Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Hansard source

Can I have the time of the House for the miners at Cloncurry. Our miners create three-quarters of Australia's income. Mining is an intrinsically dangerous occupation. I represent Mount Mulligan, where 72 human beings ceased to exist in 15 seconds—the entire male population of the town. Twenty three died in 15 seconds at Mount Leyshon, at Charters Towers, where I live, where my son worked in the mines. Near my home town of Cloncurry, where I once was a miner myself, Dylan Langridge and Trevor Davis are the two boys trapped underground in Cloncurry's Dugald River mine.

In such times when I face darkness I turn to Slim Dusty and Stan Coster's very sad song: 'When life's going easy God is far from our mind, but when the bad things and sad things darken our day, we call out to Jesus in a most selfish way.' I ask for the parliament to give one minute of prayer and reflection for these Australian boys in the gravest of danger.

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