Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in the chamber today to praise the Maroochy Shire Council for the memorial it is in the process of constructing at Alexandra Headland in my electorate of Fisher and to commemorate the wonderful service that HMAS Brisbane, a former guided missile destroyer, did on behalf of its nation. Councillor Chris Thompson, Chairman of the Sunshine Coast business branch of the Liberal Party, and I accompanied people to a meeting with Minister Bruce Billson and we were able to achieve a grant of $30,000 for the new memorial as a Commonwealth government contribution. This memorial is one of a number of projects to receive Australian government support to mark the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan on 18 August 2006.

Councillor Thompson has worked long and hard to help achieve this memorial and to have it in a very prominent place on the Sunshine Coast. The HMAS Brisbane was sunk last year following a five-year battle to get the ship sunk as a dive wreck off the Sunshine Coast. It will continue to serve its nation for approximately 500 years as a dive wreck, boosting the local economy, bringing tens of thousands of divers to the Sunshine Coast and, at the same time, making a substantial contribution towards our marine environment. Fish stocks will benefit and the marine environment more generally will be advantaged as a result of sinking HMAS Brisbane off the Sunshine Coast.

It was a long battle. We got the ship allocated to Queensland with the proviso that it be sunk off the Sunshine Coast. There was a lot of toing and froing with the state government, a lot of difficulty experienced, particularly with the state Labor member for Kawana. Normally, of course, the federal government gives the ship to the state and the state funds the sinking. In this case the state refused to fund the sinking, so I had to go to the minister to obtain initially a $1 million grant and then a $3 million grant to get the ship sunk. On a number of occasions I had to speak to the Premier himself, who did prove to be very cooperative, and last year we were able to see the ship sunk as a dive wreck off the Sunshine Coast.

The memorial at Alexandra Headland is in the shape of a ship. It is a truly impressive memorial and it will bear witness to the fact that the ship has been sunk off the Sunshine Coast as a dive wreck. It will remind people of the wonderful service that this ship has given and the service it continues to give to the nation as a dive wreck. It will also encourage large numbers of dive tourists to come to the Sunshine Coast, creating jobs and boosting our local economy. This is a win-win situation. I want to thank the federal government for its contribution towards the memorial and to congratulate the Maroochy Shire Council for taking the initiative to make sure this wonderful memorial becomes a reality. (Time expired)