafting Ground Road than it would have taken him the whole way through Colleges Crossing. This is a surgeon on an emergency call. This is an intersection and a part of Moggill Road that the minister's department promised to upgrade to allow these people reasonable use of the road. The choking of Moggill Road has virtually choked off the public transport in the area because all we have is the Brisbane City Council bus and it sits in the same monotonous slow queue of traffic through Kenmore as the rest of us do. Members opposite have to learn the difference between a state road and a federal road. This is a bill about state roads. We listened to the member from Springwood telling us about the bus station in Springwood. I am very happy for the people of Springwood. The 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1021 people of Moggill park in the dirt on SEQEB land at Grandview Road and that is the closest thing we have to a park-and-ride. Ms Nolan interjected. Dr FLEGG: If the member for Ipswich wants people to use public transport, let's make it usable for them. Mr Lucas: Get on to your mates in Canberra. Dr FLEGG: In about a week's time we are going to commission some lights on the Kenmore roundabout. We already had a false start on the lights at the Kenmore roundabout, but the minister can expect to be hearing from me if they make the traffic on Moggill Road worse, and they will, because the sole function of those lights is to allow people from Brookfield Road out—in other words to stop Moggill Road traffic. Mr Lucas interjected. Dr FLEGG: Not if it makes the roads impassable. We want the government to actually fix the problem. Mr Lucas: I read in the newspaper what they said about your survey, too. Dr FLEGG: There was nothing wrong with the survey. Only two weeks ago in front of a school in central Kenmore there was a heavy vehicle accident. There is nowhere else for the heavy vehicles to go. Four hundred litres of fuel spilt in front of a school. That road was closed for four and a half hours. It is the only road in and out. The fire engine and the ambulance could not get past the roundabout at Kenmore because of the traffic jam. There was nowhere to divert the traffic. They diverted the traffic back to the beginning of the same traffic jam. The children of the school in central Kenmore were put at risk because this road is inadequate for the traffic and particularly the dangerous heavy commercial vehicles that use it. That is without mentioning the foul up the other day when Main Roads could not even manage to put a cover on lights that were not in use. It did not realise that the computer was going to automatically switch them on. Despite hundreds of calls, it took hours to respond to this angry 10- kilometre stationary queue of traffic. I might sound a bit angry about Moggill Road, but the people out there are very frustrated and getting on to me. I am making sure their views are heard. I thank the Minister for Transport for giving me a good hearing on Moggill Road. It is going to take more than a good hearing; he is going to need the force of personality to get the rest of his government to take this problem seriously. We appreciate him listening, but we want some sort of action. The rest of the government are not interested. The minister is going to have to get in there and convince them, because the system is absolutely failing. Moving out of the electorate of Moggill, the Western Freeway services quite a number of mostly Labor held electorates like Indooroopilly and Mount Ommaney. Every morning when we listen to the radio traffic reports in Brisbane we hear that the Western Freeway is back to Moggill Road. They do not need to put a helicopter up because it is back to there every morning. There is no planning going on in Queensland to address this problem. We understand that the government does not have a bottomless pit of money, but let us at least look at the possibility of improving this situation because the areas between the western suburbs of Brisbane and Ipswich are growing and the traffic volumes on the roads are growing. It is getting worse. It is frightening to think that there is not even any planning. Looking beyond the Brisbane area, important roads in our major tourist centres such as the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast have also been badly neglected by the present state government. The government seems to have little interest in promoting tourism despite it being one of our major employers. The government inaction on the Tugun bypass is legendary. Let us consider another major growth area. We do not need to deal with that one. In recent times, Caloundra has experienced a phenomenal boom, yet the government continues to ignore the plight of those who have to commute on Caloundra Road. They are not-so-patiently waiting for the government to realise that the section from the Bruce Highway to Pearce Avenue is long overdue for four-laning. They are also getting frustrated with the level of service they get from the government subsidised Sunbus. The Sunshine Motorway is a similar story of neglect. Mr Cummins: There is more money than ever before going into that. Get your facts right. Dr FLEGG: And there are more people than ever before going up there. On the Gold Coast residents look like having a long wait for a third lane from Nerang to West Burleigh. Mrs Miller: What about the Ipswich Motorway? Dr FLEGG: The member is still confused about state and federal roads. I will explain later. If the minister is genuine in his remarks and reasons for introducing this bill surely we can expect him to follow through with some tough advocacy and some serious interest and guts in overcoming his government's total disinterest in the road network that it is responsible for. It is so disinterested that it only ever talks about federal roads. Then he could force the government to allocate a reasonable proportion of its resources to this vital infrastructure that is an integral part of the lives of most Queenslanders. 1022 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

In this bill there are a number of measures relating to rail infrastructure. It is a good time for us to consider the state of rail infrastructure in Queensland. Our choked roads, particularly in the Brisbane urban corridor, are not just choked with cars and commuters; the proportion of heavy commercial and goods transports is increasing alarmingly. In recent times, whilst the volume of freight carried by roads has almost trebled, rail freight tonnage has increased by only 90 per cent. I will give members a few figures on road usage from the Australian Bureau of Statistic catalogue No. 3109 at 9208. From 1975 to 2001 Queensland had a 20 per cent increase in the number of kilometres of road, a 42 per cent increase in population, a 93 per cent increase in the number of licensed drivers, an 87 and a half per cent increase in the amount of fuel consumed, a 92 per cent increase in the number of vehicles registered, a 97 per cent increase in the number of vehicle kilometres travelled and a 292 per cent increase in freight transport measured as billion tonne kilometres. That is a huge movement of freight on to our roads that should be going into an upgraded rail system. Mr Lucas: You clearly have no idea of the history of rail spending in Queensland under successive governments—Labor and coalition. Dr FLEGG: We are not hearing much that is going to change it. I heard a few promises about rail from the minister during the election campaign, but what major initiatives have come out of this government on rail? Mr Cummins interjected. Mr Lucas interjected. Dr FLEGG: They do not get enough time to speak, so they want to take my time. it seems that rail is another area where the government is totally disinterested and happy to see Queenslanders living with more heavy and dangerous commercial vehicles lumbering through our residential areas. In this bill the minister makes provision for rail reform for both government and private operators. To get value out of his legislative effort the government has no option and the community of Queensland demands no less than that the rail infrastructure of our state be extended and upgraded as a matter of urgency. Again, the neglect of rail infrastructure in Queensland is particularly damaging to the tourist industry. The member mentioned before the Sunshine Coast, but most of the Sunshine Coast does not have a rail service. As for the long suffering constituents of Moggill, rail is only a dream, or actually more of a nightmare. Our nearest railway station is Indooroopilly, but at Indooroopilly station there is no park- and-ride. There is not a place where passengers can be set down in safety. The local bus station is situated a long way from the station—that is, in Indooroopilly Shopping Centre. Instead of siting all the buses that come into Indooroopilly from the huge area that has no rail service so that people can catch a bus then a train, the bus station is situated miles up the hill. When we were last in government we allocated money towards establishing a park-and-ride at Indooroopilly station, but that $400,000 appears to have disappeared into consolidated revenue. Mr Lawlor: Tell us how you ripped up the line to the Gold Coast. Dr FLEGG: All people in Queensland deserve access to efficient public transport. Parking in the dirt, having buses that end up many hundreds of metres from railway stations, is not going to get people back on to public transport. It is estimated by the Civil Engineering Construction Alliance in its February 2004 report entitled The need for increased infrastructure investment in Queensland that the cost of road crashes in Australia in a single year—it took the figures for 1996—was $15 billion. For a single year the cost of rail accidents was $196 billion. This is a pretty virulent reason to take seriously the government's responsibility to upgrade rail infrastructure. Other findings of this same report were that the investment in infrastructure in Queensland has been steadily declining for a number of years and it has reached its lowest level per capita in two decades. It was found that Queensland needed to increase its gross public fixed capital outlays by more than $1.3 billion annually over current levels simply to halt the deterioration in Queensland's position relative to New South Wales. But not even this amount would address deficiencies caused by relative underinvestment over previous years, nor would it bring Queensland into line with comparable states internationally. In 1983-84, infrastructure outlays were $1,400 per head per capita in constant dollars compared to 2001-02, when the infrastructure spending per capita had fallen below $1,000. This is despite the fact that the required investment per capita to ensure the adequate stock of infrastructure is in fact related to the rate of growth of the population. The higher the rate of population growth the higher the level of infrastructure investment per capita that is required each period. Even the Queensland Treasury states— Queensland has a unique challenge relating to the need to maintain higher rates of capital investment than other states in order to maintain capital deepening in the face of rapid employment and population growth. Residents of Brisbane would not need any reminding of the cost to them and the city of delays due to traffic congestion. The Civil Engineering Construction Alliance's report found that the cost of 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1023 congestion in Brisbane was estimated to rise from $2.6 billion per year in 1995 to a staggering $9.3 billion per year by 2015, and that is in Brisbane alone. Let us consider all the extra petrol that we are burning into the atmosphere, all the people who are late for work, and all the time lost sitting in queues on Moggill Road, the Western Freeway and so on. In other parts of the bill, the minister is easing restrictions on local authorities in relation to applying and enforcing parking restrictions and regulations. It is to be hoped that the local authorities will not see this as an opportunity to boost their revenues by aggressive targeting of motorists for inconsequential breaches or of those who find themselves in difficult situations. The near bankrupt Byron Shire Council of New South Wales has used this aggressive style of revenue raising to the detriment of its local tourism industry. As always, the Liberal Party is interested to see the comments on the protection of transport infrastructure from vandalism and graffiti. We note that more power has been granted to local authorities to control this sort of crime and we hope that they will find a consistent and effective approach to it. I turn my attention to TransLink and note that it has taken this government six years to finally get even close to providing this integrated ticketing. It is badly needed given the hotchpotch approach to public transport in the south-east corner. We have waited a long time to see any fruit of this program and it is to be sincerely hoped that Queensland Transport can get it right so that we have an efficient and smooth ticketing system to encourage Queenslanders into public transport. Mr Lucas: I hope your bedside manner is not like this. Dr FLEGG: This is my constructive contribution. We note the discretion that the CEO of Queensland Transport has to change the service area or route of operators as he sees fit. This is a wide power indeed. We would urge this discretionary power be used thoughtfully and with caution. We will watch with interest as TransLink is implemented to see that it truly delivers the enhanced efficiency and service that gives it so much promise. I pick up on the comments of the member for Maroochydore in relation to the system of compensation for operators who will be adversely affected. As always, the Liberal Party is concerned that, when the government takes this sort of legislative action, innocent victims, particularly small business operators, should have their interests protected and be properly compensated where they are harmed by aspects of the legislation beyond their control. So we are willing to support the government's legislative endeavour with this bill, with our few reservations— Government members interjected. Dr FLEGG: There are just a few reservations that we have, that is all. However, our major reservation is that no amount of legislation in this parliament can compensate for years of neglect of transport infrastructure. The frustration of numerous communities around urban parts of Queensland is growing every year, whilst the government's willingness and commitment to provide even reasonable resources to transport infrastructure seems to continually decline. The Liberals will be supporting this bill, but with the qualifications I have detailed. Mr WILSON (Ferny Grove—ALP) (4.14 p.m.): It is my great pleasure to stand and speak in support of the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004. As indicated by previous speakers, and particularly the minister in his second reading speech, a vast range of issues are dealt with in this legislation. However, I wish to focus on TransLink in particular. I regret that I follow the member for Moggill in the speaking list because I was disappointed with his contribution. He commenced by saying that the Liberal Party supports the bill, yet he spent his remaining 19 minutes finding all sorts of faults with it. He was quite critical and, to be fair, negative about the way in which the Beattie Labor government has been committing extraordinary resources to transport infrastructure throughout Queensland, and particularly south-east Queensland. I did note that by the time the member for Moggill had reached the 17th minute of his contribution— Mr Lawlor: We were all asleep by then. Mr WILSON: I did notice that some on his side were. By the time he reached the 17th minute of his speech, he moved to TransLink. As members on this side of the House have acknowledged, TransLink is an incredibly vital and fundamental component of this legislation. Of course, it is already set up and is shortly to commence. It is regretful that a member of an urban metropolitan seat, which is going to benefit incredibly from TransLink, could find only one or two minutes at the end of his highly negative speech to focus on it. I want to advise the House, and particularly the minister, that in my experience in my electorate the promises held out for TransLink have already started to be fulfilled. TransLink has advertised itself as having a number of network planning priorities. I will list them for the benefit of members. Unfortunately, the member for Moggill appears to have departed the House. Government members interjected. Mr WILSON: That is right. He has probably gone looking for a train in Moggill. 1024 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

The five key network planning priorities are, firstly, to collect information about current public transport services and passenger movements; secondly, set minimum service delivery standards; thirdly, plan services for new and growing areas within south-east Queensland; fourthly, minimise waiting times between connections at key locations; and fifthly, ensure the best use of vehicles during peak and off-peak periods. Associated with that, TransLink has been promoting itself as progressing these priorities with a fundamental preoccupation with building partnerships. The brochure from TransLink states that TransLink is working in partnership with the community, service providers, special interest groups and private industry and all levels of government to ensure positive outcomes and the development of innovative transport solutions that will meet the future needs of Queensland. I want to tell the House that that is exactly what TransLink is doing in the electorate of Ferny Grove. I want to tell the House that the third network planning priority, namely, planning services for new and growing areas within south-east Queensland, is exactly the planning priority that TransLink has been willing to commit time and resources to pursuing in my electorate of Ferny Grove. Since first elected in 1998, the Beattie Labor government has always said that it places a high priority on public transport. The TransLink initiative is one practical and very important way in which we can deliver on the priority that we give to public transport in the south-east corner. My electorate has a number of rapidly growing suburbs such as Upper Kedron and Ferny Grove, and also the Samford Valley. Indeed, ABS statistics tell us that in the last financial year Upper Kedron was growing at a faster rate than any other suburb not only in Queensland but also in Australia. The housing numbers and the population numbers in my area are going through the roof. So I am well acquainted with the pressure that that places on the road network—Samford Road, which is the major arterial that goes through the electorate—and on buses, but principally the Ferny Grove rail line. About 12 months ago a number of residents of Samford Valley came to see me to talk to me about what we could do to address the emerging need for residents in Samford Valley to have public transport access to the Ferny Grove Railway Station. Around about the same time some residents living in the hills district of the southern part of Pine Rivers shire, which is in my electorate, also came to see me about their concerns, principally for elderly people and young people, about the lack of bus services at night, on weekends and on public holidays. We formed two community groups around those two issues. We convened a number of meetings with officers from Queensland Transport and TransLink to, firstly, make those officers acutely aware of the emerging needs in that area and, secondly, discuss ways in which we could progress TransLink's consideration of opportunities for extending or introducing new public transport solutions in the future to meet those constituents' needs. I am happy to report that last Monday night there was a highly successful community meeting attended by about 45 people in Samford Valley to hear a report back from the Samford public transport action group on a survey that they conducted of the residents of Samford Valley. The population of the Samford Valley is about seven and a half thousand. Survey forms were distributed to every household through the Village Pump. Over 400 survey forms came back reporting on the preferences of over 700 people in that community. As members are familiar with statistics and survey results, they would agree that that is an extraordinarily high level of response to a survey. The survey results were presented to the meeting—and I will not go through them at this point—but at that meeting we had a representative on behalf of TransLink, Queensland Rail, local government, various bus providers, and there were also two councillors from the Pine Rivers Shire Council. Feedback was provided to that community group. There are significant difficulties in addressing the public transport needs of the residents of Samford Valley and the community well recognises them. They were revealed in those survey results. However, they are keen to continue discussions with TransLink. It has been agreed by a representative of TransLink that those conversations will continue to happen to see whether there are innovative ways of addressing the needs of at least particular sections of the community in Samford Valley in gaining access to public transport to the Ferny Grove terminus. That is a practical example of what TransLink is on about. A key priority is planning new services and considering new services for growing and emerging communities in the south-east corner. It is doing that by building partnerships with the community, with other service providers, and with other stakeholders. I thought that it was important to let this House know and let the minister know of that concrete example of how the new initiative of TransLink is working on the ground and working very successfully with people in building their confidence in that we are serious about addressing their local concerns about access to public transport. I will finish on this note. Not only is this government committed to enhancing opportunities for public transport through TransLink, but Queensland Transport, as was announced prior to the election, has put forward a joint venture proposal of $5 million in public funds and $5 million in private funds for a possible joint venture for the redevelopment of the Ferny Grove Railway Station and car park to increase significantly the availability of parking spaces at that railway station to assist more and more people to access the Ferny Grove line. That is an important initiative. I am hopeful that some productive outcomes will emerge in the not-too-distant future that will also help support public transport access in my electorate. 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1025

I am pleased to commend the minister for this legislation. I am delighted to see that he will be in charge of the TransLink initiative as it formally commences from 1 July. We know that it is in safe hands. My electorate looks forward to a continued, positive relationship with TransLink to explore in whatever way we can how improved public transport can be provided to people in the emerging, developing suburbs within my electorate. I commend the bill to the House. Mrs DESLEY SCOTT (Woodridge—ALP) (4.25 p.m.): We all know that a smart, modern city requires efficient, clean and safe public transport that has easy access and a simplicity of ticketing systems. I am happy to say that the new integrated ticketing system embodied in the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill will go a long way to improving public transport in the south-east region of the state. The area covered by this new regime stretches from the New South Wales border in the south to Noosa in the north and west to Helidon. If people were to ask any resident in the electorate of Woodridge for a list of their concerns, public transport would figure high on their list. I wish to direct my comments mainly to issues as they relate to my electorate. The electorate of Woodridge straddles the main rail link to the Gold Coast. So my electorate has three rail stations that serve it very well: Trinder Park, Woodridge and Kingston. The trains are well patronised and, in the main, offer good service. Over the years there have been issues of safety, both on the trains as well as at the stations. However, recent improved security on board the trains and safety cameras and safety measures at stations have improved those issues. Woodridge has a well patronised taxi service as well as our LANDS Transport, which offers a great service for people who are aged or disabled. However, it is the bus service that draws the most comment in the area. Over the years there have been many gains, but with the size of the population it has always been an uphill battle to offer the number of regular services that our population expects. Reg and Yvonne Clark and their family, owners and operators of the Logan City Bus Service, have worked with the community to try to improve services. I might say that when the Springwood bus station was opened, a large number of additional services were added. The electorate of Woodridge has a very distinctive demographic. There are many individuals and families who may not own a car, there are many people who have disabilities and many who are aged. When community renewal was commenced in the area, transport was high on the agenda for discussion. Yes, it took maybe 18 months to two years of deliberations and intense planning by our community reference groups of Woodridge, Kingston and Loganlea, together with Queensland Transport, Clark's Bus Service, and Logan City Council to commence a great transport project. It consisted of three midibuses with low floors designed to serve the residents within the more narrow suburban streets. Bill Croft from the Logan City Council came up with the idea of a painted blue line on the side of the road to designate routes and the buses operate on a hail and ride concept. Now fondly called the Blue Dash Shuttle, these buses have become a very familiar sight on our city streets. When integrated ticketing was first mooted, the Blue Dash committee had immediate concerns for the future of this very important local service. A meeting was arranged in my office with a planning officer from TransLink, who assured us that TransLink recognised the value of such a service in the Woodridge and Kingston areas and that the service would be continued. It was on this basis that an additional round of community renewal funding was allocated to keep the buses on the road until July 2004. This service is a wonderful example of a community finding innovative solutions to local problems, and I look forward to the service continuing. In conclusion, I recognise the huge effort required to coordinate a project such as integrated ticketing. Transport is very big business, but if our way of life in south-east Queensland is to remain and our clear skies and fresh air are to be protected then we must have an efficient, inviting public transport system. I believe that it is far better to offer a carrot than a stick when trying to improve public patronage of our transport systems. My congratulations go to the minister, his staff and those working on this project. I commend the bill to the House. Mr ROWELL (Hinchinbrook—NPA) (4.30 p.m.): There is little question that transport is a very important issue in this state. We have heard several members from both sides of the House, particularly the government side, speaking about the needs within the city area of Brisbane and its environs. It is certainly an issue that needs to be addressed. I suppose that as we increase the density of people within an area so the complexity of dealing with transport becomes apparent. Very expensive highways have to be built and mass movers such as rail and bus are needed. I have to relate issues in the regional areas of the state, particularly what happened recently with flooding of the highway south of Tully. On at least two occasions—it could have even been on three— towards the end of April the highway was out for some three days. This is a main arterial link between Brisbane and Cairns and certainly between Townsville and the far-northern region of the state. I am also aware that towards the end of the second week in February there was another major outage. During that period the rail was also out. An excellent job was done by the SES. In fact, SES officers stayed up all night making sure the traffic kept to just one lane. That was quite important, because there were potholes in the road and problems were developing with traffic control. I really commend them for the great effort they made. 1026 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

Towards the end of April traffic was banked up for some two kilometres on either side of the flooded area, which was going towards the Murray Flats ultimately, certainly the Tully River bridge and towards Euramo on the southern side and on to Silky Oak. The Tully River bridge is fine, but the close approaches to the bridge are quite low. Some work needs to be done. A service station at Silky Oak sold only something like $50 of fuel over the three days. It was necessary for the council to bring along some temporary toilets because we saw people urinating and so on on local properties. That certainly is not what should be happening on our major highway. This is the No. 1 highway. The flooding issue is enormously damaging to the tourist trade. We have tourists saying, 'We don't want to come back to north Queensland—it is just too difficult—if we are going to see these constant outages on the highway and difficulties in getting through.' Some commercial travellers got through to me and said they were finding it difficult to trade in this area because they are never quite sure, during certain periods of the year, whether they will be able to get through from Townsville to Cairns. Some high-clearance vehicles were ferrying cars across, which is extremely dangerous. With the rapid flow of the Tully River they could get washed off. I have seen at other times in other places where this has been attempted and it has been quite dangerous to negotiate the rivers or the creeks in north Queensland. There is an immediate need to ensure we make some of these main arterials flood proof. Once again, we saw excellent work towards the end of April by the SES in providing a valuable service and assisting those people who were on the road. To have traffic banked back for two kilometres either side of the area south of Tully is incredible. Mr Lucas: You better talk to Minister Anderson about that. Mr ROWELL: I will come to that. If the government wants to distribute blame, that is fair enough, but I am just putting forward that there is an absolute need to do something about the high dependency of far-north Queensland on this arterial. In fact, a semitrailer carrying potatoes ran off the road and ended up on its side. Because of the muddy conditions, the drains and so on they could not get to it for some time. It was probably three or four days later that I passed through there and became very aware of the problems associated with righting that truck. I saw the owner or the driver of the truck inspecting it, but there was no chance of getting to it because of the muddy conditions of the table drain along the road. There is a very significant banana, paw paw and tropical fruit industry in north Queensland. Those crops are harvesting 12 months of the year. In the event of roads flooding, alternative routes have to be found. They have to go up through the Atherton Tablelands, which is quite a lengthy detour. Some of the roads are not in the best condition. It certainly affects the quality of the product they are carrying. It certainly is not in anyone's best interests to add additional time to the lengthy journey they already have to make to reach southern markets. Presently, the road has broken up as a result of it being inundated and transport going on it under wet conditions. In that type of situation potholes will develop and the road will break up. The minister said that we should get on to our federal colleagues. That is great. There is a process—I am sure the minister is well aware of it—whereby it is incumbent on the state to identify issues and carry out the planning design work. The preordination of that work is quite important in terms of federal funding to ensure we get a result from the federal government. Mr Lucas: Top priority. Mr ROWELL: I am pleased to hear the minister say that it has a top priority, because it is absolutely essential. We do not want people coming to north Queensland and those involved in commerce being faced with the disruption that occurs as a result of the wet season. When we get to the end of April and we are experiencing much the same problems we face normally during February and March, it is extremely serious. Miss Simpson: Which one is the top priority? They say everything is top priority. Mr ROWELL: I am hearing that it is top priority, and that is encouraging. Mr Lucas interjected. Mr ROWELL: No. I am just trying to be positive about this. Mr Lucas: I will answer the shadow minister in due course. I can give a string of priorities the federal government has let us down on. Mr ROWELL: I do not want to get involved in some controversy across the chamber. I am just saying that it is extremely important that something is done about it. Raising the road by a metre would alleviate some major problems in many of the areas. I realise that in other areas much more will be required. We have to make sure we provide adequate drainage, adequate throughflow via piping, culverts or whatever to ensure water does not bank up on one side of the road to the disadvantage of farm land that adjoins the highway. 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1027

We have seen that happen with rail in some instances and I do not want to see it happen if we are going to do a design project. We have to make sure that whatever is in that design project is adequate as regards getting water underneath the road, from one side of the road to the other, to ensure that we do not get any build-up. As I understand it, the problem area pretty much is from Corduroy Creek. This occurred in February and once again affected the Murray Flats, which are immediately after the Corduroy Creek area. There are areas close to the town of Tully that need attention, too. I have heard figures of $80-plus million. Who knows what they will be when a thorough study is done. I have seen that put forward as a proposal. It is the sort of money that needs to be spent. It is hard to determine the high spots and low spots that one has to do the calculations on when one carries out the planning, but it is not as though we have to raise the whole level up. There are some high areas and some low areas. I only hope that the planning is well advanced and that it is being presented to the federal government. Once again, if that is the case and I am aware of it, I will certainly be pushing it because it is instrumental not just for my electorate, which is right in the middle of the area that is a major problem, but for the whole of far-north Queensland. If we are going to have a tourist trade where people can travel north with some degree of regularity, we need to deal with these issues. Another issue that I want to talk about is the Cardwell Range. In the northern sector of the Cardwell Range there have been some accidents over a period of time—many accidents, in fact—and some have been fatal. It is a very narrow, twisty road and I believe that three years ago planning was to take place. I do not know how advanced that planning is, but what we have is a mixture of a lot of heavy transport and tourists on a very narrow, twisty road. I think that is a recipe for problems as we increase the level of usage of that road. Once again, I hope some planning and proposals have been put forward to the federal government on that issue because we need to have something done there, too. I have seen some very bad accidents. I have seen some fatal accidents, as I have indicated, and that has been going on for a number of years. With the increased level of traffic that is on that road, it will only get worse. I would like to turn to the issue of rail because that is another big mass mover, whether it is of people or whether it is of freight. It is a very important issue to the northern regions of the state. I personally use rail for some of the goods that I produce. I have to say that the advancements made as far as refrigeration of containers and the actual ride that the product gets are probably better in some respects than road transport. I deal with a very perishable commodity that I did not think I would ever put on rail. Mr Lucas: You never brought us down any. Mr ROWELL: If the minister would like to part with a few dollars, I will bring him down some. The rail system has improved substantially over a period of time, but once again what we saw in February and at the end of April was the rail out along the Tully flats. In some instances, because the rail was out and the roads were semi-open with anything up to 200 or 300 millilitres of water, we saw transports taking containers between Ingham and Tully where container cranes offloaded the containers and made their journey further north or further south. The Tully flats area is a problem not only as far as road transport is concerned but also as far as the state is concerned. It is a state responsibility to raise the level of the railway line to ensure that freight trains can get through. Quite often the Murray flats is an area where trains are stopped. They can get up to Ingham but very often trains terminate at Townsville, particularly passenger trains, and they turn around and people in the northern sector of the state are denied the opportunity to travel by rail or have their goods sent by rail. Once again, as I said, the SES did a tremendous job during those periods of outages to ensure the safety of the people on the road. I would like to mention something about the illustrious tilt train. Something like $140 million was spent on the tilt train. It could be even more than that; I have not seen the final figures. But I believe that money could have been spent better to straighten the rail system and certainly to raise the line. When we talk about efficiency, whether it is a person wanting to get to a place in a hurry and you are competing with road transport or air transport, one wants to get there in a reduced period of time. What we are seeing because of the nature of the track, particularly north of Townsville, is that it is very twisty. A know a lot of money has been spent—something like $340 million—on the track system. It has been levelled out, but more work could have been done to realign it to ensure that trains could travel faster. I know that axle ratings have been increased. All those things are great. But at the end of the day, whether it is the Sunlander, the Queenslander or the tilt train—which I believe is not getting the level of patronage that it should be for the amount of money spent—I believe we could have diverted funds into straightening the track and lifting it. This is something that the government has to deal with. Whether the reason for doing it was political, I am not quite sure. I would also like to talk about some issues that are quite important to the Johnstone shire—an area which I represent a part of. There are something like six bridges that are old and wooden and which desperately need some improvement. Their capacity to carry loads is getting to the point where in some cases if a cane harvester is on a low-loader it has to be taken off the low-loader. The low-loader drives across and then the harvester drives across and they reload it, and so it goes on. 1028 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

Although the Jubilee Bridge in Innisfail is not in my electorate, there is a need for money to be spent there because it is another main artery leading down to Flying Fish Point, the TAFE college and other places. If the council was going to go into a TIDS program, it would cost it an enormous amount of money. There is also a single-lane bridge over the South Johnstone River on which B-double traffic is being carried. I do not think that should happen. I am very aware of B-double routes and I am not aware that there are B-double routes where single-lane bridges are involved. We also have a major issue on the Boogan Road, where these B-doubles are certainly causing some havoc to residents. They have tried various routes but none of them has been particularly successful. So some finances are needed to be spent on that particular road. There is also an issue with the Mount Fox Road, which is getting into the Hinchinbrook electorate. We would certainly like to finish the Wallaman Falls Road, but some substantial costs are involved there. Because of the problems associated with the sugar industry at the present time, the councils are having great difficulty in getting the rates paid by property holders. They have another problem, too. A lot of the area comes under World Heritage. I think something like 70 per cent of Cardwell shire comes under World Heritage, and 50 per cent or thereabouts of the Hinchinbrook shire is under World Heritage. We also have forestry involved in it, and forestry does not seem to pay rates or contribute to roads, and I think that is an issue that needs to be addressed, too. I do not think it is fair that the local authorities have to foot the bill for repairs to roads or improvement of roads where forestry is using them substantially. I know that is occurring particularly in the southern end of the Cardwell shire, where we are now taking logs out and there are a number of semis on the road at any one particular time. Minister, I know we can talk about the federal government and what they should be doing, but I think it is particularly important as far as the highway is concerned to ensure that we do have the design work done so that we can present it to the federal government. I am only too willing to participate in this issue. We have got to address the issue of where the money is coming from now. The federal government has certainly put forward some money for Queensland. We can always say that we need more. At the end of the day I think the way we go about designing it is to put a program in place where certain sections can be done over a period of time to ease the burden of the massive costs involved in some of these projects. They do not necessarily have to be completed within a year or two. It is particularly important that we get on with the job and not worry about who is to blame. If we do not make sure that these types of projects are put into motion then we will have the increasing problem of people being held up on a highway. This situation will impair the reputation of Queensland and I do not think it is in the best interests of the state to have substantial areas in the road system, particularly on a major highway, that are not accessible. Mrs CARRYN SULLIVAN (Pumicestone—ALP) (4.50 p.m.): I rise today to support the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004 which was introduced into this parliament by the Minister for Transport and Main Roads on 20 April of this year. I acknowledge him and his hardworking staff for bringing these amendments to the parliament. I particularly congratulate this minister on his sympathetic approach to issues of roads, as they can be very emotive. I guess I feel as let down as he does in relation to the total disregard of the federal government in not producing the funding for vital roads and road issues in electorates such as mine. People have every right to feel abandoned by the Liberals. All we got in the seat of Pumicestone was a gigantic taxpayer-funded photo of the Liberal member for Longland, Mal Brough, suggesting that one of our major roads needed a bypass. Good of him, I think, to interfere with state government issues. Obviously the federal issues are too hard for him to tackle. But where is the money? Mr Lucas: Totally ineffective federal representation. Mrs CARRYN SULLIVAN: I have to take that interjection from the minister. The minister knows about this issue and is doing some research on it at the moment and I thank him for that. We know there are plenty of road issues. We do not need to be reminded. What we do need is money and support. The northern bypass for Caboolture is the state government's priority with regard to bypasses at present and we need to find something like $65 million. The federal government actually should have plenty of left-over money from its budget because what we did not get was money for health and money for education. They certainly missed out. So, what I say to the federal member for Longland is, 'Come on, Mal. We need action, not billboards.' Ms Male: Now he is interfering with Caboolture policing matters and other state government issues instead of concentrating on federal matters. Mrs CARRYN SULLIVAN: I would have to take that interjection from my learned colleague, the member for Glass House. Mal Brough is grandstanding. There are no two words that go better together in a dictionary than 'Mal Brough' and 'grandstanding'. What the member for Glass House and I need from the federal member is a bit of commitment—a bit of support from the federal member instead of political interference. All it has done has created confusion and fear in the community. 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1029

The aim of the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill, as indicated in the relevant explanatory notes, is to amend a number of acts under the control of the Department of Main Roads, also the Land Act 1994 and the Land Title Act 1994 that are administered by the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy. Although this bill covers a number of important amendments, I would like to concentrate my remarks on the Beattie government's new transport integrated ticketing system, or TransLink proposal, which when introduced on 1 July this year will be one of the most significant areas of change and one that will have a very positive and profound effect on many people in our area, particularly those who use public transport. With the introduction of TransLink people will be able to enjoy a single public transport network; and for those travelling some distance and having to use several forms of transport it will be welcome news. It will have the advantage of being easier, cheaper and certainly much more convenient. This new system is certainly a win for travellers. It will consist of 23 zones covering an area in south-east Queensland from Noosa on the Sunshine Coast right through to Coolangatta on the Gold Coast and west to Helidon. Anyone wishing to access this service will only require one ticket. What happens now is that people using more than one form of public transport for a journey need to buy individual tickets. This certainly takes time. Under TransLink, one ticket will take you wherever you want to go. Under the new system zones, fares and concessions will be standardised across it therefore providing one set of rules for everyone. What a great change for south-east Queensland. Many of my constituents regularly use public transport for work and leisure and I certainly know this will be a great benefit to all of those travellers. Our area, like others, has undergone and still is undergoing rapid population growth and urban sprawl. As we have realised, a key part of managing these challenges and adequately catering for transport needs is to provide public transport that is effective and efficient, cheap and able to be used ably and easier. TransLink is working cooperatively with other relevant bodies, including the Queensland government, Brisbane City Council, Queensland Rail and private operators to improve the integration of the services making it easier for travellers to get to their destination. Bribie Island Coaches and Caboolture Bus Lines, both well respected and reliable private bus companies in my electorate of Pumicestone, and other private bus companies are being well represented by the Queensland Bus Industry Council, or QBIC. Its aim is to develop and maintain a safe, reliable and viable public passenger transport system in the state which is consistent with the expectations of the travelling public and regulatory authorities. To date I have received very positive feedback from constituents about the new TransLink proposal and the different types of ticketing being made available, for example: singles, daily tickets, off- peak dailies, weekly and, of course, monthly. Frequent public transport users have welcomed the convenience of the system which will require a ticket for a bus, train, ferry or a combination of some or all of them. We must not forget the positive impact on the environment. The more people we encourage to get out of their cars and on to public transport the better for the environment. Reports have suggested that TransLink is likely to increase the use of public transport by as much as five per cent in the next two years. Think of the greenhouse emissions this will save. Anyone wanting more information about TransLink I would highly recommend visit the Department of Transport's web site at www.translink.com.au. Regional brochures with maps of zones and fares will also be available in a comprehensive directory in the near future. I commend the bill to the House. Mrs MILLER (Bundamba—ALP) (4.57 p.m.): I rise to support the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004. This bill amends several acts of parliament including the Land Act, the Transport Infrastructure Act, the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act, the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act and the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act and other acts. I would like to talk about the Ipswich Motorway as this is the most important road in my electorate. The Ipswich Motorway starts in my electorate at Dinmore where the Warrego Highway and the Cunningham Highway intersect. However, of great shame to the Commonwealth government, no commitment was made to upgrade the Ipswich Motorway in the budget. I would like to point out to the parliament the social impacts on not funding the Ipswich Motorway in my community. This is literally what happens: most people wake up in the morning and instead of going down and having breakfast, they wake up and turn on the radio —not to listen to the music or to the news but to the traffic reports. If the traffic reports are bad they do not eat breakfast, they get ready and they go, because they know that they have to try and get to work on time and they try and get as far down the motorway as they can. Families are getting up up to an hour earlier every morning to try and beat the traffic. Three years ago people could leave at a normal time, but now those who are working in the same jobs, travelling along the same road, the Ipswich Motorway, are leaving up to an hour earlier to make 1030 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004 sure that they get to work. This affects the whole family. It is affecting young children who are going into child care. They are getting out of bed earlier and getting dressed earlier too and dropped off to child care earlier costing their parents money. The same thing applies for those children who go to before-school care. Then the mums and dads have to fight the motorway traffic. There is the stress of getting on to the motorway. There is the stress of going kilometre after kilometre in stop-start traffic. There is the stress of not moving at all—of sitting in the car park atmosphere where people have no idea if and when it will clear. There is the stress of the ambulance sirens and the police sirens if there happens to be an accident. There is also the incredible stress of being late to work or not being able to meet appointments. When people get to work they have to explain their lateness to their boss and then suffer the humiliation of having their pay docked. That is disgraceful. People in my city, particularly casual workers, cannot rely on their money because they are late getting to work due to the traffic on the motorway. I travel this motorway nearly every day of my life and I can tell members that it is one of the most dangerous roads in Queensland. Coming home we have the reverse situation. People have the stress of getting on to the motorway, of sitting in the stop-start traffic and also being late home. I inform the House that there are not just those stresses but there is an enormous economic impact. Some child- care centres and some after-school centres charge $1 per minute in late fees. If someone is one hour late they are charged $60 in late fees. If they are an hour and a half late they are charged up to $90. Our child-care centres tune in to the traffic reports because they have to work out when they are going to get home as well. When they pick up the kids from child care or after-school care they are stressed before they get home and when they get home. This is no way for my community of Ipswich to live. The federal government talks about a work and family package. Let me tell members that it has a hide and cheek to talk about work and families. It is not that way. My people do not believe that the federal government is family friendly at all. In fact, we think that the family friendly budget is a joke as far as Ipswich is concerned because they cannot fix the motorway. The only party that will fix the Ipswich Motorway is the Labor Party. We now have a wonderful placard on the Ipswich Motorway. It features Bernie Ripoll and Shane Newman, the candidate for Cameron Thompson's seat of Blair. He is a terrific candidate. They have this big billboard up on the Ipswich Motorway that says that only Mark Latham and the Labor Party can fix the motorway. That is true. We want Cameron Thompson moved out of the seat of Blair because he is an absolute disgrace. The Liberal Party are as well. I understand that the member for Moggill and the Queensland Liberals actually support the upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway. They are not game to do anything about it because they are too frightened of John Howard and Peter Costello. Ms Nolan: We're not. Mrs MILLER: We are not frightened of them. We hope to rout them at the next election. We need Mark Latham, Bernie Ripoll and Shane Newman in there. Ms Molloy: And Ivan Molloy. Mrs MILLER: And Ivan Molloy. We need Ivan Molloy from the Sunshine Coast in there as well. Because the motorway is blocked every day of our lives the people in my electorate know the back roads coming into Brisbane very well. So if they get stuck on the motorway, they go through Brisbane Road at Redbank, which annoys the Redbank people because they do not want all that traffic. Then they go along Wacol Station Road and then come through the member for Mount Ommaney's electorate. People get annoyed about that as well. If they go along Redbank Plains Road and then on to the Centenary Motorway they get stuck because of the traffic on Kelliher Road. It really is a disgrace. It is absolutely shocking that the federal government will not fund the upgrade of this road. We are desperately in need of the $600 million from the federal government to upgrade this road. I live in fear of travelling on this road most of the time. In the middle of the day we are able to travel at speed but most of the time we never know whether there is going to be an accident—whether it is at the Gailes spaghetti junction or the Goodna on and off ramps. Even though most of the people in my electorate are very aware of the safety issues on the motorway, accidents do occur, not through their being inattentive but basically because they cannot see too far ahead. They are lucky to see 100 metres because of the meandering nature of the road. I ask the minister, on behalf of my electorate and the people of Bundamba, where the motorway starts, to keep up the pressure on the Tories in Canberra and take the fight right up to them until we get the money for this road. I commend the bill to the House. Ms NOLAN (Ipswich—ALP) (5.04 p.m.): I, too, want to speak in support of the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill brought to the House by the Minister for Transport, Paul Lucas. In speaking to the bill, I want to very strongly endorse the comments of my friend and colleague the member for Bundamba about the Ipswich Motorway. 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1031

Before I get on to those matters, I want to deal with the aspects of the bill that relate to the TransLink program—a program that has been in development for more than five years in south-east Queensland and which will, for the first time, give us a genuinely integrated south-east Queensland public transport system of ferries, trains and buses. One of the big issues on the political agenda at the moment is the rapid rate of population growth in south-east Queensland. There is no doubt that, while we do need to build more road transport infrastructure, in the long term if we are going to have a genuinely economically and environmentally sustainable community we need to have a greater proportion of the journeys undertaken in south-east Queensland undertaken by public transport. For that reason TransLink, which will come into effect on 1 July, is incredibly timely. Ipswich currently has a comprehensive public transport system, elements of which, however, are underutilised. The rail service is exceptional. It is a quality, well utilised service which provides clean, efficient, on time trains right throughout the day and night. So far this financial year there have been 400,000 journeys on the Ipswich line. There is also a good quality bus service in Ipswich provided by Westside bus company to which the state government provides an annual subsidy of $1.2 million for the provision of bus services. We have to understand that, without that subsidy, there would simply be no public bus service in Ipswich. One of the elements of TransLink is that the subsidy for public buses will be increased by another $750,000 a year, on top of the existing $1.2 million. That will provide better morning services, no service will be provided less than every hour and it will provide better services on Saturday mornings. Importantly, there are currently about 550,000 journeys a year on the Westside Bus Service in Ipswich. This is something that forms an important part of many people's lives, particularly those who, often for financial reasons, do not have their own vehicles. TransLink gives us the opportunity to better integrate both ticketing and timetables and will make a huge difference in terms of the quality and usability of Ipswich's public transport system. Importantly, in addition to that, it will also allow us in Ipswich for the first time to promote the public transport system as a single network. It is my view that there is a huge capacity to increase the utilisation of the bus service if we only promote it. I am one of the many people in Ipswich who live on a bus route but do not know when the buses go by and where they are going. There has never been any serious effort to promote bus transport to the people of Ipswich. Now we have TransLink we will, for the first time, be able to genuinely promote the concept to people that they can walk out their front door, buy one ticket and that will take them by bus, ferry or train to anywhere in south-east Queensland. As the local member, I am disappointed to say that I do quite frequently have complaints about the quality of elements of the bus service. I have complaints that the buses do not run on time and occasionally that the drivers are not sufficiently sympathetic to people who have things like mobility problems. This has been a constant source of frustration to me and I know to many people in the community, particularly the older members of the community. It is simply not good enough. I take this opportunity today to call, on the public record, for Westside Bus Service to provide a more courteous and more timely service for Ipswich people. I do not think that that is too much to ask. It is something that I have consistently asked for in my dealings with Westside and it is something that the Department of Transport has made extremely clear it simply expects. Ipswich people have every right to expect a courteous, efficient, timely bus service. Given that the state government puts $1.2 million a year into that service, as the local member I have every right to say that we as a government representing a community expect that quality of service as well. I now want to talk about the Ipswich Motorway, as the member for Bundamba did. The Ipswich Motorway was one of the major issues that I raised in my maiden speech. At that time I said that it was dangerous, ugly, congested and potholed. Since I made my maiden speech, six more people have died on that road, with the most recent fatality occurring just a couple of weeks ago. The local paper, the Queensland Times started counting the cost only six months ago and already has reached $5 million. The Ipswich Motorway is strangling the Ipswich economy and it is a constant source of frustration for Ipswich people. The member for Bundamba argued very strongly that that $5 million is, at best, generous to the motorway. It is costing our economy and it is costing individuals often hundreds of dollars and sometimes their jobs, because driving on the Ipswich Motorway is a day-by-day proposition and it is dangerous. Probably the greatest source of frustration for people is not only that they do not know when it will be congested; they do not know when it will be completely and utterly blocked. It is not at all uncommon for Ipswich people to leave for work and not just, as the member for Bundamba said, get there late but in fact turn around and go home because they could not get through the Ipswich Motorway at all. Ipswich is the fourth largest city in Queensland. It has a population of 135,000 people. It is the third largest city in south-east Queensland. More than half of its population works in Brisbane on any given day. However, quite frequently these people simply cannot get to work because of the desperate state of this road. As we all know, this road is a 100 per cent federal government responsibility. It is part of the National Highway and has been for decades. Therefore, there is no argument that the federal government, that is, the Howard government, is not absolutely 100 per cent responsible for this road. 1032 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

There is strong agreement in the Ipswich community that the Ipswich Motorway needs upgrading to six lanes. All the consultation and all the planning for that to happen has been done. This agreement is not just a Labor Party thing. It cuts across the community and it cuts across party lines. The Ipswich City Council, the Liberal Brisbane City Council, the state members of parliament Bruce Flegg, Don Livingstone, Jo-Ann Miller and I, and the RACQ, which is not political at all, agree that the Ipswich Motorway must be upgraded to six lanes. The man standing between Ipswich and its desperately need motorway upgrade is the federal member for Blair, Cameron Thompson. For a number of years now Cameron has consistently put forward the bizarre proposition that the way to fix this road is to build half a bypass from somewhere around Dinmore to, perhaps, somewhere around Wacol, although we do not really know. The proposition includes not one or two but four bridges across the Brisbane River, yet it still only bypasses half of the Ipswich Motorway. One day last week I was driving home from Brisbane and was completely stopped for a good while on the Ipswich Motorway. I ended up going home via Springfield on the Centenary Highway, which the state government is going to extend to create a genuine alternative route to Ipswich. Mrs Miller: At a cost of $120 million. Ms NOLAN: At a cost of $120 million, as the member for Bundamba says. I took that route because the Ipswich Motorway was blocked and the traffic was stopped. Importantly, the traffic was stopped at Wacol and that happens all the time. Cameron Thompson's proposal for half a bypass would not stop that from happening. It is half a bypass that would involve the costs associated with building four bridges across the Brisbane River. That is an absurd cost. Cameron Thompson has continued to campaign for this ludicrous option for a number of years now. In the Ipswich community it is becoming increasingly clear that he is the man who is holding up the federal government's funding of this road, and he is the man who is standing between Ipswich and its desperately needed upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway. Mr Shine: I hope they remember that later in the year. Ms NOLAN: I think they will. Ipswich needs this motorway upgrade. Cameron Thompson is stopping it. I think the conclusion is a simple one. Mrs Miller: He's got to go. Ms NOLAN: This road has to happen and he has to go. Mr KNUTH (Charters Towers—NPA) (5.15 p.m.): I rise to speak to the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill. As members would be aware, transport and its infrastructure play a very important part in my electorate. It takes me 11 hours to travel from Georgetown to Alpha. One particular road that I would bring to the House's attention is the Gregory Development Road, and also the road that runs from Charters Towers to Lynd. Those roads form a general topic of conversation within the pubs, the clubs and the township of Greenvale. Today I heard two members speak about the road between Townsville and Cairns and the difficulty they have when it floods. When that road does flood, many of the people who use it divert and travel down the Gregory Development Road. That road does not even have the capacity to accommodate the locals. It is only three metres wide in places. Trucks carrying super concentrate travel down that road. Ever since the Greenvale line was ripped up and they stopped taking the ore by train to Yabulu those trucks use the road. One of the difficulties with the road is that it is only three metres wide in places. Tourists are not accustomed to small roads or to moving onto embankments out of the way of the big trucks. Each day 22 trucks carrying super concentrate travel on that road, as do livestock carriers, suppliers and the general public. When the tourists are on that road, they do not move out of the way of the trucks. There have been a number of accidents on that road. A couple of trucks rolled over last year. Before I was to deliver this speech I tried to do a little research to find out how many tourists have had accidents and how many trucks have rolled over on that road. There were quite a number. The general talk in the pubs and the township revolves around what can be done about this road. The other day I was asked to go out and look at the road. I am glad the Hon. Minister for Transport is present. There is a section seven or eight kilometres out from the Charters Towers cemetery, which is about eight kilometres before Titley Road. After the rain along that entire section the edges can be washed away for up to three, four or five inches. Along a percentage of that road one will see different tyres. One will hear blokes complaining. They ring me up and complain about losing their tyres and nearly having accidents. I believe that this is a very important issue. It does not worry me who is responsible for sealing the road, whether it is the federal government, the state government or the Dalrymple Shire Council. I believe it is a very important issue and I ask the minister to take this road into consideration and look especially at the area from the cemetery to eight or so kilometres from Titley Road. It is a very important issue and I ask him to take it into consideration. I commend the bill to the House. 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1033

Mr SHINE (Toowoomba North—ALP) (5.19 p.m.): It is a pleasure to rise to speak to this bill. The topic of roads— A government member interjected. Mr SHINE: I take that interjection from my friend. The question of roads, roads in south-east Queensland and, indeed, roads in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs is extremely important. I must say that I am a little bit disappointed to note from the speakers' list that I am the only member who represents the Toowoomba or Darling Downs area scheduled to speak in this debate. I want to congratulate the minister on being appointed to this portfolio. I do so for a number of reasons. First and foremost is his knowledge of my electorate and particularly the Highfields aspect of my electorate from his experience as the previous Minister for Energy. On quite a number of occasions he travelled to that part of my electorate and by and large fixed a serious problem in terms of the regular supply of energy. He will be pleased to know, as I am sure he has now found out, that the previous Minister for Transport was equally attentive to the needs of Highfields and, in fact, arranged for the first traffic lights to be installed at the intersection of Cawdor Road and the New England Highway. However, more work has to be done. I am very pleased that last December in Toowoomba the Premier promised substantially more roadworks to be carried out in that Highfields area between Mount Kynoch and Highfields and from Cawdor Road to Rees Road. There is significantly more roadwork to be done, including a new set of lights, which will be the second set in the shire of Crows Nest, at the corner of Highfields Road and the New England Highway. So I put on record those matters and bring them to the minister's attention. He knows that I have already been to see him in relation to that matter as well as to the matter of the second range crossing. This morning, I was quite amazed to read in the Toowoomba Chronicle that Mr Ian Macfarlane, who is a cabinet minister in the federal government, is calling on the state to back the second range crossing. I do not know what his problem is. Earlier tonight the honourable member for Moggill made a plea that people try to understand the difference between state and federal roads and whose responsibility they are. It is disappointing to me to have a federal member who does not seem to understand that difference so far as it relates to the second Toowoomba range crossing that I have been advocating for quite a number of years. In fact, I called for that project to get off the ground when I was a candidate in 1998. I have spoken in this House on at least eight occasions about the need for it. On the last occasion, in October last year, I highlighted to the House the problem that had arisen in that the then federal minister for roads, Mr Anderson, had downgraded the Warrego Highway from a road of national importance to one of mere regional importance and, in turn, had upgraded the highway that goes through Warwick from regional to national importance. That coincided with the member for Southern Downs, who represents Warwick, attaining the leadership of the National Party. That was a concern to me and I know that it is a concern to a great number of people in Toowoomba. I will not bore the House on this occasion with a repetition of what I have said in those eight-odd speeches in this House regarding the need for a second range crossing. The minister is well aware from the personal representations that I have made to him of that need and I commend the project to him. I also want to support my colleagues from Ipswich and Bundamba in terms of their eloquent advocacy for the work that needs to be done on the Ipswich Motorway. Their problems are my problems and my constituents' problems in the sense that many people in Toowoomba travel to and from Brisbane on a daily or weekly basis. They face that same problem as those honourable members do. I certainly support their claim. I think it is generally acknowledged in Toowoomba that the Ipswich Motorway should take precedence, but the need for that second range crossing comes a close second to that project, because those highways at Ipswich and Toowoomba represent a major arterial into Queensland itself. They are a major component of Queensland's continuing development and growth as well and we need them upgraded for all of those other reasons that those members described so well earlier this afternoon. I commend the bill to the House and congratulate the minister on the moves that he has taken in the short time that he has been the Minister for Transport. I wish him well in such an important portfolio. Mr REEVES (Mansfield—ALP) (5.25 p.m.): As the No. 1 ticket holder of the South East Busway, as big Kev would say, 'I'm excited.' Why am I excited? Mr Lucas interjected. Mr REEVES: I am looking forward to using the smart card on the busway. Why am I excited? Because TransLink will revolutionise transport throughout the whole of south-east Queensland. We have seen the great revolution in terms of the use of the South East Busway. The numbers have just been amazing. I do not think that even the planners expected the occupancy rates. I do not think that the people who use the South East Busway have really understood the benefit that it has given to them. The patronage has just been absolutely outstanding. 1034 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

With TransLink, that patronage is going to increase dramatically, because people will be able to have one ticket for a bus and a train. People can get off at the Buranda station or at the South Bank station and catch the train. They do not have to line up to get tickets for that. Integrated ticketing is going to revolutionise public transport in Brisbane, particularly on the south side. As I have said before, we never had a reliable public transport system until we got the South East Busway. I am looking forward to TransLink. I have some concerns that the new Lord Mayor of Brisbane has pledged to get rid of a lot of bus lanes. In the past couple of weeks I have been travelling on the north side of Brisbane and I have noticed that the bus lanes, particularly near the RBH, have disappeared. With the introduction of TransLink and with the introduction of integrated ticketing, we are promoting public transport. As a modern city we have to have a reliance on public transport instead of a reliance on cars. If we are going to turn back the clock and have car reliance promoted by the city council, we are going to have some major concerns. If the new Lord Mayor is going to get rid of the bus lanes, then the buses will get caught in the traffic. So people will just opt to get in their cars. There will be no benefit whatsoever. So I am really concerned about the new focus of the new Lord Mayor of Brisbane. I hope that he will come to his senses and change that. We have heard a few examples today of the Howard government's neglect of residents, particularly the residents of the south side of Brisbane. As members may be aware, last Tuesday night the federal budget was handed down. I was not surprised to see that the con man of Moreton, Mr Gary Hardgrave MP, has once again failed to implement the findings of the Brisbane urban corridor traffic study. Mr Lucas: How did he go on the Brisbane urban corridor? Mr REEVES: I take the minister's interjection. The minister has been out to study the corridor with the member for Mount Gravatt and me. Two weeks ago this Thursday in this very chamber I challenged Mr Hardgrave to fight for funds out of the federal budget for the Howard government to take over the Logan Motorway, which he has been promoting, and to implement the findings of the BUC study. Not only has Mr Hardgrave failed to meet my challenge but also he has failed to meet the expectations of the people of the local area. Yet again, Mr Hardgrave has taken the people of the Moreton electorate and its surrounding areas for a ride. My motto has always been to listen and to act to get results for the people of Mansfield. It seems that Mr Hardgrave, for whatever reason, refuses to act and get results for his constituents. I cannot believe that the people of the Moreton electorate can continue to be represented by such a person in federal parliament. Ever since my election in 1998 I have worked hard for the people of the Mansfield electorate to improve traffic conditions along the Brisbane urban corridor, particularly Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road, as have my colleagues the members for Mount Gravatt, Stretton, Algester and Yeerongpilly. Through our efforts we have been able to lobby successfully to ensure the state government implements its share of the findings of the BUC traffic study. The Beattie Labor government has done its part to improve traffic conditions, such as taking the dangerous goods route off that particular road. The federal member for Moreton has done nothing but whinge and whine about the Brisbane urban corridor. Mr Hardgrave had the opportunity to actually do something to improve traffic conditions along the Brisbane urban corridor, but he did what he has been doing since 1996—absolutely nothing. I know first-hand the problems BUC commuters face every day. I live two streets away from Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road. My electorate office is actually located on Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road. I drive along it every day to get to work. It seems that Mr Hardgrave has spent too much time in Canberra, gotten too familiar with the quiet and quaint roundabouts of Canberra and forgotten all about the day-to-day difficulties of driving and living along the Brisbane urban corridor. Mr Hardgrave has failed the people of his electorate. He has had over a year to secure funding to implement the study's findings. Instead of doing so, he has continued to waste taxpayers' funds on ridiculous propaganda-driven, glossy brochures. Mrs Miller: He should go, too. Mr REEVES: He should. In one of these expensive and useless brochures in February 2003 he mentioned that the federal government funded $3 million for the Brisbane urban corridor. That is correct. But unfortunately, it looks like this will be a complete waste of $3 million because it has the plan and it is not going to implement the recommendations. This is a slap in the face for every single member of the community who made a submission to this Brisbane urban corridor study, a slap in the face for every Brisbane urban corridor commuter and a slap in the face for every elector who placed their faith in Mr Hardgrave at the last election. We just had a city council election that the new Liberal Lord Mayor based on traffic congestion. Here was a prime opportunity to stop traffic congestion, yet Mr Hardgrave cannot even convince his Liberal counterparts in the federal government to fund its own study recommendations. In another taxpayer funded propaganda piece from November 2003, Mr Hardgrave said— 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1035

I believe that virtually all trucks travelling along Mt-Gravatt Capalaba Road can be made to use the toll-free section of the Gateway instead. Mr Hardgrave knows that study after study, including the Brisbane urban corridor study, found that 75 per cent of all trucks using the Brisbane urban corridor need to do so. I apologise for sounding like a broken record, but my duty to the people of Mansfield requires that the facts be known and requires me to correct Mr Hardgrave's misrepresentations, as I have to do time and time again. What is he trying to hide? I believe that this is a question every resident of the Mansfield state electorate and every member of the Moreton federal electorate should be asking. Why, after spending nearly $3 million on this study, would the federal government not provide any funding to implement its findings? According to the 2004-05 budget, $250 million of the $1.2 billion allocated to roads upgrades under the federal government's Roads to Recovery program will be spent on upgrading Australia's roads network. If previous trends continue, approximately 71 per cent of these funds will go to rural and regional roads. So where is the money? Where is the money that Mr Hardgrave talked about in relation to the Logan Motorway? Where is the money to implement the recommendations of the Brisbane urban corridor study? It is not there. I ask Mr Hardgrave to explain why the Brisbane urban corridor, as a federal road network which has 70,000 to 85,000 users per day, is not worthy of funding. I ask Mr Hardgrave to explain why a road network that has heavy commercial vehicles travelling near the homes of thousands of residents is not worth funding. Finally, I ask Mr Hardgrave to explain why he has not fought on behalf of his constituents to improve the Brisbane urban corridor by negotiating the federal funding required to implement the findings of the study. Mr Hardgrave has failed the residents of my electorate and, more broadly, the constituents of his own Moreton electorate. He had the chance to deliver but he failed. He had the chance to fight for his constituents but he failed. He had the opportunity to improve traffic conditions along the Brisbane urban corridor but he failed. It is a disgrace that Mr Hardgrave has done nothing to benefit the people affected by the Brisbane urban corridor—constituents in state electorates on the south side. I am sure that my state colleagues agree with me that Mr Hardgrave has provided poor representation indeed. It is time for Mr Hardgrave to pass on the job for getting results for his constituents to those who are capable of doing so—people like the Labor candidate for Moreton, Graham Perrett, and the Labor candidate for Bonner, Con Sciacca. I hope that at the upcoming federal election voters will remember that Mr Hardgrave fails to get results. He is all talk and no action and has delivered nothing. I commend the bill to the House. Mr TERRY SULLIVAN (Stafford—ALP) (5.35 p.m.): I rise to support the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004. I will be speaking about amendments to the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995. The amendments encompass legislation controlling the regulation and enforcement of parking and use of shared paths by local governments, the ability to prosecute for giving false statements or documents to an official and the efficient process for cancelling transport related approvals where grounds exist for doing so. Local governments have, under both the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 and its precursor the Traffic Act 1949, long been authorised to regulate parking on roads and off- street areas within their own areas and, with the written agreement of the chief executive, on state controlled roads within those areas. The regulation of parking by local governments has two very important functions. Firstly, it gives local government a degree of autonomy and control to determine how parking will be regulated in the best interests of local residents and local town and traffic planning and development conditions. Secondly, without derogating from state government powers, it significantly reduces the burden that would otherwise be placed on state government resources. If it were necessary for the state government to enforce the road rules on parking in every local jurisdiction, this would be a significant further workload for the Queensland Police Service, Queensland Transport and Main Roads. The type of parking regulation by local government has included specifying times when parking may occur, types of vehicles which may be parked, where and for what purpose vehicles may be parked and the applicable fees for parking. Although the range of parking restrictions is broad, they are required to fall generally within the parameters of the Queensland road rules set by the state government. Currently, when local governments wish to regulate parking they must do so by way of a local law. This means that every time it is necessary to amend any aspect of local parking it is necessary to amend the local law, which is a time consuming and labour intensive process. To make the regulation of local parking more efficient and effective, local governments will now be able to use official traffic signs to set the parameters of the parking restrictions. Official traffic signs will be consistent across different local jurisdictions as they must be taken from the standard, the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Signs are already used, but rather than having to first pass a local law the signs alone will now be sufficient to regulate the parking. The signs will be both the source of power to regulate and the machinery to alert members of the public to the parking conditions. 1036 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

A similar streamlining process has been adopted for the process of setting parking fees. Again, the need to pass or amend a local law each time a local government wishes to change its parking fees is no longer necessary. Parking fees and certain vehicle permit and identification fees will now be able to be set by way of a resolution by a local government. This is a similar process to that which local governments already use to set a variety of fees, including rates. The regulation of parking by official traffic signs and the setting of parking related fees by resolution do not give the local governments any additional powers; they merely adopt a faster and less bureaucratic method for parking control. Additionally, the restrictions imposed by the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act 1994 mean that the parking fees set by local governments cannot, without the prior approval of the minister, be set so high as to constitute a means of penalising drivers in order to prevent them from driving their vehicles into certain areas such as the CBD. In other words, there is a fail-safe mechanism to prevent the parking fees becoming in effect a road or parking tax. In conjunction with the use of official traffic signs, an amendment will be made to confirm the local government's ability to issue an infringement notice for contravention of the conditions in the traffic sign. This will allow those breaching local parking regulations set by signs to be prosecuted in the same way as they have been previously for breach of a local law on parking. This gives greater flexibility to local governments and in particular will now give them the power to impose harsh penalties for parking in spaces reserved for emergency vehicles such as ambulances, which has long been a problem in local parking areas. A further amendment will allow local governments to control the use of non-motorised vehicles, such as bicycles, rollerblades, skateboards and other wheeled recreational devices on shared paths. This is to ensure the safety and enjoyment of pedestrians and all others who use the shared paths. I had a particular interest in that item when I was on the Travelsafe Committee. I encouraged the committee to hold a one-day seminar on shared bikeways. It was the best attended seminar we held and it showed the complexity of this issue. People may not be aware that there have been deaths of pedestrians on shared bikeways. Mr Lucas interjected. Mr TERRY SULLIVAN: That is correct, Minister. There was a young boy killed in Kalinga Park, which is one of the most often used recreational parks on the north side of Brisbane. An elderly lady was severely injured in west Chermside in an area near Huxtable Park and her life dramatically changed. Another young person was killed when a bike collided with a pedestrian. Just as cyclists say, 'If we come into contact with a car we have no hope; we are going to be seriously injured,' so will a pedestrian who comes into contact with a cyclist travelling at 40 or 50 kilometres. The pedestrian is usually the person who will be seriously injured. When people are in a very recreational mode with their children or when people are walking their dogs on leads, it is very dangerous to have people travelling on bikes in a manner which would be safe on a road or a bike track but not when they are sharing it with pedestrians. That is why the term 'shared pathways' is a proper term to use. It also means that certain practices have to be set up whereby people understand what the rules are and those rules are promoted within the community. As the minister would be aware, the Police Service has also set up some police officers on bicycles to patrol these shared pathways—another good step. Another problem which has faced Queensland Transport for some time is the limited definition of 'official' contained within the act. The limitation led to the incongruous situation where a Queensland Transport employee or a person acting as the agent of Queensland Transport who received documentation relating to a variety of applications and approvals was able to do so in an administrative capacity but was not authorised to do so for the purpose of prosecution. In other words, if a person gave either false statements or false documentation, then in many instances they were not able to be prosecuted for this offence. The loophole in the legislation was open to abuse with possible tragic consequences, particularly if the false information related to vehicle safety. Accordingly, the legislation has been amended to make it clear that it is sufficient proof for prosecution purposes that a statement was made or a document given to a person authorised to receive it. The authorisation can be given in a number of simple ways to Queensland Transport staff or agents. This will ensure that if false information or documents are given to authorised people such as customer service centre staff then the person responsible can be prosecuted. This will provide a major disincentive with maximum penalties of up to $4,500 applying. Another change the bill introduces is to allow Queensland Transport greater flexibility in the manner in which it deals with the suspension and cancellation of approvals. For a wide variety of transport related issues such as accreditations, certifications, licensing and registrations, approvals are required. Those approvals may be amended, suspended or cancelled if there are grounds for doing so. In some instances where a cancellation notice has been issued, the approval holder has given a sufficient response so that it is appropriate and fair that the holder be given a second chance to rectify the problems. 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1037

The difficulty is that, if the problems remain unfixed, the approval cannot then just be cancelled. A new cancellation notice must be sent. This has led to abuse of the system, where it is possible to string out a cancellation by several additional months by giving false promises. A simple amendment has been made so that a cancellation notice may be suspended for a period but if the problem is not remedied then it is now possible to immediately cancel the approval. The amendments preserve the principles of natural justice by giving means for ample explanation of the grounds for cancellation. In summary, all of these amendments aim to ensure the effective and efficient control of transport safety and traffic management in Queensland. In conclusion, there are two other issues that I think may need to be addressed in the future. One is the control of parking in shopping centres. People are saying it is private ground but it is being used as if it were a public roadway. The second is the actions of tow truck operators in removing vehicles from private grounds which largely are shopping centres. This has caused problems in the community. I know that the minister's predecessor had some discussion with the media on this issue. It is still an issue. I think it has been abused. I believe the transport operations act has not been implemented properly. My understanding is that it is the shopping centre owner who has to pay for the removal of the vehicle and then reclaim it from the car owner. This is not being done. People are being charged exorbitant fees to recover their vehicles. They are basically held to ransom, and I believe that is an issue that needs to be looked at in the future. I commend the bill to the House. Mrs PRATT (Nanango—Ind) (5.45 p.m.): Due to the lateness of the hour, I will not hold up the House very long. I do support the Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill. As the minister would be aware, we do not have any public transport in our area, though we are looking forward to the day when we do, as Kingaroy is growing quite considerably over time. I have mentioned to the previous minister that some consideration needs to be given to a transport system once Farr Home is closed to carry the elderly from Kingaroy to Wondai. That would be a great help. I will ask the minister to seriously consider some assistance there for some sort of regular transport—not necessarily everyday transport but something so that people who do not have any vehicle or family to transport them have some way of getting to see their loved ones. The Caboolture shire is partly in my electorate and anyone who travels up the coast towards Caboolture will know that it is increasingly congested. If I go home to Kingaroy via Caboolture, it takes me just over three hours and 10 minutes. If I go through Esk, it takes me about two hours and 45 minutes if I am doing everything one should on the road. So we can see there is a huge difference and yet the difference in the distance to be travelled is virtually nonexistent. Caboolture has a number of requests for the minister. I will mention two of them. The rest I will get to the minister via letter. They are asking for the completion of the two-lane Caboolture northern bypass through the Bruce Highway. They have been waiting for that for some time. It is not in the new RIP. I do not think anyone would dispute that that would be a major benefit for everybody. There is also the four- lane upgrade of the Beerburrum Road from Henzell Road to Bertha Street. Of particular concern is the need for immediate works at the Henzell Road intersection with Beerburrum Road and for the limits of the project to be extended south to King Street and north to the Caboolture northern bypass interchange. As I said, the Roads Implementation Program currently is only indicating minor approved capital expenditure on these projects. It really does need to have a lot more money put there over the 2005-07 period. There is a lot more that the people of Caboolture are requesting, but I will forward that to the minister in due course. There is still a lot of roadwork that needs to be done on the Brisbane-Esk road. In particular, more overtaking lanes are required. We really need a lot of overtaking lanes between Esk and the D'Aguilar Highway and then from there over the range to Kingaroy. I noticed in the current RIP that the 6.1 kilometres of overtaking lanes that I was concerned about are back in there. So I am really happy about that. The Nanango shire thanks the minister very, very much. Mr Lucas: There is always room for good manners. Mrs PRATT: Always. It does not cost anything. I think a member said in the House earlier that it is easier to win friends with honey than it is with vinegar. I would like to make the minister aware of how much traffic is travelling those roads up through the Burnett. It is becoming a major area for tourism, which is what inland areas, rural areas, are being encouraged to become. I would like the minister to keep that in mind. Overtaking lanes would make the road easier to travel. It is a very difficult road to traverse when there are a lot of caravans and tourists in their mobile campervans travelling the road. It can be very, very difficult to find anywhere to overtake. I can say that in all honesty. As the minister would know, I travel the road frequently and unless I go home late at night it is very difficult. The amount of heavy transport that is on the roads at night is amazing. Anything to help alleviate the congestion on those roads would be greatly appreciated. The cheapest and quickest way, I would say, would be those overtaking lanes. 1038 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

Overall I am very happy. Almost everything that we have requested over the last four or five years has either been mentioned or is in the pipeline. I thank the minister and I trust that it will continue that way. We will not be too demanding of you but we will ask for our fair share. I commend the bill to the House. Hon. P.T. LUCAS (Lytton—ALP) (Minister for Transport and Main Roads) (5.50 p.m.), in reply: Before I commence my summing up in relation to the contributions that everybody has made I will first of all table an amended explanatory notes and I will also speak in some detail, for the purposes of the record, with respect to the amendments because they are quite lengthy. Can I record my thanks to the shadow minister for her cooperation in relation to this matter. It has been much appreciated. Some of the amendments that I will be introducing in committee are minor, including the commencement of the TransLink provisions to coordinate with other regulatory changes. However, there are two sets of amendments in particular that I wish to draw to the attention of the House. One amendment that will go before the committee seeks to simplify the procedure for setting marine speed limits for ships using Queensland waters. This includes validating enforcement action taken against vessel operators who have exceeded speed limits. There are over 180,000 registered recreational vessels and 5,600 registered commercial vessels in the state. For Queenslanders and visitors to our state it is vital that our waterways are clean and safe. General speed limits for ships in Queensland waters are prescribed in the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Regulation 1995. The marine environment is an ever-changing one and it is monitored by Maritime Safety Queensland through its regional offices across the state. As conditions change it becomes important to specify speed restrictions for particular areas in a timely fashion. Prior to November 1996 speed limits were set by regulation made by the Governor in Council. This procedure for a permanent or even a temporary alteration of a speed limit proved itself to be too cumbersome to respond swiftly to emergent marine safety issues. Whilst the fundamental purpose for setting of speed limits in the marine environment is very similar to those set for roads, the means for doing so are different. Obviously you cannot place speed restriction signs everywhere a speed limit applies in the water. They need to be set in some other transparent way and that is why they are noted in a public document, the Government Gazette, and then published on Maritime Safety Queensland's web site. That is why there is a different rule for roads, rivers, creeks and water. Variations to speed limits are often also advised in notices to mariners. In November 1996 an amendment was made by the Borbidge government to the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act by inserting section 206A to enable speed limits to be set by gazette notice rather than regulation. The Borbidge government clearly made this amendment to streamline the process for making speed limits by vesting power to do so in the chief executive. I doubt that it was intended that these notices be subjected to onerous requirements but by deeming them to be subordinate legislation that was the result. As subordinate legislation, there is a requirement for each gazettal notice to be drafted by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel and then tabled before this House. Generally gazette notices under the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act are not subordinate legislation. This has resulted in an administrative oversight with the procedure for tabling these notices; the result being, with the exception of the two gazette notices I tabled in the House today, the speed limits as gazetted since November 1996 arguably have ceased to have effect. In the interests of marine safety and the environment it is important that these speed limits be validated as a matter of urgency. A check of departmental records shows that since November 2000 there have been about 1,449 infringement notices issued to people found to be exceeding these posted speed limits. That is not to say, of course, the general rule for speed limits would not have applied in relation to their circumstances either. We do not have that level of data. But there is no doubt that these people were doing the wrong thing and compromising marine safety and the environment. Jeopardising marine safety and the environment cannot be tolerated and the validity of these infringement notices, notwithstanding an administrative oversight, must be affirmed. It is clear that the setting of speed limits is an administrative function and is best left to the chief executive and general manager of Maritime Safety Queensland to respond to those emergent safety issues. It is obvious that the amendment in November 1996 was meant to expedite the setting of speed limits and the characterisation of these notices as subordinate legislation was unnecessary. The amendment being introduced in committee will validate all speed limits established by gazette notice since November 1996 and will remove subsection 2 of section 206A which makes these notices subordinate legislation. When I became aware of this problem I immediately sought Crown Law advice as to the most appropriate means of addressing this issue. The amendments before the committee reflect the advice of Crown Law. I thank all honourable members, knowing that they will support any law that is about protecting safety and the environment. This is the intention of the amendment I am about to introduce in committee. It is about making sure safety is paramount and ensuring that people using our waterways are protected from dangerous, irresponsible behaviour. 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1039

Although retrospective in effect, the law does not override the rights of any individual. It is important to remember that where infringement notices have been issued the people to whom they were issued were operating in excess of the published speed limits. These limits were determined on the basis of what was safe for that area. All honourable members will agree with me that these amendments are about safety and once the government was advised of this problem it responded quickly and responsibly to address a safety situation. In particular I want to thank the Hon. Ken Hayward and members of the Scrutiny of Legislation Committee for bringing this matter to my attention. This brings me to the second key amendments I wish to speak in relation to and it involves the very important matter of protecting our children and other more vulnerable members of our community. These amendments encompass legislation controlling and strengthening the screening of public passenger transport drivers and other transport administration related arrangements. These amendments also introduce into the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act the paramount principle of protection of children and other vulnerable members of the community. The Beattie government is committed to the protection of our children and enhancing community safety. The amendments are the first transport amendments which fundamentally support this government's priority and demonstrate my commitment to this essential fundamental principle of society. The chief executive and appeal courts must observe this principle when making decisions about a person's suitability as a driver of a public passenger transport service. Since 1994 all Queensland public transport drivers have been subject to a number of personal history checks by Queensland Transport before they can drive public passenger services. The personal history checks include criminal, safe driving and medical fitness checks. Every year Queensland Transport evaluates criminal histories of approximately 16,000 public transport drivers and operators applying for or renewing their driver authorisation or operator accreditation. The criminal history check is based on the disqualifying offences listed in the act. The type of offences screened for include burglary, stealing, drug related, fraud, weapons, assaults, homicides and sexual offences. A person's suitability is assessed according to the seriousness of the offence and the period of time since the offence was committed. Recently a magistrate overturned a decision of the chief executive of Queensland Transport not to grant a driver authorisation to a person who had two convictions for sexual offences against children. While QT was already working to tighten driver authorisation arrangements, the decision I just referred to clearly demonstrates the urgency to amend the legislation in order to reflect community expectations. An enhanced screening process also complements the government's priority to improving the safety of children. I am seeking approval to amend the act to maximise public confidence in drivers of public passenger services. These amendments relate to a number of specific areas. The disqualifying offences have been restructured to provide a more rigorous screening capability. There will now be three specific categories for disqualifying offences introduced into the act. These are: Category A— these will have a lifetime ban and will not be subject to an appeal process. This category includes a number of serious sexual offences, including specific child related offences such as indecent treatment of children under the age of 16 and those offences of a predatory nature. It is important to note that the chief executive of Queensland Transport will no longer have any discretion in assessing a person's driver authorisation for category a offences; that is, people with these offences will have no right of appeal. While this measure may appear extreme to some, it is considered that it strikes a balance between the rights of an individual and the public interest, especially the protection of our children and vulnerable members of our community. These changes are important to maximise public confidence in the driver authorisation system. We cannot run the risk that paedophile behaviour, which is so often seen to be compulsive and continuing, could repeat itself. Recent events have shown that the community supports the exclusion of predatory child sex offenders guilty of heinous crimes from attaining employment in areas where they come into contact with children. The proposed category A measures will ensure convicted sexual predators are unable to use the legal system to gain or obtain driver authorisation. It will ensure as far as possible that no person with a history of paedophilia or offences of a predatory nature will be permitted to drive any bus, taxi or other public passenger service. While Queensland Transport's existing provisions are very stringent, there are currently a small number of individuals who possess driver authorisations which will now be withdrawn. I make no apology for the toughness of these measures. They are very tough. Screening for the category B offences replicates the process used by the Commissioner for Children and Young People—that is, the person is deemed to be unsuitable unless they can demonstrate that there are exceptional circumstances which support the issue of the driver authorisation. Offences in this category include those covered by the Commissioner for Children and Young People legislation and other serious offences relevant to Queensland Transport in its assessment process. While these offences are serious, it is not appropriate for people convicted of these offences to be automatically excluded from holding or obtaining driver authorisation. 1040 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

For example, the offence of unlawful carnal knowledge may occur between a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old in the boyfriend and girlfriend relationship, and they in fact marry. Therefore, discretion is required to take into account the facts of the case when making an assessment of the person's suitability. People with category B offences who are refused driver authorisation or have their driver authorisation cancelled for these offences will have a current Queensland Transport right to review and also then the right to appeal to a Magistrates Court. More importantly, provision will be made for the Commissioner for Children and Young People to actively play a part in advising my chief executive on whether or not she considers an exceptional case exists. The chief executive must take this advice into account. Furthermore, when the chief executive's decision is questioned by a person and then an appeal court, the commissioner may appear as a party. Category C covers all remaining disqualifying offences in the act. People with these offences under this category will be assessed using the current Queensland Transport process. However, it should be noted that the guidelines covering these offences have been strengthened. It is not as though people will automatically get a licence. There are waiting periods that the guidelines cover. The introduction of the new offence category will underpin Queensland Transport's ability to exclude unsuitable people from the passenger transport industry. This will also make it clear to potential drivers in the industry that the Beattie government is serious about establishing very high standards for the drivers within the passenger transport industry. Members may like to note that while drink-driving offences are not covered in any of the three categories, Queensland Transport carefully scrutinises all driver authorisation applications and renewals for any serious drink-driving and other traffic offences. By strenghtening the purpose of driver authorisation, it provides better direction for the decision maker. It will also allow for the delivery of consistent decisions not just by QT officers but others involved in the decision-making process. In addition, the bill amends the Transport Planning and Coordination Act 1994. This will provide the opportunity for the Children's Commissioner to appear in the Magistrates Court upon an applicant's appeal against a decision not to grant driver authorisation. The commissioner would appear as a separate party to Queensland Transport to represent the children and young people of Queensland. Another amendment includes the introduction of conditional driver authorisations. This will allow Queensland Transport officers the ability to place conditions on a driver authorisation if the circumstances are such that it is considered appropriate to do so. For example, where a person has been charged with a category B offence but has not yet been convicted, the restriction may require the driver to be supervised or, in the interests of the community, suspensed. As a message to potential drivers in the industry, the bill increases the penalty for driver authority holders who do not notify Queensland Transport of a disqualifying offence. The penalties will be similar to those imposed under the Commissioner for Children and Young People Act. While the amendments will improve QT's ability to exclude unsuitable drivers, Queensland Transport will continue to undertake regular data matching with Queensland police records to identify any person who has notified Queensland Transport of their offences. The new amendments will provide stronger mechanisms to exclude these drivers. Although the safety of children and other members of the community is of paramount importance to these amendments, the government is still respecting the right to privacy of drivers. Queensland Transport has a special web site that operators can access to verify whether its drivers have a current driver authority. It is regularly updated. The only information published on the site is the drivers' authority identification number. When an authority is cancelled or suspended the authority number is removed from the site and operators then know how to stop the affected person from driving the bus or taxi. Importantly, the operator has no information as to why the person's authority has been withdrawn, only that it has. In summary, all of these amendments aim to maximise public confidence in drivers of public passenger services. I will briefly go through the materials raised by members in the debate. The shadow minister, the member for Maroochydore, raised a number of questions. I will deal with those. She asked about the timing of the new network plan. It is proposed to go to public consultation in the second half of this year. There is a 10-year strategic plan, but there will be a three-year rolling plan outlining services, infrastructure improvements and taking into account future growth areas. Linked to our planning documents are an Integrated Regional Transport Plan and Transport 2007. The regional framework for growth management will be developed in conjunction with local governments and operators. TransLink will not be offering concessions for the unemployed as government policy is that that is a matter for the Commonwealth government. It provides unemployment support and it should continue to do that. The shadow minister asked who has consulted and what 'generally supported' means. Consultation within the industry was positive, though there were some issues with respect to the termination clause, as she would expect. If people have a contract they do not particularly want it terminated. The legislation allows for compensation in relation to that. We accept that that is the case. 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1041

We hope we will be in a situation where all of the existing operators, if they want to come into the terms that we have in relation to the contract, will be satisfied. If an operator's contract is terminated or if the operator does not enter into a TransLink contract, the operator may claim compensation. The amount is to be decided by agreement between the chief executive and the holder and, if there is no agreement, then by an arbitrator. The arbitrator may take into account matters prescribed by regulation. Those amendments are currently being drafted. The sort of things that they are likely to take into account are present value, future maintainable profits, future cash flows and relevant risk factors. The member asked about the mechanism for operators to appeal if they are not offered a contract or if they are not happy with the compensation offered. If the operator is not happy with the compensation offered the chief executive and operator are to appoint an arbitrator. There are matters that will be prescribed in the legislation that the arbitrator may or may not take into account, as I mentioned before. She asked what the implications are for services further down the track. There are many challenges facing south-east Queensland, including a rapidly growing population, a changing population and work force, the population's choice of mode and limited funding. The network plan will link a number of planning documents, which I indicated before, and will therefore play a key role in developing an integrated approach. The network plan will outline how the public transport network will support agreed patterns of regional development, outline TransLink's policy relating to service standards, outline the program of the infrastructure and service enhancement over the next three years and indicate how the public transport network is likely to develop over the next 10 years. To provide a public passenger transport service in a TransLink area a person must either have a TransLink service contract or a written agreement with the chief executive or with the chief executive's approval a written agreement with the holder of a TransLink service contract. That would be a subcontractor situation, I presume. If they do interfere with TransLink services they will be penalised up to 160 penalty units. The Brisbane transport contract is the same contract as private operators have. It may be shorter if the BCC wants a shorter contract. It might want to see how it performs under the new system. Our preferred length is 10 years to guarantee stability. There are some differences, though, because the Brisbane City Council, to give it credit, does contribute to the cost of provision of public transport services. The member asked how it interfaces with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. It overrides the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. It is simple as simple as that. However, not talking about category A offences, but obviously with the effluxion of time that is often a factor in deciding whether exceptional circumstances exist or, indeed, whether the chief executive officer's discretion would be exercised. She also asked about overseas offences. To get driver authorisation one must have residency status. The Department of Immigration performs vigorous tests. That covers offences from their country of origin or places that they have lived for 12 months or more. They must have a current Queensland driver's licence. We essentially rely on the federal government for that checking process. They do not typically allow serious offenders into the country. From July 2004, through Crimtrac, a national criminal history check through QPS will be done automatically. It will not be done manually. Mental health patients and referrals is a very good question to raise. It is significantly bigger than this issue. There is no automatic psyche assessment done on paedophile charges. They are done by the Department of Corrective Services. If someone has not been charged, we do not have a criminal history. The Children's Commissioner may not know, either. We can request a medical certificate at any time if we have any complaint or issue. We do have general powers so that if someone is unsuitable in their conduct we are able to not issue them with a driver's authorisation. I think that is an excellent point and something that we will need to address further. Shared paths and some examples of conflict and how this clarification will fix the problem was also raised. Apparently, the Cairns council first raised it with us, but, as the member for Chermside said, increasingly people go quickly on paths and they can hit a child and seriously injury them. I will not name the individual involved, but a certain individual in local government in Queensland thought they knew about children using bikes. I have four children who use bikes. They thought that it was not child friendly to ban bikes from central business districts of places such as Wynnum. I think that is totally appropriate because I have many complaints from elderly people getting knocked off their bikes by 13-year-old kids being silly. They should dismount their bike, as my children do, when in the central business district and either ride it on the road or wheel it on the footpath. Miss Simpson: Do you ride better than the previous transport minister? Mr LUCAS: He was very fit. I will not comment on my predecessor other than to say that he did a very good job. 1042 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

The member for Gladstone raised the issue of how the new provisions deal with a pattern of behaviour rather than a situation where a conviction is recorded. I answered that a little earlier. If we have a series of charges, we can see these and the Children's Commissioner has access to that information as well. She asked why we do not just adopt the blue card. The Premier indicated that, on a whole-of- government basis, we are looking at that, but in fact the legislation is tougher than it, even though in reality the Children's Commissioner would probably not issue a blue card for people in a situation where we have a mandatory prohibition. It is probably a practice that is as tough, but in law it is tougher. The difficulty is that when the Children's Commissioner looks at blue cards, she looks at child safety issues. We have to look broader than that. We look at road safety issues as well. One could be a horrific driver but be a wonderful parent or football coach. There would be no reason why they would necessarily be excluded from contact with children, but we would not want them to be driving anyone anywhere. In relation to specific contributions by members, I thank the member for Maroochydore for her contribution. The integrated ticketing challenge is one that has been outstanding in Queensland for a while. However, I remind the honourable member that compared to, say, Sydney or Perth where the one operator owns buses, ferries and trains, we have many private sector operators and the council, so it is a fair bit more difficult to do here. I have mentioned the other issues that she raised. The member for Mount Coot-tha spoke about encouraging the use of corridors for development and improved train stations, particularly the Milton train station. The member for Mount Ommaney spoke about the importance of public transport in her electorate. The member for Yeerongpilly spoke about the problems of out-of-Brisbane buses not being able to pick up passengers in the Brisbane area and rationalising revenue collection. I point out that our rail revenue protection officers will have general TransLink powers, and it will be well accepted by people on buses that the rail officers will now be TransLink officers and will be able to operate there as well. The member for Thuringowa spoke about the importance of transport in north Queensland, and public transport in particular. He spoke about the federal government lack of funding for roads and the deregulation of regulated parking. The member for Gladstone spoke on the importance of of the government dealing with the paedophilia issue and supported our foreshadowed amendments and the differing categories of behaviour. The member for Kurwongbah spoke about integrated ticketing and convenience, and the particular issues for people in outer metropolitan areas who, in many respects, have the most to gain from TransLink. The member for Nudgee spoke about the challenge to improve patronage on public transport and the role of governments in getting value for money in the provision of public transport. The member for Algester spoke about the Brisbane urban corridor and road issues, integrated ticketing and TransLink. If I had the time tonight, I would speak in a little more detail about the hypocrisy of the federal member for Moreton and the total dereliction of the federal government in funding roads in the recent budget, but I do not have the time to do that. Perhaps out of the $450 million they have allocated to rail, they might allow her some money towards the interstate rail crossing in her electorate. The member for Mirani spoke about road issues, the National Highway and flood proofing which, again, the federal government needs to fix. He spoke about fatigue areas and overtaking lanes on the National Highway and waiting for appointments for machinery inspections. We make no apology for making people book only one at a time. Multiple bookings cost the taxpayer money and we cannot allow that. The member for Springwood is a strong bus and public transport supporter and a supporter of TransLink. The member for Mundingburra indicated her disappointment with the lack of an eastern corridor, stage 2 port access in the road and flooding on the National Highway. She also spoke of a very interesting public transport initiative in Townsville. I remind her of the Smart Transport initiative that I referred to when I was in the Townsville Community Cabinet recently. The member for Redlands spoke about national buses in his electorate not being able to pick up people in Brisbane when they are coming through, which is bad for people in Brisbane and is bad for business for National Transport as well. He spoke of the new advantages under TransLink and he spoke on the paedophile provisions as a former police officer. In a very lengthy discourse, the member for Moggill spoke about local roads issues and rail freight. I remind the member that we have spent a lot of money in his electorate: $600,000 to complete miscellaneous works on the Western Arterial Road by 2004-05; $1.236 million to complete two projects in 2003-04 to install traffic management devices on the western Arterial between Miskin Street and the Ipswich Motorway; $1.3 million towards duplicating Moggill Road from two to four lanes between Kilkivan Avenue and Pullenvale at an estimated cost of $16.280 million; $154,000 through 2003-04 to complete improvements on Moggill Road at the intersection of Brookfield and Kenmore roads; $685,000 in 2003-04 to complete asphalt resurfacing on the Mount Crosby Road between Flaggy Creek and Moggill Road; and almost $2.8 million to complete a $9.6 million project to extend the Toowong bikeway 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1043 by 2004-05. Therefore, he has done pretty well. We will continue to do a good job for him as with the rest of Queensland. The member for Ferny Grove spoke about the rail line in his electorate and the Ferny Grove station, and his engagement with the community in terms of their attitude. I worked with him recently in relation to a number of Ferny Grove train station issues. The member for Woodridge spoke about issues in public transport, which is again a critical issue in Woodridge. It is an area not well served by public transport for people who might need to get to various parts of Brisbane. Mrs Desley Scott: The Blue Dash shuttle. Mr LUCAS: She spoke passionately about the Blue Dash shuttle, as she does. The member for Hinchinbrook spoke about problems with flooding on the National Highway. I remind him that it is important that we remind the federal government that there is a road network outside south-east Australia. I will continue to do that. For the benefit of the member for Moggill, I point out that the average state government spend on roads during the Borbidge years was $951 million. Under the Beattie government it is $1.048 billion, and wait for the budget. He has not seen anything yet. The member for Pumicestone indicated the input of the federal member of parliament into the Ningi road situation. It is ironic that she did that, because he is more than happy to talk about every state issue but will not deliver any money for federal roads in that area. If he wants to help with Ningi, I would gladly accept some federal government money as well. The member for Bundamba and the member for Ipswich spoke about the parlous state of the Ipswich Motorway. Despite Senator Campbell foreshadowing that he was going to do something about the roads a few weeks ago in the Courier-Mail there was no money in the budget to do it. The member for Ipswich said how all state MPs, both Labor and Liberal, the Ipswich council and the Brisbane City Council are in favour of the six-laning of the Ipswich Motorway, but Cameron Thompson is not. It must be intoxicating to think that one is right and everyone else is wrong. The member for Charters Towers raised in good faith a number of road issues in his electorate. I will respond to him in more detail about that, but I should say that in 2003-04 we allowed $520,000 to pave and seal two projects on the Kennedy developmental road between Hughenden and The Lynd at Dutton River. Next year we will provide $257,000 to form a section on the Kennedy developmental road between The Lynd and Hughenden. I will respond in more detail to that. The member for Toowoomba North raised a number of road issues in his electorate. He is a strong supporter of the second range crossing. For the federal member to suggest that we ought to pay for it is just a joke. A sum of $580 million has been estimated for the second range crossing of Toowoomba and it is a very important project, but it is a federal government responsibility. We will work with them to do that. The only money that they actually allowed us in this budget was money we already knew was going to come and that was for some hardship acquisitions. It is about time that he did something about it. The member for Toowoomba North correctly identified that the Ipswich Motorway is a clear issue for people in Toowoomba, because they have to travel via the Ipswich Motorway to get to Toowoomba. The member for Mansfield is the No. 1 bus ticket holder for the South East Busway. He is very excited about TransLink and also spoke about the Brisbane urban corridor. Despite a lot of talk about it, the federal member for Moreton has done nothing. He has a real chance to put up the issues and get the money for the Brisbane urban corridor and remove the toll from the Logan Motorway, but what have they done? Nothing! He has failed the people there. The member for Chermside spoke about local government parking fees and the need for that to be set by resolution of local government. He also spoke about bicycles and shared pathways, and I raised that issue before. Finally, the member for Nanango spoke about the lack of public transport in her area. I think a real challenge for us in regional Queensland is to look at what we can do in smaller communities to assist them in better structuring public transport. A classic example is Mount Tamborine. Their bus service faltered because a school was built there and therefore it was no longer viable to bus people away. By working with the cab company, we have been able to pilot a shared cab service for people in the area. That might be the sort of future in public transport for people in smaller communities. She also spoke about overtaking lanes on the D'Aguillar Highway. I commend the bill to the House. Motion agreed to. Committee Hon. P.T. LUCAS (Lytton—ALP) (Minister for Transport and Main Roads) in charge of the bill. Clause 1, as read, agreed to. 1044 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

Clause 2— Mr LUCAS (6.21 p.m.): I move amendment No. 1— 1 Clause 2— At page 8, lines 8 and 9— omit, insert— '• sections 20 to 50 • sections 52 to 54 • section 55 (to the extent it inserts sections 157, 160 and 161) • section 57(1) • section 57(2) (other than to the extent it inserts definitions "SEQ area", "Translink area" and "Translink service contract") • schedule, amendment of the Land Act 1994 • schedule, amendments of the Transport Infrastructure Act 1994 • schedule, amendments of the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act 1994, item 9.'. Amendment agreed to. Clause 2, as amended, agreed to. Clauses 3 to 8, as read, agreed to. Insertion of new clause— Mr LUCAS (6.22 p.m.): I move amendment No. 2— 2 After clause 8— At page 10, after line 23— insert— ‘8A Amendment of s 206A (General manager's power to fix speed limits for ships) '(1) Section 206A(2), before 'subordinate legislation'— insert— 'not'. '(2) Section 206A— insert— '(8) It is declared that a gazette notice under this section is taken never to have been subordinate legislation.'.'. Miss SIMPSON: I want to speak briefly to this amendment, which the minister referred to before. The amendment relates to retrospective legislation to validate actions that have already been taken by the Crown in relation to speeding tickets on the water. In other words, this was subordinate legislation that has never been ratified in the parliament or come before the parliament. Obviously, as a point of principle we do not agree with retrospectivity in general. I appreciate that this matter has created a difficulty for the Crown and we have agreed that we will support this amendment. But I note for the record that it is not an ideal situation to have the parliament having to ratify past actions of the government—where the government has, in fact, failed to meet its statutory obligations by, in this case, tabling these subordinate regulations in the parliament. Mr LUCAS: I thank the shadow minister for her support and I note her comments. As I indicated earlier, I accept responsibility for errors in government—not only the current government but also the previous government, because they occurred under the Borbidge government as much as under the Beattie government. In any case, I am the Transport Minister and I have to deal with it all. I just point out again that road speed limits would never come before this parliament ever. They are decided at a local level. The only difference with marine speed limits is, as I said before, we do not have signposts at particular places. We gazette the speed limits and then make them available on the MSQ web site. As far as I was aware, it was never really intended that there be a necessity to table them here. I think if parliament made resolutions to disallow a speed limit, we would be here all day and all night hearing everyone's particular views. However, we have to fix it and this amendment is about fixing it. Amendment agreed to. Clauses 9 to 12, as read, agreed to. Insertion of new clause— Mr LUCAS (6.24 p.m.): I move amendment No. 3— 3 After clause 12— At page 12, after line 4— insert— 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1045

‘12A Replacement of s 23 (Purpose of driver authorisation) 'Section 23— omit, insert— ‘23 Purpose of driver authorisation '(1) The purpose of driver authorisation is to maximise public confidence in public passenger services in relation to the drivers of public passenger vehicles. '(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the purpose includes ensuring that drivers of public passenger vehicles— (a) are suitable persons to drive public passenger vehicles having regard to the need to provide for the personal safety of passengers and their property, and the public; and (b) conduct themselves responsibly with passengers and the public; and (c) are responsible in the act of driving and are capable of safely operating the relevant type of vehicle; and (d) are aware of their customer service responsibilities; and (e) are held accountable for complying with appropriate standards. '(3) Without limiting subsection (1) or (2), the purpose also includes ensuring that drivers do not damage the reputation of public passenger transport. '(4) In deciding whether to grant driver authorisation to a person, or to renew or amend, impose a condition on, or suspend or cancel a person's driver authorisation, the chief executive must take into consideration— (a) the purpose of driver authorisation mentioned in subsections (1) to (3); and (b) the paramount principle mentioned in section 33A that children and other vulnerable members of the community must be protected.'.'. Miss SIMPSON: The National Party opposition supports this amendment in principle, but we condemn the delay that there has been with the Beattie government in reviewing this legislation. I recognise that this minister has acted quickly since he has been in office, but his predecessor did not. In fact, Steve Bredhauer promised a review of the legislation that covered these provisions in 2002. It has been known for certainly more than a year—nearly two years—that there were problems in regard to these provisions and that there were concerns particularly with regard to driver authorisation. The events of the past few weeks where a magistrate overturned a decision of the Transport Department in regard to a driver authorisation issue has highlighted the inadequacies of this particular provision, thus this amendment that is before the parliament. Members should not be under any illusion that the actions that we see here are because the government is on the ball. Steve Bredhauer said that he would undertake the review. He failed to undertake that review. Clearly, there were concerns about these provisions. This is a rush job to fix it up. As I have stated, we support the principles and I recognise that the minister has explained the reason for them. There are some very good reasons why these authorisation procedures have to be tightened up. But I also note that there are quite detailed provisions in relation to these amendments. Obviously, the amendments in their full drafted form hit the deck only a few hours ago. We will in good faith take it on board that those provisions mirror the provisions as handled by the Children's Commissioner, but there simply has not been the time for external consultation with other bodies to verify a number of these aspects. One of the things we know is that there has been a problem with driver authorisation. We agree that these provisions need to be of the highest order when it comes to those drivers of buses who potentially may be driving a school bus and developing relationships and getting to know the children who they are in contact with on a regular basis. Therefore, it is necessary that all means available are taken to identify whether someone has a history of conviction or charges of paedophilia. So we support the principles of this amendment. However, I flag that the opportunity to have dealt with this issue in a timely way was available to the previous minister. Certainly, if he had acted as he said he would to undertake that review when he said he would, I do not believe that we would have seen the situation where we are having to rush these provisions through the parliament at this time. Mr LUCAS: I thank the honourable member for her contribution. This is a difficult area and an area where we, in government, are still refining the appropriate response. What was satisfactory in 1994 when this legislation was first introduced is clearly no longer satisfactory. That is why the Premier indicated that we will have a look at the Children's Commissioner's role on an ongoing basis. He has not only announced that he will be doing that across government but also indeed he will be reviewing the extent of the blue card, which he indicated about a month or so ago. My department was working on this issue prior to this recent court case. The problem was that the recent court case—and I do not propose to criticise the judiciary here; it is not appropriate for me to do that—was a consequence that was unintended. Perhaps I should leave it at that. We treat this issue most seriously. As I said before, we consulted with the Children's Commissioner in relation to preparation of this legislation. In many respects it mirrors her legislation and in a number of other respects it is, in fact, tougher. 1046 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

Amendment agreed to. Clause 13, as read, agreed to. Insertion of new clause— Mr LUCAS (6.28 p.m.): I move amendment No. 4— 4 After clause 13— At page 12, after line 8— insert— ‘13A Amendment of s 27 (Driver must hold appropriate authorisation) 'Section 27, penalty '30'— omit, insert— '100'. ‘13B Insertion of new ss 28A–28C 'After section 28— insert— ‘28A Ineligibility for driver authorisation—category A driver disqualifying offences 'A person is ineligible to apply for or hold driver authorisation if the person has been convicted of a category A driver disqualifying offence. ‘28B Driver authorisation—category B driver disqualifying offences '(1) This section applies if the chief executive is aware that a person who is an applicant for driver authorisation or who holds driver authorisation has been convicted of a category B driver disqualifying offence. '(2) The chief executive must give the person written notice of the chief executive's intention to refuse to grant or renew, or to cancel, the driver authorisation (the "exclusion action") unless the person demonstrates to the chief executive's satisfaction that an exceptional case exists. Example of an exceptional case— A person with no other criminal history was convicted of unlawful carnal knowledge 30 years ago and placed on a good behaviour bond after being involved in a consensual sexual relationship with a 15 year old when the person was 17. '(3) The chief executive must give the person a written notice about the exclusion action— (a) identifying the category B driver disqualifying offence of which the person has been convicted; and (b) stating the requirements of subsection (4); and (c) giving the person an opportunity to make written representations about the category B driver disqualifying offence and the exclusion action within 28 days. '(4) The chief executive must consider any written representations and must take the exclusion action unless the chief executive, subject to the paramount principle mentioned in section 33A, is satisfied that an exceptional case exists. '(5) For subsection (4)— (a) the Commissioner for Children and Young People may advise the chief executive on whether the commissioner considers an exceptional case exists; and (b) without limiting the chief executive's power to take the exclusion action, the chief executive must take the advice into account. '(6) Nothing in this section limits action the chief executive may take under any other provision of this Act. ‘28C Driver authorisation—category C driver disqualifying offences '(1) This section applies if the chief executive is aware that a person who is an applicant for driver authorisation or who holds driver authorisation has been convicted of a category C driver disqualifying offence. '(2) Without limiting the grounds on which the chief executive may deal with the application or the driver authorisation, the chief executive may do any of the following (the "proposed action")— (a) refuse to grant driver authorisation to the person; (b) refuse to renew the person's driver authorisation; (c) suspend or cancel the person's driver authorisation. '(3) The chief executive must give the person written notice of the proposed action. '(4) Nothing in this section limits action the chief executive may take under any other provision of this Act.'. ‘13C Amendment of s 29 (Granting, renewing or refusing driver authorisation) 'Section 29(2)— omit, insert— '(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a regulation may authorise the chief executive— (a) to impose a condition when granting driver authorisation to a person or renewing a person's driver authorisation; or (b) to refuse to grant driver authorisation to a person or to renew the person's driver authorisation if the person— 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1047

(i) has been convicted of a category C driver disqualifying offence; or (ii) has been charged with a driver disqualifying offence and the charge has not been finally disposed of.'. ‘13D Amendment of s 31 (Applicant to notify charge for disqualifying offence etc.) '(1) Section 31, heading, before 'disqualifying'— insert— 'driver'. '(2) Section 31(1), before 'disqualifying'— insert— 'driver'. '(3) Section 31(1)— insert— 'Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.'. '(4) Section 31(2), penalty, '10'— omit, insert— '100'. ‘13E Amendment of s 32 (Amendment, suspension and cancellation of driver authorisations) '(1) Section 32— insert— '(1A) Without limiting subsection (1), a regulation may authorise the chief executive to amend a person's driver authorisation by imposing a condition on the authorisation.'. '(2) Section 32(2), 'disqualifying offence.'— omit, insert— 'category B or category C driver disqualifying offence.'. '(3) Section 32(3), before 'disqualifying'— insert— 'driver'. ‘13F Amendment of s 33 (Authorised driver must notify charge for disqualifying offence etc.) '(1) Section 33, heading, before 'disqualifying'— insert— 'driver'. '(2) Section 33(1), before 'disqualifying'— insert— 'driver'. '(3) Section 33(1)— insert— 'Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.'. '(4) Section 33(2), penalty '10'— omit, insert— '100'. ‘13G Insertion of new s 33A 'After section 33— insert— ‘33A Protection of children and vulnerable members of the community '(1) This section applies to the following when making decisions about driver authorisation— (a) the chief executive; (b) persons constituting a review panel under the Transport Planning and Coordination Act 1994; (c) a court hearing an appeal against a decision about driver authorisation. '(2) If, because an applicant for, or a holder of, driver authorisation has been charged with or convicted of a driver disqualifying offence or for any other reason, the safety of children or other vulnerable members of the community becomes relevant, the paramount principle is that children and other vulnerable members of the community must be protected.'. ‘13H Amendment of s 34 (Authorised driver must notify suspension or cancellation of licence etc.) 'Section 34, penalty, '10'— omit, insert— '100'. 1048 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

‘13I Amendment of s 35 (Obligation to notify accredited operator of suspension or cancellation of licence etc.) 'Section 35, penalty, '10'— omit, insert— '100'.'. Miss SIMPSON: I want to speak to this clause, because it relates to the detailed provisions of the categories of offences that will mean that certain people will automatically be banned from holding a driver authorisation. There are then the category 2 offences that also ban people, but if there are exceptional circumstances they can appeal, and then there are the category 3 provisions. I would like to ask the minister: what is going to happen with those people who currently hold a driver authorisation? What will be the screening process to go back and check people who already have these driver authorisations not only for convictions under these three categories but also for charges and also—and this is probably the sticky one—those who have a history of being known to police but do not actually have charges against their name or convictions? What will be the process of going back and screening people in those three areas? Mr LUCAS: I thank the honourable member for her question. We screen six monthly and on application. Also, there are requirements for people to notify us if their circumstances change, such as if they are charged. Anyone in category A who currently holds a driver authorisation will, upon the proclamation of this act and after being notified, cease to hold that authorisation. That is it for anyone in that category. In relation to category B offences, it is a matter of the department deciding the appropriate action in all of the circumstances and, of course, the extent to which it has examined those issues with those individuals in the past. It may have conducted a thorough examination of those people in the past or it may feel that now is the time to have a look at it in some more detail, remembering of course that we have the ability of the Children's Commissioner to involve herself here. In relation to charges, we have information from criminal histories about charges. With respect to general investigations, I take the honourable member's point. That is not something that I believe is available to us necessarily, but it is available to the Children's Commissioner and she has a formal role in this process. That is something that no doubt would be considered in the review the Premier has announced of the Children's Commissioner's role and the blue card across government. At present we do not have that access but I believe that the Children's Commissioner does. I should say, though, that we have general character provisions when it comes to driver authorisation. If someone has been conducting themselves in a manner we would deem inappropriate, then we can refuse to issue that to them. We in fact did do that to a person in regional Queensland and they did not seek to challenge that decision of ours. We will continue to do that because, of course, it is not just charges that are necessarily relevant. But in those situations it would be subject to appeal. Miss SIMPSON: I thank the minister for his answer. While the Children's Commissioner is able to bring attention to issues that relate to children, there are other issues. I give as an example a forensic patient who has committed a crime but does not proceed through the criminal justice system. They may not have a charge and they may not have a conviction. I thank the minister for mentioning in his second reading speech that he would look at that issue, but it is actually very pertinent to these provisions. The problem is that someone could have actually committed an extremely serious offence and may also have consequently changed their name and not be well known under that name. They may have committed a serious offence but never been charged and never been convicted. I see that this is a loophole. There needs to be some ability to screen for those issues. It may not be the criminal test of beyond reasonable doubt, but there needs to be a provision whereby the facts are not in dispute and the person has in fact committed a crime yet has no conviction and no charge. There is no way you would want somebody with that sort of history driving a taxi or a school bus. I really believe there needs to be provision in the law for that to be dealt with and screened for going back in time. Mr LUCAS: I thank the honourable member for raising that issue. That is something we will have a look at. I should say this for mental health patients: I would hope that they would not be released from our system if they were a threat to people. In any case, that is a valid point, and that is something we will have a look at, but I am not sure exactly what the solution might be at this point in time. Miss SIMPSON: Those in category A are knocked out for all time. What register is kept in relation to those who are considered to be category B and C applicants? Is a register also kept of the conditions upon applicants? This legislation clarifies the power of the chief executive to issue conditions upon the applicant's accreditation, so will there also be a register of those issues upon the licence? Mr LUCAS: Of course with any offence there is a register kept, and that is their criminal history. Apart from that, my department will keep records of people who have actually applied and for whatever reason been knocked back, in the event that that was the case. The conditions upon a licence are recorded on our computerised system, TRAILS, and there will be a register for category A and B, though of course people in category A cannot get it in any case. The smart card driver's licence, which will be 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1049 introduced later, will make it even easier to identify them, because it will not be just in our central record. The conditions can essentially be in other records as well. Amendment agreed to. Clauses 14 to 17, as read, agreed to. Clause 18— Miss SIMPSON (6.36 p.m.): This clause concerns TransLink and the service contracts which are to be issued under this legislation. I have a comment on drafting. One of the concerns I have is that this clause encompasses five pages of amendments, all under one clause. That makes it difficult to drill down in greater detail. I want the minister's assurance that people will be fairly dealt with if they find themselves in a situation where they lose services which are part of their existing contracts. There is some concern about this process. Obviously the new contracts have not been finalised yet. This legislation before the House to make those final contracts possible is certainly getting fairly close to the wire, but there is some concern that, particularly because the contracts are almost due to go on line, from 1 July, somebody might find that the negotiations are pressured at this particular point and they will not get a fair go. Would the minister please give an assurance that people will have fair compensation with regard to any lost services? Mr LUCAS: The member has not only my assurance but also the assurance of the law, which is, depending on what the member thinks, more or less the same as my assurance. It indicates it quite clearly. My officers have been negotiating these contracts in the anticipation that this legislation will be passed, so it is not as if we are behind the eight ball in that respect. The contracts provide a guarantee that the existing kilometres will be maintained over the life of the contract. Obviously we want to encourage as many people as possible to continue their contracts, although that is a matter for them. In saying that, we are taking the opportunity to make sure we improve the standards of what we expect in public transport, and there have been contemporary issues that indicate why we would want to do that. Clause 18, as read, agreed to. Clauses 19 to 54, as read, agreed to. Clause 55— Mr LUCAS (6.38 p.m.): I move amendments Nos 5, 6 and 7— 5 Clause 55— At page 32, after line 11— insert— ‘Division 1—Authorised persons'. 6 Clause 55— At page 32, after line 19— insert— ‘Division 2—Translink service contracts'. 7 Clause 55— At page 34, after line 23— insert— ‘Division 3—Driver disqualifying offences ‘162 Driver disqualifying offences '(1) For the purposes of a reference in this Act to a category A driver disqualifying offence, category B driver disqualifying offence or category C driver disqualifying offence, it is declared that— (a) the reference includes a reference to the offence whether the offence was or is committed before or after the commencement of this section; and (b) a reference to a conviction of the offence includes a conviction of the offence whether the conviction happened before or after the commencement of this section. '(2) If the person has been convicted of a category A disqualifying offence before the commencement of this section— (a) if the person holds driver authorisation on the commencement—the driver authorisation is immediately cancelled on the commencement; and (b) if the person has applied for the grant or renewal of driver authorisation before the commencement that has not been finalised—the application is terminated on the commencement; and (c) if the person immediately before the commencement has an entitlement to have driver authorisation granted or renewed under a decision of a court on appeal from the decision of the chief executive—the entitlement is extinguished on the commencement. 1050 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

‘163 Transitional regulation-making power '(1) A regulation made after the commencement of this section may provide that a regulation in existence immediately before the commencement is amended from the commencement in order to take account of the creation of driver disqualifying offences for driver authorisations on the commencement. '(2) Subsection (1) applies even if the regulation is not a beneficial provision within the meaning of the Statutory Instruments Act 1992, section 34.1'.'. 1 Statutory Instruments Act 1992, section 34 (Beneficial retrospective commencement) Miss SIMPSON: The schedules outline the types of offences which will fall into categories A, B and C. It is quite a complex list of categories. As I mentioned, unfortunately due to the limits of time the scrutiny of these provisions is fairly limited. I refer to the provisions relating to offences committed where the perpetrator and the victim were both aged between 14 and 20 inclusive. The ages 14 to 20 provide some leniency as to whether a person who later on goes to seek authorisation under this legislation is able to gain that driver authorisation. Could the minister please place on the record why the ages of 14 and 20 were particularly chosen by the department? Mr LUCAS: I thank the honourable member for that. It is a valid question. One of the difficulties with mandatory legislation, as we have with category A offences, is that we have to be very careful that we do not have unintended consequences with that legislation. This legislation is primarily directed towards dealing with paedophile behaviour, and it is arguable that if a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old were in a sexual relationship—whilst we might not encourage that from a societal point of view particularly—they are not paedophiles arguably. In the old days, if a young female and a young male in that age bracket were in the relationship, they fell out with one of the parents, the parents had them prosecuted and they were done for unlawful carnal knowledge, and 20 years later they want to apply for a bus or a taxi licence. They still must satisfy, if they have a conviction, the hurdle in category B that says they do not get it unless they can prove exceptional circumstances. So it is not a let-off. They do not get it unless they can prove it. Having said that, there needs to be some compassion there. In relation to the particular ages, in the past you were not an adult until you turned 21, and 21 was a major event in a person's life. If you were under 21, you could not vote, you could not buy a drink in a hotel. You could be drafted and sent to Vietnam, but that is a different issue. The age of majority changed in the 1970s to make 18 the legal adult age. Just to illustrate the point, the Commonwealth Marriage Act 1961 made it possible for a 14-year-old female to marry with a judge's permission. Similarly, a 16-year-old male could apply to marry with a judge's permission. That was no doubt recognising in those days that there may have been sexual relations between them and it was thought it was better to regularise it by getting them married. Similarly, if one obtains an old copy of the Criminal Code from the library one will see what was legal then is quite different now. Imprisonment with hard labour with or without a whipping was prescribed for certain offences and there were different age limits imposed. In a mere 40 years things have changed dramatically, with laws pertaining to eligible ages for marriage and age of majority. So we have tried to recognise past cultural values because we are often dealing with past issues. As I said, I am not making any moral observation on a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old or a 17-year-old and a 14- year-old having a sexual relationship. I do not think that is satisfactory. However, I do not think in most cases they are paedophiles, but if for some reason there was some suggestion they were, our provisions will get it. Remember as well that the Children's Commissioner has ability to deal with it. It is difficult in terms of thinking through the best way of doing it, but being tough on those who are outside that time limit is how we came up with it. Amendments agreed to. Clause 55, as amended, agreed to. Insertion of new clauses— Mr LUCAS (6.43 p.m.): I move the following amendment— 8 After clause 55— At page 34, after line 23— insert— ‘55A Insertion of new sch 1A 'After schedule 1— insert— ‘SCHEDULE 1A ‘DRIVER DISQUALIFICATION OFFENCES dictionary, definition "driver disqualifying offence" ‘PART 1—CATEGORY A DRIVER DISQUALIFYING OFFENCES ‘Division 1—Existing provisions of the Criminal Code 1. Section 208 (Unlawful sodomy) unless, when the offence was committed, the offender was aged between 14 and 20 (both inclusive) and the person in relation to whom the offence was committed was not an intellectually impaired person and was aged between 14 and 17 (both inclusive) 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1051

2. Section 210 (Indecent treatment of children under 16) unless, when the offence was committed, the offender and the person against whom the offence was committed were both aged between 14 and 20 (both inclusive) 3. Section 213 (Owner etc. permitting abuse of children on premises), if the proscribed act mentioned in section 213(1) is a category A driver disqualifying offence mentioned in item 1, 2 or 4 4. Section 215 (Carnal knowledge with or of children under 16) unless, when the offence was committed, the offender and the person against whom the offence was committed were both aged between 14 and 20 (both inclusive) 5. Section 216 (Abuse of intellectually impaired persons) 6. Section 217 (Procuring young person etc. for carnal knowledge) 7. Section 218A (Using internet etc. to procure children under 16) 8. Section 219 (Taking child for immoral purposes), if the proscribed act mentioned in section 219(1) is a category A driver disqualifying offence mentioned in item 1, 2 or 4 9. Section 222 (Incest), if the person in relation to whom the offence was committed was a child when the offence was committed 10. Section 228 (Obscene publications and exhibitions), if section 228(2) or (3) applies 11. Section 229B (Maintaining a sexual relationship with a child), if any of the offences of a sexual nature required to be proved for the purposes of the section is a category A driver disqualifying offence 12. Section 229G (Procuring prostitution), if section 229G(2) applies 13. Section 349 (Rape) ‘Division 2—Provisions of the Criminal Code repealed by the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1997 1. Section 208 (Unlawful anal intercourse), if section 208(2) (b) applies 2. Section 222 (Incest by man), if the person in relation to whom the offence was committed was a child under 16 years when the offence was committed. ‘PART 2—CATEGORY B DRIVER DISQUALIFYING OFFENCES Criminal Code 1. Section 229G (Procuring prostitution) 2. Section 229L (Permitting young person etc. to be at place used for prostitution) 3. Section 328A (Dangerous operation of a vehicle) Drugs Misuse Act 1986 1. Section 7(1) (Receiving or possessing property obtained from trafficking or supplying), if paragraph (a) of the maximum penalty for the provision applies 2. Section 8 (Producing dangerous drugs), if paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of the maximum penalty for the provision applies 3. Section 8A(1) (Publishing or possessing instructions for producing dangerous drugs), if paragraph (a) or (b) of the maximum penalty for the provision applies 4. Section 9 (Possessing dangerous drugs), if paragraph (a), (b) or (d) of the maximum penalty for the provision applies 5. Section 10(1) (Possessing things), if paragraph (a) of the maximum penalty for the provision applies 6. Section 11(1) (a) (Permitting use of place), if paragraph (a) of the maximum penalty for the provision applies. Weapons Act 1990 Section 65 (Unlawful trafficking in weapons)2 2 See the definition "category B driver disqualifying offence" in schedule 3 for the full list of category B driver disqualifying offences ‘PART 3—CATEGORY C DRIVER DISQUALIFYING OFFENCES ‘Division 1—Existing provisions of the Criminal Code 1. Chapter 9 (Unlawful assemblies—breaches of the peace) 2. Chapter 16 (Offences relating to the administration of justice) 3. Chapter 20 (Miscellaneous offences against public authority) 4. Chapter 22 (Offences against morality) 5. Chapter 26 (Assaults and violence to the person generally—justification and excuse) 6. Chapter 27 (Duties relating to the preservation of human life) 7. Chapter 28 (Homicide—Suicide—Concealment of birth) 8. Chapter 29 (Offences endangering life or health) 9. Chapter 30 (Assaults) 10. Chapter 33 (Offences against liberty) 11. Chapter 36 (Stealing) 12. Chapter 37 (Offences analogous to stealing) 13. Chapter 38 (Stealing with violence—extortion by threats) 1052 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 13 May 2004

14. Chapter 39 (Burglary—Housebreaking—And like offences) 15. Chapter 40 (Other fraudulent practices) 15. Chapter 41 (Receiving property stolen or fraudulently obtained and like offences) 17. Chapter 42 (Frauds by trustees and officers of companies and corporations—false accounting) 18. Chapter 42A (Secret commissions) 19. Chapter 46 (Offences) 20. Chapter 49 (Punishment of forgery and like offences) 21. Chapter 52 (Personation) 22. Chapter 56 (Conspiracy) ‘Division 2—Provisions of the Criminal Code repealed by the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1997 1. Section 343A (Assaults occasioning bodily harm) 2. Section 344 (Aggravated assaults) ‘55B Amendment of sch 2 (Reviewable decisions) '(1) Schedule 2— insert—

'28B Category B driver disqualifying offence—refusal to Magistrates grant or renew driver authorisation or cancellation of driver authorisation

28C Category C driver disqualifying offence—refusal to Magistrates'. grant or renew driver authorisation or suspension or cancellation of driver authorisation

'(2) Schedule 2, entry for section 29, after 'authorisation'— insert— 'or the imposition of a condition on driver authorisation'. '(3) Schedule 2, entry for section 32, after 'authorisation'— insert— 'or the imposition of a condition on driver authorisation'.'. Amendment agreed to. Clause 56, as read, agreed to. Clause 57— Mr LUCAS (6.43 p.m.): I move the following amendments— 9 Clause 57— At page 36, after line 8— insert— ' "category A driver disqualifying offence" means— (a) an offence against a provision of the Criminal Code mentioned in schedule 1A, part 1; or (b) an offence of counselling or procuring the commission of, or attempting or conspiring to commit, an offence mentioned in paragraph (a), and to which paragraph (a) does not otherwise apply; or (c) an offence against a law of another jurisdiction, including a jurisdiction outside Australia, that substantially corresponds to an offence mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b). "category B driver disqualifying offence" means any of the following that is not a category A driver disqualifying offence— (a) an offence that is a serious offence within the meaning of the Commission for Children and Young People Act 2000, schedule 4 (Dictionary), definition "serious offence", paragraph (a) or (b); (b) an offence against a provision of an Act mentioned in schedule 1A, part 2; (c) an offence of counselling or procuring the commission of, or attempting or conspiring to commit, an offence mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b), and to which paragraph (a) or (b) does not otherwise apply; (d) an offence against a law of another jurisdiction, including a jurisdiction outside Australia, that substantially corresponds to an offence mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c). "category C driver disqualifying offence" means any of the following that is not a category A driver disqualifying offence or a category B driver disqualifying offence— (a) an offence against a provision of the Criminal Code mentioned in schedule 1A, part 3; (b) an offence against the Drugs Misuse Act 1986 punishable by imprisonment for 1 year or more, even though a fine may be imposed in addition or as an alternative; (c) an offence against the Weapons Act 1990 punishable by imprisonment for 1 year or more, even though a fine may be imposed in addition or as an alternative; (d) an offence against this Act; 13 May 2004 Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1053

(e) an offence against the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Regulation 1994, for which the maximum penalty is at least 20 penalty units; (f) an offence of counselling or procuring the commission of, or attempting or conspiring to commit, an offence mentioned in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e), and to which paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) does not otherwise apply; (g) an offence against a law of another jurisdiction, including a jurisdiction outside Australia, that substantially corresponds to an offence mentioned in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f).'. 10 Clause 57— At page 36, after line 11— insert— ' "driver disqualifying offence", in relation to driver authorisation, means— (a) a category A driver disqualifying offence; or (b) a category B driver disqualifying offence; or (c) a category C driver disqualifying offence.'. 11 Clause 57— At page 37, lines 24 to 26— omit, insert— '(3) Schedule 3, definition "disqualifying offence", before 'means'— insert— ', in relation to operator accreditation, a taxi service licence or a limousine service licence,'. '(4) Schedule 3, definition "disqualifying offence", paragraph (e)— omit, insert— '(e) an offence against a law of another jurisdiction, including a jurisdiction outside Australia, that substantially corresponds to an offence mentioned in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d).'. '(5) Schedule 3, definition "ferry", after 'boat'— insert— ', barge'. '(6) Schedule 3, definition "information notice", 'of the chief executive'— omit.'. Miss SIMPSON: This question is in relation to the dictionary definition where the ferries and boats are altered under this amendment. Could the minister please explain to the House what the implications would be for ferry services, particularly in the Moreton Bay area? Mr LUCAS: That is just a clarificatory amendment. That does not relate to the paedophile matter. Ferry operators are under different legislation. They are not under public transport legislation. I have indicated to my department that that is something we need to examine in a legislative sense. However, having said that, there are massively fewer ferry operators and, as far as I am aware, there is little, if any, opportunity for a ferry driver to be in that position. Miss Simpson interjected. Mr LUCAS: Is that not the right clause? Miss Simpson: There is another amendment to the clause. Mr LUCAS: That is just a definition section. The honourable member raises a valid point and a point that was raised with me the other day. We will seek to see what we need to do in relation to that legislation as well, but that is not part of the subject legislation. I am not aware of there being any difficulties or issues with respect to criminal convictions at the present time, but that is something we will need to rectify. Amendments agreed to. Clause 57, as amended, agreed to. Clauses 58 to 71, as read, agreed to. Insertion of new clause— Mr LUCAS (6.45 p.m.): I move the following amendment— 12 After clause 71— At page 42, after line 25— insert— ‘71A Insertion of new s 36DA 'Part 5, after section 36D— insert— 1054 Adjournment 13 May 2004

‘36DA Commissioner for Children and Young People '(1) This section applies if an appeal concerns a reviewed decision about driver authorisation if a driver disqualifying offence involving a child was relevant to the original decision. '(2) The Commissioner for Children and Young People may appear as a party. '(3) In this section— "driver authorisation" means driver authorisation under the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act 1994. "driver disqualifying offence" means a driver disqualifying offence under the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act 1994.'.'. Amendment agreed to. Clauses 72 to 82, as read, agreed to. Schedule, as read, agreed to. Bill reported, with amendments. Third Reading Bill, on motion of Mr Lucas, by leave, read a third time.

ADJOURNMENT Hon. P.T. LUCAS (Lytton—ALP) (Minister for Transport and Main Roads) (6.48 p.m.): I move— That the House do now adjourn. Bundaberg Base Hospital Mr MESSENGER (Burnett—NPA) (6.48 p.m.): After my speech in the House on Tuesday, the Director-General of Queensland Health asked for a meeting and listened for two hours while the three nurses whose serious concerns I have brought before the 51st Parliament detailed a long list of significant grievances and allegations. In those allegations and grievances were counts of bullying, fraudulent behaviour and maladministration. The House might be interested to know that before the meeting began I claimed whistleblower status for the nurses. That whistleblower status, importantly, was acknowledged by the Director-General of Queensland Health. The director-general in his own words admitted to us that the Bundaberg mental health service had serious and significant problems. That is why he has implemented at the behest of the Health Minister an independent evaluation. Of course we all know that the only reason the Health Minister implemented that evaluation was that I shamed him into it. Mr Terry Sullivan: You're a liar and you know that. Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Poole): Order! The member for Stafford! That is unparliamentary. Mr MESSENGER: I think more can and should be done to get to the heart of the issue and clear this mess up. I want to see a full and comprehensive independent investigation, not an evaluation, of the whole of the Bundaberg and District Health Service, not just the mental health unit. The evidence I have seen and heard warrants a far wider investigation, and to be blunt and direct: I will only shut up when (a) credible health professionals and constituents stop coming to me with— Mr ENGLISH: Point of order. I do have some concerns that the member could be committing an offence by identifying whistleblowers in the House. Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Mr MESSENGER: When credible health professionals and constituents stop coming to me and a comprehensive independent investigation of the whole of the Bundaberg and District Health Service is put in place. And for any health professional working in the Bundaberg and District Health Service, 4159 1988 is my electorate office number, and even though I have already heard from many, many health professionals, I would still love to hear from others if they care to share their experiences and their time. I have been given a personal guarantee from the Director-General of Health that employees of Queensland Health who contact a member of parliament are not in breach of their code of employment. Every citizen has the basic civil right to approach a member of parliament with their concerns. However, a breach in the Queensland Health code of employment will happen if those health professionals approach the media with their stories. Liberal Party Ethics Committee; Mr R. Galt Mr LAWLOR (Southport—ALP) (6.50 p.m.): I have got some great news for the parliament: the Liberal Party of Queensland is establishing an ethics committee. I know that is an oxymoron. That is a 13 May 2004 Adjournment 1055 real oxymoron, let me tell you. This is a well-kept secret, for reasons which will become apparent. I am reliably informed that the new chairman of the Liberal Party ethics committee will be Mr Russell Galt. He is an authority on ethics but for all the wrong reasons. Mr Galt is chairman of the Ryan division of the Liberal Party which continues to be riddled with ethnic branch stacking. He was also treasurer of the federal member for Ryan's campaign committee at the time when a mysterious payment of $10,000 was made, a payment that is still being investigated by the Australian Electoral Commission. As the member for Moggill could certify, Mr Galt was the unsuccessful candidate for the Moggill preselection. Being the good sport that he is, he took the result to the Supreme Court. In support of his claim before the court Mr Galt tendered evidence that a woman voter was not authorised to vote because she had been a member of the Moggill/Bellbowrie branch of the Liberal Party for only three or four months prior to the preselection and not 12 months as required. Mr Galt was also instrumental in setting up that branch. As the Minister for the Environment told the House last year, Mr Galt knew the woman was an illegal voter because she voted for him and because Michael Johnson's chief of staff, Bernie Mack, signed her up as a member. In other words, Mr Galt knowingly accepted a rorted vote, then used that as part of his claim to overturn the preselection of Dr Flegg. But there is more about Mr Galt's ethical standards: he has stated on his business card that he holds a masters degree in business administration and a masters degree in management. What he does not mention is the fact that he obtained these degrees from overseas institutions that accepted life experience credits from an Australian organisation of which he was a director, an organisation with no academic standing in Australia. Back in 2003 the web site for the Institute of Business Leaders Limited described Mr Galt as having masters degrees from international management centres graduating in 1999 at Oxford University in the UK. Strangely, this is no longer mentioned in the web site, but the survey question, 'Do you agree that a strong adherence to a code of ethics should underpin business practice?' is. In fact, Mr Galt studied at the University of Action Learning based in Boulder, Colorado. These shonky degrees were granted from the International Management Centre which is located in Buckingham in the County of Oxford. With such a record it is little wonder that the Queensland Liberal Party has yet to announce Mr Galt's appointment as chairman of its ethics committee. They are probably psyching themselves up, I would say. I understand there are 5,000 members of the Liberal Party in Queensland. That being so, there would be 4,999 more suited and qualified to head the ethics committee than Mr Galt would be.

Conrad Jupiters Summer Surf Girl; Ms B. Brown Mr LANGBROEK (Surfers Paradise—Lib) (6.54 p.m.): I rise tonight to congratulate Belinda Brown of the Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club on winning the Conrad Jupiters Summer Surf Girl competition. The competition was held at Conrad Jupiters on Friday night. This is truly a magnificent achievement. Belinda was chosen from 19 other finalists in a range of categories and was considered by the judges to be the overall winner. Congratulations must also go to Martha-Corrine Stumer and Amy Boogaerdt, from the Southport and Northcliffe clubs respectively, for representing their clubs in the finals. Every young lady must be very proud of their achievement. This year the 19 finalists raised in excess of $300,000 for the surf- lifesaving cause. This brings the total that the quest has raised up to $7 million over the course of the competition, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. Belinda will now become the ambassador for Surf Life Saving Queensland. She has said that she hopes to encourage nippers to continue on with surf-lifesaving into their senior years. I will say to Belinda now that if she needs any assistance in forwarding this most worthwhile cause I will offer as much assistance as I can. The nipper program run by Surf Life Saving Queensland does more than simply teach young Queenslanders the ins and outs of the surf, though that is important in itself. The program is also aimed at achieving outcomes that will cultivate leadership and people management skills from a young age. The nipper program is not confined to the Gold and Sunshine Coasts. City children are now experiencing this same opportunity with City Nippers being held at South Bank Parklands, while some young surf-lifesavers are chosen for leadership exchanges to sister cities overseas. In addition to this, Surf Life Saving Queensland is educating school students on the importance of beach safety and becoming a nipper. Over 22,000 students are reached every year by these school programs. All of the summer surf girls are volunteer surf-lifesavers, thousands of whom patrol our beaches protecting our local swimmers and tourists every year. Belinda's home club of Surfers Paradise patrols Australia's busiest beach. Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club is a classic example of the work that volunteer surf-lifesavers do for the community. Last year the club performed 240 rescues, an average of almost five per week. To date this year the club has performed 151 rescues. Over the course of less than two years, 391 lives have been saved from the 1056 Adjournment 13 May 2004

Surfers Paradise beach alone. I am staggered to think of how many lives would have been lost if it were not for the work of these volunteers. This continues the fantastic record of Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club where, like many other clubs in Queensland, there has not been a single death between the flagged area since the club was established. Every year Surf Life Saving Australia is out in the community in search of funds. Next summer I urge all members and Queenslanders to dig deep for this worthwhile cause.

Health System Mr CHOI (Capalaba—ALP) (6.56 p.m.): I first of all acknowledge in the gallery Councillor Helen Murray from the Redlands Shire Council. I welcome her and her husband, as well as her party, on their visit to the Queensland parliament. I note that Councillor Murray is a very strong advocate for her community in the Redlands shire. I stand in the chamber today with continued disgust over how the Howard government has absolutely decimated the Australian health system. Never did I believe Australia would one day become a country where a visit to the local doctor would be based on the next payday or when there is any credit left in the credit card. I know that this issue has been brought to parliament by many members on many occasions, but it is a matter that simply cannot be ignored. Some 28 years ago when I first migrated to this country my father took me to my first public school. I have mentioned in this House before that I refused to go in because I thought it would be very expensive. My father told me it was free. I was injured during a football game and my father took me to my first public hospital visit in this country and I refused to go in because I thought it would be very expensive. My father told me once again that hospital care was free. That was 28 years ago. My education was free and my health care was free. Twenty-eight years later the constituents I represent have to pay for medical care and have to pay for education. Something must be done by the federal government to make good our medical system and something must be done now. Medical treatment is not a luxury; it is a basic right and should be expected by each and every Australian, and it should be delivered to each and every Australian. I have spoken with many people on New Start allowances. They now simply wait until they get over their flu or sickness as they cannot afford a visit to their local GP. In an instance where a family of five is infected with the common cold, a trip to the doctor can rack up $100 in medical expenses, and that is before medication. Some parents I have spoken to over this issue have taken their children to the GP for the necessary treatment but are unable to afford treatment for themselves. I ask: is this the country we want it to be? Another of my constituents was nearly in tears when she described how she lost her father in England to TB as her family was unable to afford the medication needed to bring him back to good health and that is why she migrated to this country. We need to think of our children and our future. We need to think of our age pensioners to whom we owe so much. We need to think of our families and friends. We will not support a federal government that disregards the people who elected them. We will not support a federal government that is destroying the values and principles that once made Australia the envy of the world. We will not support the continued destruction by the Howard government of Medicare. I will continue to take up this issue with the federal government on behalf of the people in Capalaba. The Howard government must be taken to task on this issue.

Road Funding Miss SIMPSON (Maroochydore—NPA) (7.00 p.m.): I rise to speak about a local issue. Locally we call it the battle of the bridge. On the Sunshine Motorway in the last few years there has been significant growth in vehicle numbers. Finally, we saw a commitment from the state government during the last state election for roadworks to the north of the bridge. We already had a commitment for the south of the bridge because they were in the road implementation plan in the previous budget. The bridge was not something that the state government would complete to duplication. Unfortunately, if the bridge is not duplicated there is still gridlock. We have a situation where there are more than 30,000 vehicles per day travelling over the bridge on a two-lane road and the growth rate each year is between five and eight per cent. It is phenomenal growth but it has become the main coastal link, other than the Bruce Highway, to carry traffic between Noosa and Caloundra. It carries traffic into the regional centre of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore—as it is recognised on all the planning documents. There is no plan for the upgrade of that bridge on this state government's books. If we want to really see what is happening with infrastructure in this state we have to look only at the budget papers. This state government has had record receipts from GST. We have heard how it has had a bonus windfall of over $600 million from GST. We have heard how over the last couple of years it has had a couple of hundred million dollars over and above what it had anticipated from stamp duty. Yet we have the situation where the infrastructure spend, particularly on roads, has been falling. 13 May 2004 Adjournment 1057

Road funding, as a proportion of the capital budget, has fallen in Queensland from 28 per cent to only 14 per cent. In real terms, we are going backwards in the amount of state government funds which are being spent on state roads. This is at a time when there has been a record increase in state receipts. The people are paying the price. We are paying the price on the Sunshine Coast. We are paying the price throughout south-east Queensland and the rest of Queensland. If the government does not support an infrastructure spend, with an emphasis on that in the state budget coming up, then it will be affecting jobs not only currently but also in the future. Queensland is slipping further and further behind the national average in terms of road spending. We are far behind New South Wales's capital spend on roads as a percentage of the state domestic product. If the government wants to see growth and prosperity in Queensland or prosperity alongside growth, then this state government has to start focusing on infrastructure, particularly on roads. This is also about the environment. By making sure people are not sitting in a gridlock, it will help the greenhouse gas problem. The battle of the bridge will go on until this state government recognises that infrastructure is important. It is also symbolic of what is happening throughout south-east Queensland—the focus has gone off jobs. Time expired. Yag'ubi Multicultural Festival Mr McNAMARA (Hervey Bay—ALP) (7.03 p.m.): Last weekend Hervey Bay celebrated one of the most important events on the city's calendar—the eighth annual Yag'ubi Multicultural Festival. Despite the now rather regretfully traditional wet weather, Yag'ubi was an outstanding success, combining music, dance, food and thought to ensure that there was something for everyone. Thousands of people came along to experience Yag'ubi. The festival enjoyed substantial support from the Beattie government through Multicultural Affairs Queensland, Queensland Events and Arts Queensland. That support was vital in securing first-rate entertainment from up and down the length and breadth of Queensland and, indeed, from around Australia. I congratulate Yag'ubi president, Julie Martens, her committee and the hundreds of volunteers for the outstanding effort in organising hundreds of performers across half a dozen venues over three days. The people of Hervey Bay and the surrounding regions benefited greatly from this festival. There was certainly something for everyone. I particularly enjoyed an act out of Melbourne called The Big Picture, and Stevie T's blues harp workshop was very worth while for those who attended. There was the annual great debate. It is a great crowd puller and has become a real feature of Hervey Bay's entertainment calendar. Yag'ubi is a lot of fun, but it also has a very serious side. Yag'ubi means 'come along' in the Butchulla language. It is part of the most significant social change that has occurred in Australia over the last 25 years—acceptance of the notion that everybody has a place in our society. It is more than 50 years since the passing in the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But, in my view, it is really only in the last 25 years that we have come to put respect for human rights into practice in this nation. We no longer jail people for having a mental illness. We no long jail people for being poor. We no longer jail people for being Aboriginal. We no longer jail people for being pregnant. We accept that everybody has a right to be a part of this society and that the proper role of government is to include rather than exclude. We have come a very long way since National Party Senator Glen Sheil was quoted in the Melbourne Age on 31 December 1977 saying that 'racism is quite a normal thing'. It was only 1977 when he said that. It is appalling to think that any elected public figure could put such a proposition today. But we have moved some considerable distance. The Yag'ubi Multicultural Festival sends out a powerful and vital message to the world from the people of Hervey Bay. It is a message of tolerance and a message of welcome. We are inclusive. We accept that everyone has a part to play in our society. We accept that forming our society is everyone's responsibility. I congratulate once again all the volunteers organiser and performers who gave so much to make the Yag'ubi Multicultural Festival an outstanding success. It has become Hervey Bay's premier annual event. Time expired. Pig Industry Mrs PRATT (Nanango—Ind) (7.06 p.m.): I would like to bring to the attention of the House a potentially devastating situation into which the federal government has knowingly plunged the pork 1058 Adjournment 13 May 2004 producers of the Burnett. The pork industry is a major contributor to employment in the South Burnett area with thousands of people involved—these are growers, stock feed growers and 600-plus workers at Swickers abattoirs. Because of the federal government, much of this now hangs with the proverbial axe over their heads. Pork producers could have their entire herds wiped out following the decision to allow imported pig meat into Australia from 11 countries from the European Union and the United States. These countries could now export pig meat despite their herds being affected by the debilitating disease post- weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome, or PMWS. PMWS has killed eight million pigs in those countries. According to the chairman of Australian Pork Ltd, Dr Paul Higgins, the main concern was maintaining Australia's health status, not so much the extra quantity of pig meat imported. Dr Higgins said that Australia is one of only two countries that were free from the disease. It was not known what caused it. He said our healthy herds allow us to be successful in the export market because of our clean pork product image overseas. Dr Higgins says that what this decision means is that within the next 10 years there is a 95 to 99 per cent likelihood of Australia's pig herds being devastated by an exotic disease outbreak. Australian Pork Ltd conservatively estimates a PMWS outbreak in Australia would result in a $189 million fall in gross domestic product annually. This disease and the conditions surrounding how it spreads are not understood. It is not clear. One has to ask why on earth the federal government would want to jeopardise the pork industry like this. There must be a benefit for some other business somewhere because there is definitely no benefit for the pork industry in threatening our clean, green image in this cavalier manner. We have seen industry standards sacrificed before. It happened with the peanut industry. The reported winning of the tender to supply peanuts to Woolworths by China will see people perhaps unknowingly eating peanuts with higher cadmium levels than was once the acceptable Australian standard. As everyone knows, the cadmium levels were raised purely to allow the importation of peanuts from China. If anyone tells people that multinationals such as Woolworths would buy a cheaper product over a clean, green local product, just remember what Kerrigan said in The Castle, 'You just tell them their dreaming.' What nature has afforded us by keeping us quarantined from these other diseased countries through distance and isolation, the federal government is choosing to jeopardise by allowing these imports and in so doing is playing its own version of Russian roulette with the pork industry. The South Burnett as a major pork producing region could have its pig herds wiped out if this disease-prone pork was allowed into the country. Only three countries are allowed to export to Australia—Canada, New Zealand and Denmark. Their combined imports total 54 million kilograms. I have no faith in the guarantees from animal and plant quarantine director Michael Taylor's statement that the new quarantine regimes would not put at risk the nation's pig herd. Time expired. North Queensland Cooperative Research Centres Dr LESLEY CLARK (Barron River—ALP) (7.10 p.m.): Some two weeks ago the Federal government dropped a bombshell on north Queensland with the announcement that it would cease funding the Rainforest Cooperative Research Centre in Cairns and the Reef Cooperative Research Centre in Townsville after 2006. This decision has generated community outrage in both Cairns and Townsville. Key members of the conservation movement, the scientific community and the tourism industry have condemned this decision as woefully short-sighted. I join with the Premier and Environment Minister John Mickel in calling on the federal government to reverse this devastating blow to tropical science, the environment and the tourism industry. The failure of the federal member for Leichhardt to stand up for the Rainforest CRC is deeply disappointing. Unlike Peter Lindsay, his federal colleague in Townsville, Warren Entsch appears to have kowtowed to his party on this vital issue and resorted to attacking the Cairns Post when it accurately reported the funding cuts. So why did these CRCs fail to get refunded? Was it because of the quality of their research? No! It was because the federal government removed the criteria of public good which was previously included in the guidelines for assessing funding applications and focused instead entirely on commercial considerations. If any members here have any doubt about the value of these institutions then I suggest that they visit their web sites or read their annual reports which describe the research they have undertaken. Since its inception over the last 10 years, the Rainforest CRC has built a national and international reputation for its applied rainforest research and is ranked among the top three rainforest research institutions of its kind. It has provided novel research that has led to real outcomes on issues such as rainforest tourism management, environmental weeds, feral pigs and the impact of climate change on 13 May 2004 Adjournment 1059 our region. I commend CEO Nigel Stork, his deputy Steve Turton and all the CRC researchers for their excellent work. This week, on behalf of the Premier, I delivered an opening address to a conference in Cairns to progress the international Hilltops to Oceans Partnership Initiative H2O that was launched in 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. The conference was focused on policies and strategies to reduce water pollution from land based activities, which is a worldwide problem. As I indicated in my address, research from both the rainforest and reef CRCs underpins the government's Reef Protection Water Quality Plan which is addressing this vital issue. The federal government was represented at the conference and has a responsibility to support the United Nations Environment Program in the implementation of the global program of action for the protection of the marine environment from land based activities, which includes the H2O initiative. This initiative is also consistent with article 207 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which Australia is a signatory. I hope that the leaders of the international community attending the conference will urge the federal government to honour its commitments to the UN and support global action to protect our oceans and reefs and, in doing so, continue to fund both the Rainforest and Reef CRCs whose research contributes to this vitally important goal. In the meantime, the Beattie government will proceed with a range of reef related projects worth in excess of $50 million because, unlike the federal government, we are totally committed to the protection of this international icon. Racing Industry Mr HOPPER (Darling Downs—NPA) (7.13 p.m.): Many shocked and hurt members of the racing industry have asked me to stand up today and defend Queensland Racing from the sickening attacks unleashed on it over the past few weeks by the member for Rockhampton. Not only has the minister sought to undermine the contribution of Racing Queensland, he has also personally attacked people who have devoted their lives to the racing industry and dismissed them as 'indulging in fanciful stories and myth making'. It is no wonder that we find country racing on its knees and struggling for survival when the minister shows such contempt and so little understanding for one of Queensland's truly great industries. In 2001 the Australian Racing Board commissioned a study into the size and scope of Australian thoroughbred racing. In stark contrast to the minister's assertions, the report from the ARB found that 249,000 persons Australia-wide owed their livelihood to the thoroughbred racing industry. In Queensland alone this translates to nearly 16,000 full-time equivalent jobs and a total job creation of around 55,000 people. This stands in stark contrast to the minister's claim that only 4,800 Queenslanders are directly employed by the racing industry. The important issue here is the attitude of this government towards racing and the message it is sending out to racing industry figures. What sort of minister deliberately steps out of his way to degrade not only an industry but also the hardworking members of that industry who, in many cases, have devoted their lives to racing? This government is not only intent on turning its back on racing but also willing to kick the industry when it is down. So much for the battlers' mates and so much for the Smart State. The minister's comments recently in the Toowoomba Chronicle about Mr Kev Webb did not go down too well, either. He is a great icon of country racing and the racing industry. I will be happy to give the minister a personal briefing any time he wishes to stop embarrassing himself any further. This morning the minister was up and down like a goat on a rope. The member for Gregory explained to me once how, when they were young fellas, they tied a goat to the church bell. That is exactly what the minister did this morning when I asked him about Bill Ludwig and he did not answer that question. He did not answer that question because it is true. Federal Budget Mr FRASER (Mount Coot-tha—ALP) (7.15 p.m.): The highest taxing, highest spending Treasurer in the history of the Commonwealth handed down his ninth, his biggest and probably his last budget on Tuesday night. Costello's petulance about delivering this budget has been viewed through the prism of his leadership ambitions, which are conversely disproportionate to his reserve of courage. I am of the view that Costello's inverted smirk was due more to the fact that while he did not want to deliver another budget, he certainly did not want to deliver this one. Where was the holy grail of economic reform? Where was the prudent expenditure? Where was the linkage to longer term smoothing of the economic cycle? Costello was forced by the little chap to hand down this most profligate, misdirected budget and was obliged to tell everyone that it is economically sound. He was like the chef at the health farm forced 1060 Adjournment 13 May 2004 to prepare pavlova with extra cream and then told to convince everyone it was good for them. Like his self-neutered leadership ambitions, his heart was not in it. Alan Kohler in The Age said— There has never been anything like this: It is the most profligate in history. ... But there is a problem: And Peter Costello told us about two years ago ... The Howard Government has accelerated Australia towards the cliff called ageing of the population'—no safety net, no plan. He suggests the budget should be renamed 'Crisis, what crisis?' I concur. I have spoken before about the challenge of intergenerational equity and tonight I table a copy of the Treasurer's own intergenerational report to make sure that it is available and on the public record because Mr Costello seems to have misplaced his copy. One could be tempted to forgive Costello. If he believed in his intergenerational report—and I am not sure that he believes in anything except his own entitlement to be Prime Minister—then this budget should have reserved some of the surplus to meet the challenges of our demographic destiny. The outlays should have been directed at the health system and invested in our medium and longer term skill development as key components of productivity. These are not avoidable needs. Costello has just put them on the tab of the next generation of workers and taxpayers. In that split-pea heart of his he knows that he has betrayed his own report and recklessly shirked his responsibility. This budget sticks in his throat. Costello's ambivalence about being Treasurer in the next term is not boredom but a sense of dread about the boomerang he has just thrown. An expansionary, stimulatory budget splurge at this time surely will feed inflationary pressures and we know what that means for interest rates. Moreover, he is still an ostrich when it comes to the distortions driving credit- fuelled speculative investment, especially in the rental property market. The election is surely around the corner, and so is a showdown between the Reserve Bank and the government's fiscal frivolity. As Ross Gittins of the Sydney Morning Herald has pointed out, if our side of politics had produced such a budget then 'commentators, financial markets and business leaders would be condemning it as the blatant, take-no-thought-for-the-morrow vote-buying exercise that it is'. The final analysis I wish to quote is more succinct and comes from crikey.com.au's most versatile political commentator, Hillary Bray. She says, 'The election will be held on 7th August.' Those amongst us who want prudent economic management will be surely voting Labor. Motion agreed to. The House adjourned at 7.18 p.m.

K. A. TYNDALL, ACTING GOVERNMENT PRINTER, QUEENSLAND—2004