Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Only a few weeks ago, another tragic incident occurred on the Sunshine Coast that highlighted both the power of the ocean and the extraordinary courage of our surf lifesaving volunteers. In the early hours of Saturday 31 January, in Alexandra Headland, members of the Alex Surf Club were arriving to set up for a carnival. At around 5 am, members of the public alerted them to a person in distress in the water north of the clubhouse. Although there was no patrol underway, club members immediately sprang into action. Nino Dukic and Justin Cash launched the IRB into challenging surf conditions and headed more than 150 metres offshore to reach the patient. Once the patient was aboard, CPR began immediately, as they navigated back through the break to the beach. Onshore, a coordinated response unfolded. Members including Sue Gregory, Andy Ovenden, Ellen Whinnett, Dave Richardson, Tim Bowles, Dave Cockroft, Matthew Cleverly and Stu Voigt rotated through CPR, administered oxygen and delivered defibrillation while managing crowd control. Other members included Jett Kenny, Trent Winstanley, Shane Peterson and Ross Hutton from the Dicky Beach Surf Club, who assisted with operations and beach management. Unfortunately, despite sustained and coordinated resuscitation efforts by these volunteers and by paramedics, the patient, sadly, could not be revived. Our ambulance and police services both praised the professionalism and teamwork shown by the surf lifesavers involved. These men and women are volunteers. They run and swim towards danger when others run away. On behalf of the Sunshine Coast community, I want to thank them for their courage and their service.

Yesterday, in the House, I raised serious concerns about fuel availability on the Sunshine Coast. Since then, the messages have not stopped coming. Last night, I received a message from a regional family quarry and trucking business in Kingaroy. They've now run out of diesel completely. Their trucks have stopped, their quarry has stopped and they have no idea when fuel will arrive. Farmers, truckies, professional fishermen and miners all rely on diesel. If the trucks stop moving, the economy stops moving. Further, when fuel prices jump and supply becomes uncertain, inflation surges. Higher transport costs mean higher food prices—higher prices for families already struggling with Labor's cost-of-living crisis. Australians are told by the energy minister that we have 34 days of fuel supply, yet businesses across regional Queensland, including in my electorate of Fisher, are already running dry. This government needs to stop the spin and start taking fuel security seriously because when diesel stops flowing, Australia stops moving.

See this speech in context