Paul Neville (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is proper in times of restraint that governments should look carefully at various sectors of the budget, but that should be done with equanimity not with biased selectivity. It is bad enough that regional Australia, more than any other area, has been targeted by Labor’s razor gang. What is worse is the way that a project in my electorate, the Fisherman’s Hall of Fame and the Fraser Coast Heritage Centre, has not only been targeted but sneered at as if it were some negative indulgence.

The Commonwealth made $3 million available for this and the Hervey Bay City Council made $1 million available, but state Labor made sure that the project was stymied by its dilatory and mean-fisted actions. State Labor made the project vulnerable and an easy target and is 100 per cent responsible for this project falling over. The centre was to be an iconic attraction, highlighting not only the Fraser Coast’s fishing industry but also the marine environment and its history, including the wonder of whales migrating to Hervey Bay, Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Strait—a pristine area.

It is ironic that a new marina has been approved for Urangan and ostensibly land has been put aside for this reason. It is doubly ironic that the same state Labor government is building the Traveston dam on the Mary River, against public opinion, with likely downstream environmental effects on the lower Mary River and the Great Sandy Strait. It is a double whammy for the environment. Cities like Hervey Bay rely heavily on tourism and small business. It is important that tourists have a fully rounded tourist experience. Visitors come to experience the unique local environment, and that should be reinforced by the attractions that exist in an area. I deplore the uninformed comments and ugly sneers directed at these projects and I hold the government accountable for the downstream consequences of its Scrooge-like funding withdrawal.