Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2015-2016. I would like to start by thanking the people of Petrie for showing confidence in me in the September 2013 election when I was elected as the member for Petrie and took my place in the House of Representatives. It was approximately two years ago that I made my first speech in this House, in December 2013. There are a lot of people in the Petrie electorate who go about their lives on a daily basis and who showed faith in me. They are raising their families, they are paying off their houses, they are building relationships with their kids, they are going to work, they are paying their taxes and they are doing great things for the community. We are very blessed to live in a country with a stable environment and a great democratic system, and I am certainly proud to have been the member for Petrie for the last couple of years. I would like to use this time as a bit of a reflection, and I look forward to delivering more over the next 12 months.

We have delivered a lot nationally over the last couple of years. The federal coalition government has achieved a lot. Despite what the previous member said, I think that through infrastructure funding throughout this country—not just in my home state of Queensland but in all the states, up in the northern part of Australia, the Territory, North Queensland and WA, and throughout the southern states, including Tasmania—we have delivered a lot.

Border protection, of course, has been a fundamental plank in change we have seen in the last couple of years. Australia has been able to take back its sovereignty as a nation and not allow people to just rock on up by boat. We have put the people-smuggling trade out of business. There were 1,200 deaths at sea over that time. There has been a lot achieved in that area, and I am proud to be part of that particularly because of the fact that when we came into government two years ago there were 2,000 children in detention and the minister said the other day that we are down to 75. We want to get that to zero, as was the case under the former Howard coalition government when they left office in November 2007.

We have had record funding for schools and health right across this nation over the last couple of years. That has been very significant as well, and I will touch on that locally in a moment. Environmentally, we have been able to meet our targets with the RET and we have seen the Green Army rolled out as well. There has been increased funding for defence as well. The former speaker spoke about cuts; well, the former Labor government cut the guts out of defence. I had some people recently come and see me about shipbuilding in this nation, concerned that there were no projects for shipbuilding, and that is because the former Labor government cut it and ordered no projects over that time. We have recently been able to order some more frigates. That will start to take place in 2020. Believe it or not, people in the Petrie electorate care about that. They want to see ships built locally and the defence budget restored under this government. Ship orders are an important part of that.

We have been able to look at the debt and deficit disaster that we were left with under Labor and try to make some changes there to address that so that we do not leave spiralling debt to future generations, but there is a lot more to do. We are currently paying $12 billion—or just over—a year in interest only. The people in the gallery can imagine what we could do with that money if, like when the Howard government left, we were not paying that $12 billion in interest. I say to the Senate and to those opposite: we need to look at what we can do as a nation to make savings and to be very productive with taxpayers' money. That means working together with those opposite in the House and the Senate to make sure we can make legitimate savings in this place to benefit taxpayers right across the nation so that the next generation is not left to fund the interest bill for the generations that are here today.

Locally, of course—it is not just nationally—we have been able to achieve a lot throughout the federal seat of Petrie. We have seen infrastructure funding with the Gateway Motorway. One billion dollars was promised to upgrade the Gateway Motorway. We will see that go from four to six lanes from the Brisbane River right through to Bracken Ridge. That is very important because one of the fastest-growing areas in the country is the area that I represent and the north Brisbane area as well. So it is very important what the federal government has been able to achieve with the Gateway Motorway, whilst it continues to be built over the next 18 months, for the people in the southern part of my electorate and in particular around that Bracken Ridge, Fitzgibbon, Carseldine, Aspley, Bridgeman Downs and Balls Hills area. They really benefit from better funding for the Gateway Motorway.

There is also an intersection at Carseldine which I fought hard to ensure got an upgrade. That is at Beams Road and Lacey Road, a very dangerous intersection which we, along with the local councillor, were able to lobby for to see recently upgraded. I note that we have a Carseldine resident here in the gallery today: Justin Shemish. It is great to see you here, Justin. I am sure that you will benefit when you drive through that intersection there at Carseldine. That is something that we were able to fight for and deliver locally.

There are sporting facilities down in Bracken Ridge sporting grounds. We have been able to upgrade the lighting capacity down there as young sportspeople go down there to play with Little Athletics and with cricket. That was a promise at the last election which is now up and running and fully funded.

Of course, the NBN has continued to roll out at a much more productive pace in the last couple of years. One of the first areas in my electorate is down in the Carseldine, Fitzgibbon and Aspley area, where the NBN is now connected at a very timely pace and people are able to jump onto that. The good news is that parts of Moreton Bay—70 per cent of my electorate is in Moreton Bay—will also have the NBN rolled out completely and delivered by the end of 2017. I have been particularly passionate about ensuring that the NBN is rolled out in North Lakes, Mango Hill and Griffin—in those really-fast-growing areas in my electorate just north of Brisbane. We have people moving in there every week, lots of housing developments and lots of businesses moving into that area, and to have stable communications is very important. I note that in the third quarter this year we have got another 5,000 homes being connected with better internet services in Mango Hill and North Lakes between July and September. That build will take about six months, and then those people will be onto it quickly as well. I want to thank the Prime Minister for working with me over the last couple of years in his role as Prime Minister but also as Minister for Communications and also thank the current communications minister, whom I spoke to yesterday about the importance of better NBN for North Lakes, Mango Hill and Griffin in particular.

The Moreton Bay Rail Link is a very important project. They have been waiting probably a hundred years for a large infrastructure project like that. Many different governments promised it. It was announced in 2010, but this federal coalition government funded half of that in the last two years. Some $500 million is being spent on the Moreton Bay Rail Link in the federal seats of Petrie and Dickson. That is a very important step. I was at Kippa-Ring station just last week to inspect it, and I want to thank Queensland's Department of Transport and Main Roads for the significant work they have done in ensuring that the project is built in a timely manner under budget. They have spent taxpayers' money well in this project, and I want to thank TMR, the previous state government and the current state government as well as the council for what they have been able to do there.

The electrified trains have been tested and the handover for the rail will happen in the next few months, with an opening in June this year. It means that people in areas like Kippa-Ring, Rothwell, Mango Hill and Murrumba Downs will be able to jump on a train rather than battle traffic in a car. People in Kippa-Ring will be in Brisbane within 55 minutes—shorter for the stations a bit closer to the city. I am very proud of the fact that the $500 million we have spent there in the last two years will be delivered, despite the previous federal member for Petrie saying that it would never happen. That is an important piece of infrastructure for my electorate.

I want to talk about the environment as well, because we have been able to deliver great things for the environment in the Petrie electorate. I was working closely with the environment groups and I want to thank them for what they have been able to achieve with the Green Army projects at Hays Inlet, the North Lakes reserves and also down at Osprey House in Griffin, which is just about to kick off. We have been able to do a lot of good things for the environment, with native vegetation replanted, weeds removed and bird boxes and possum boxes put in place. A whole lot of things are happening there. Many of the young people that have worked on those Green Army projects have gone on to find full-time work.

The Safer Streets Program has rolled out, with CCTV through the Margate CBD on the peninsula as well as at Suttons Beach and the Police-Citizens Youth Club at Redcliffe, which has been great. There are more projects on the way. I have been working with the local police in Deception Bay, Carseldine, Sandgate and Bracken Ridge, and we hope to get those projects rolled out as well. The Dolphin Stadium has been kicked off, with a $4 million contribution from the federal coalition government to help with local jobs and tourism. When the Dolphin Stadium is built later this year, it will combine perfectly with the Moreton Bay rail link, which will also open at that time. It will bring more people out to the games as well as provide tourism opportunities for conferences, along with the Murri rugby league carnival that is held each year. I know that Peninsula Power soccer is also looking to have their home games at the Dolphin Stadium.

The Deception Bay PCYC has been ignored by Labor for decades. At the last election we were able to get a $450,000 commitment to upgrade their gym. I thank the federal member for Groom, Ian Macfarlane, who was able to help me with that project. It is now built and providing an income-producing asset for the Police-Citizens Youth Club at Deception Bay. Deception Bay is a great area, with people that are working hard—aspirational people that have goals, that want to achieve a better lot in life. I say to them: you can do that. If it is study you want to do, if you want to go to university or if you want to achieve a trade, you can do that. No matter what your circumstances are or what your upbringing, you can certainly achieve that in our great country.

The federal government has promised $11 million to assist the state government with the roundabout at Rothwell. I continue to call upon the state government to get that funding sorted out and underway so that we can get that roundabout built quickly. There has been a massive gridlock at Boundary Road. We were able to achieve $84 million to upgrade the bridge from four lanes to six lanes, which will also be starting this year.

So there has been a lot done over the last couple of years. But I would say to the people of Petrie: there is a lot more still to achieve. We know that jobs are important. We want to make sure that jobs continue to roll out across the country. One of the national achievements I did not touch on earlier was agriculture, with live cattle exports having just about tripled under our government after what happened under the previous government. Whilst there is no agriculture in my electorate, the fact that that happens at a national level provides jobs throughout the country that flow into the Petrie electorate. The Job Seeker Boot Camp was run at the end of last year, and there will be another one running soon. I say to the people of Petrie: we continue to want to see growth, and that will provide jobs for our young people.

I support the Moreton Bay Regional Council's plan for a university at the old Petrie paper mill, because I believe in the old saying 'out of sight, out of mind'. The closest university to my electorate is the Australian Catholic University down in Banyo, in the Lilley electorate, and then you have to go to QUT in the city. If we can get that university funded and up and running in the next few years, there will be more younger people who, when they leave year 12, will be able to say, 'Let's jump on the new rail link and travel out to Petrie to get an education.' Such an education is, of course, 60 per cent funded by the federal government and 40 per cent by HECS. So there is a bright future for young people in my electorate.

I thank the previous generation—the pensioners and the self-funded retirees—for what you have done for this nation and for what you have passed on to young people. I say to that generation that, as I have been out and about in the last couple of years presenting the Petrie Shield for academic excellence, sporting achievement and community service at some 36 schools, I have seen a lot of young people who are going to make a great contribution to this country. I thank the people of Petrie and I look forward to working hard over the next 12 months. (Time expired)

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