Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to speak of this government's callous disregard for the people of my home state of Queensland. This is particularly in relation to the fact that this government is denying to Queensland much-needed infrastructure investment. In order to support that argument, I was interested to read in The Courier-Mail today an article headed 'Mining boss tells Abbott to cough up'. In this rather extraordinary article, the CEO of the Queensland Resources Council, Mr Michael Roche, who is not generally known as being particularly a friend of the Labor Party, has indicated his support for the Treasurer of Queensland, Mr Curtis Pitt, and said in this article:

We will back Mr Pitt 100 per cent in calling on the Federal Government to ensure that Queensland gets its fair share of infrastructure funding, …

Regrettably, last month's federal budget saw this government deliver no new infrastructure funds for Queensland for any of our significant projects. When it comes to federal infrastructure funding, this government has let Queensland down very badly. We all know that with the tapering off of the mining investment pipeline, what most of Australia is desperately in need of is infrastructure for innovation, for collaboration and for improved productivity, so that the jobs of the future can be realised. This government has sadly let Queensland down when it comes to this vital investment.

In fact Mr Roche has said that federal funding is being held back because the state would not take part in this government's ideological—that is my word—asset recycling scheme. We have had grave concerns about the asset recycling scheme for some time. We know that the people of Queensland, at the January state election, spoke quite decisively on this issue of privatisation of state assets. Most people would be aware that probably one of the most significant issues in that particular election was the question of whether or not the state's assets should be privatised. The people of Queensland said quite emphatically that this was not to occur, and we saw the election of a state Labor government and the fall of the Newman government.

We in Labor know that this asset recycling proposition is an ideologically driven approach. It is the people of Queensland who are suffering because of this ideological fixation that the government has on the question of privatisation of assets. I refer to the report of the Economics References Committee, Privatisation of state and territory assets and new infrastructure, dated March 2015. Referring to the issue of distortion of decisions, it said:

The committee has considered evidence that binding infrastructure funding with privatisation has the potential to distort state and territory decisions on privatisation and infrastructure funding. The potentially undesirable outcomes of this distortion may include:

It is very pleasing to see Mr Roche coming forward and saying in comments that are reported in The Courier Mail today that:

Tying federal support to the sale of state-owned assets is redundant …

We have a situation in Queensland where, I think, we have a bipartisan position that the state election has determined the issue of privatisation of state assets, despite the fact that we have a federal government that is seeking to deny us much-needed funding for job-creating infrastructure. The government's infrastructure funding policy is a joke.

I also want to give a more specific example of where this government has turned its back on the people of Queensland and, in particular, the people of Central Queensland in a most callous way. I have previously spoken on the issue of Tropical Cyclone Marcia. It was characterised as a severe tropical cyclone. This cyclone crossed the Queensland coast north of Yeppoon as a category 5 cyclone earlier this year. It swept through Rockhampton and a number of other towns in the Central Queensland area. My home state of Queensland experienced extensive damage and disruption to communities, businesses, the environment and infrastructure.

I saw the devastation firsthand in Rockhampton and Yeppoon when I visited the region earlier this year. I want to pay tribute to the Mayor of Livingston, Bill Ludwig, and the Mayor of Rockhampton, Margaret Strelow, for their attempts to try to secure appropriate support from this government for the recovery. Those communities have been hit very hard by the impact of Tropical Cyclone Marcia. There has been a particular impact on the motel and hotel industries. We have seen a number of facilities in those industries close down in recent times.

You will understand my dismay at learning of this government's refusal to pay its fair share of the category D assistance under the natural disaster relief and recovery arrangements. The Queensland government and the two local authorities that I have referred to got together and came up with a sensible proposal to the federal government. It was a very detailed proposal for $198.5 million under the category D exceptional circumstances funding. But on 1 June the Prime Minister advised the Queensland government that the federal government was prepared to provide on cost-share basis only $27.75 million for Central Queensland. In his letter, the Prime Minister, quite insultingly, said that the overall impact of Tropical Cyclone Marcia was not of an exceptional nature compared to other cyclones that have been experienced. I am sure that the people of Rockhampton and Yeppoon would strongly disagree with those comments. It was an exceptional event for them.

The Queensland agriculture minister, Mr Byrne, has said that, without full category D assistance, major projects, including the Rockhampton riverbank reconstruction and the Yeppoon foreshore revitalisation project, cannot go ahead. Mr Byrne went on to say that:

Category D assistance is a safety net to support communities facing extraordinary recovery costs following a natural disaster and a lifeline for the local economy that's still doing it tough.

I join with Mr Byrne in saying that the federal government's decision is a real slap in the face to local families, businesses and people who have had their lives torn apart by an extreme natural disaster.

This government has refused Central Queensland critical recovery funding, and I would go so far as to say that this government has abandoned Central Queensland. It is particularly disappointing to see the federal member for Capricornia, Ms Landry, failing to stand up for the region. I call on Ms Landry to stand up for Capricornia and to support these local development projects. I note that, following the letter from the Prime Minister to the Queensland government that I referred to, Ms Landry welcomed the announcement, saying that $28 million would make a significant contribution to the recovery. That amount of money is simply not enough to get Central Queensland back on its feet. Rockhampton mayor, Margaret Strelow, has said that Rockhampton alone needs at least $16 million. I am deeply disappointed at this government's inability to stand up for Australia's rural and regional areas by refusing to allocate its fair share.