Ministerial Statement Address-In-Reply
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5 May 2015 Address-in-Reply 317 More importantly, the CQU Townsville campus will create opportunities for students living in rural and remote areas in North Queensland to access university courses. With the potential to develop partnerships with a range of industries including defence, health and education, CQU are interested in creating opportunities to extend the learning and skill development for people of the north. Knowledge is the new commodity and Australia is abundant with this resource and, by tapping into the NBN infrastructure, learning will become more accessible through a range of modes. More importantly, CQU understand the importance of Townsville as a strategic hub not only for North Queensland but also for Northern Australia. Its geographic location, climate and supporting infrastructure provides the ideal location as a northern staging point for future trade and development. Recent predictions of the world’s population indicates that by 2050 more than half of the world’s population will be situated in the tropical zone located between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. This will mean that in excess of five billion people could be living in the tropical band around the world. This will present the world with some significant challenges including issues such as adequate shelter, food supply, health services and education delivery, just to name a few. As a state we need to think and plan for our role in being able to support the world’s population living in such a small and confined area in only 35 years time. As a state we need to think about and strategically align ourselves as a primary producer, enabling us to be a viable and sustainable food supplier. Our cattle industry is on the cusp of rapid expansion as the Asian markets are showing increased interest in the quality of our beef. The recent increases of live exports through the Townsville port show that we are able to supply the world’s dining tables with high quality beef exported from the north. It is the same Port of Townsville that is going gangbusters and exporting live exports to neighbouring Asian countries that the former LNP government wanted to sell to the highest bidder. Similarly, we need to continue to develop world-class healthcare practices that will meet the needs of our own communities and those of our neighbours. JCU, and now CQU, are providing for the future with highly trained and skilled healthcare workers that will meet the needs of our growing population. The Townsville General Hospital currently provides service to over 600,000 people living in Northern Australia and close countries including Papua New Guinea and the islands of the South Pacific. It is imperative that we continue to be at the forefront of healthcare services for the people of North Queensland. By having CQU establish a campus in Townsville, it encourages our school leavers to study in the city in which they live and thereby they are more likely to transition to work in that same city. More importantly, it provides confidence in the wider community so that investment and development will help reignite the economy that has been left floundering over the last three years. We welcome CQU to Townsville knowing that it will not only serve our city but empower future generations to meet the challenges of living in a world that is ever changing and ever challenging. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Further Answer to Question; Renewable Energy Hon. MC BAILEY (Yeerongpilly—ALP) (Minister for Main Roads, Road Safety and Ports and Minister for Energy and Water Supply) (2.36 pm), by leave: During question time I said to the House that I would table a letter from the Integrity Commissioner, and I do so now. Tabled paper: Letter, dated 16 March 2015, from the Queensland Integrity Commissioner, Mr Richard Bingham, to the Hon. Mark Bailey, Minister for Main Roads, Road Safety and Ports, Minister for Energy and Water Supply, regarding advice on possible conflicts of interest. ADDRESS-IN-REPLY Resumed from 27 March (see p. 266). Mr PEARCE (Mirani—ALP) (2.36 pm): Madam Deputy Speaker Grace, first of all, I congratulate you on your appointment as Deputy Speaker and I ask you, if you would not mind, to pass on to the Speaker my congratulations on his appointment as the Speaker of the House. I have known Mr Wellington, or the Speaker, since he first came into this place in 1998 and I see him as a man of integrity, as do many Queenslanders. He is certainty a straight shooter; we know that. He is a 318 Address-in-Reply 5 May 2015 down-to-earth person. I am strongly of the opinion, along with other people in Queensland, that he is the right person for the job. The resources sector is a key contributor to jobs and to improving standards of living and prosperity across the state, especially in regional Queensland. At the opening of parliament His Excellency spoke about job creation and the direction that the Labor government intended to take in creating job opportunities for youth and also for those people who have lost their jobs in recent years. I know about this personally, because in the lead-up to the election I ran a campaign on a commitment to creating job opportunities in an area where many, many jobs were lost—around 10,000—in the coal industry which has had a flow-on effect to people in the communities of Rockhampton and Mackay. I certainly recognise, just as the Labor government has done, that when new mines are opened or existing mines expand mining jobs are created across the community. People say four to one or five to one jobs are created outside the lease where the coal is being mined. 023 They are well-paid jobs. They are essential to the economic stability of our resource communities—regional cities like Mackay and Rockhampton—and for a stable revenue take of the state itself. We must work hard as a government and as a community to create jobs, because if we do not start creating jobs we will have significant problems going into the future. I am very confident that the Premier has grabbed the reins and is heading in the right direction when it comes to jobs creation. Secure jobs, well-paid jobs, create other jobs through a cash flow into resource towns— regional centres like Mackay and Rockhampton—where spending of wages increases that cash flow into small business and services. People do not talk about the cash flow very often, but it is the maker of jobs and sustainability of small business. When jobs are available or become available for youth and women in small business, hospitality and a wide range of other opportunities, I want to be out there saying that I have played a role in getting those things happening in Central Queensland. As a local member I have argued that government must be on the front foot and be strong when dealing with mining companies, ensuring that regional communities are closely aligned with the revenue-producing mining and resource sector and are returned a fairer share of the revenue itself. To get those communities going again like they were in the past, they must be allowed to flourish and grow with industry. That has not happened in recent years and, unfortunately, we have a very sad, serious situation in those coalmining communities. From my experience with coal companies I know there are thousands of high-skilled mineworkers looking for a job who are at their best when left alone to do their jobs. Having been a mineworker in the past, I know that if management left us alone we would perform a lot better than if they were standing there looking over our shoulders. It has been highlighted in recent years how inexperienced, ego driven management has been responsible for stupid decision-making which has cost the companies millions and millions of dollars. Unfortunately, when those sorts of things happen it is usually the workers at the coalface who get the blame. In the run-up to the 2015 election the LNP promised there would be no surprise industry decisions made under its government, but it would expect that mining companies respect high social and environmental standards across the industry. Being a person whose heart is with the industry, with people on the land, with people in regional Queensland, I get quite emotional when talking about those people who choose to live and work on the land, those people who choose to live and work in the coal industry, because they are the good people of Queensland. People on the land are decent, respectable and good people. They do their type of work simply because that is in their blood. It is there and they know what is required. Having lived on the land in north-west New South Wales before coming to Queensland, I certainly have a good understanding of the decency among people not only in the rural sector but also in coalmining communities across Central Queensland. Unfortunately, the LNP found that the best way to manage the mining sector was to allow the mining companies to take control. I expected a lot more from an LNP government in the way it dealt with mining companies, but unfortunately mining companies have been allowed to take control and have become really difficult to work with. I have always believed that the role of Coordinator-General was to be the conscience of the people. I have real concerns about that position and hope that into the future we can improve what has been happening with that position and what has been coming out and going back to the industry.