James Bidgood (Dawson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to put on the record tonight the thanks of the people of Dawson for the visit of the Prime Minister and the cabinet to Mackay North State High School on the afternoon of Sunday, 29 June 2008, enabling the community to have direct grassroots contact. I would encourage all my constituents to come along. From southern Townsville to South Mackay it is 19,000 square kilometres, and all are welcome. We welcome so much the fact that this is a government with new ideas and new approaches to the way of doing business with people. No longer is federal government remote in the south of this great nation; it is going out and meeting people where they are—on their doorsteps and in their workplaces. No longer do the people have to travel huge distances down to the south of this great land; the federal government is coming to the people. This is good news and the people of Dawson thank the Prime Minister and the cabinet for coming on 29 June.

As far as I am aware, this has not happened before. This really is a first. This really is a new government with a new approach. As far as I know, the previous Prime Minister visited the seat of Dawson only once in 11 years. He flew in, went to a sugar shed meeting and then flew out as quickly as he came in. I could be wrong. There might have been one other time when he came in, of which I was not aware, and I am prepared to stand corrected if proved wrong. But I can tell you that this Prime Minister has a whole new perspective on the way of doing business and taking democracy seriously. In the two years from May 2006,  Kevin Rudd, now the Prime Minister, has visited the seat of Dawson three times. This visit will be his fourth visit, his second as Prime Minister. The people of Dawson know that they are being heard by their Prime Minister and by the government of Australia. Once again I say thank you on behalf of those people.

In February, Mackay suffered severe floods, as did other parts of the seat of Dawson, including Proserpine, the Whitsundays, Bowen and Ayre. The Prime Minister was quick to act. He instructed that $1,000 per adult and $400 per child be released in emergency funding. That had an immediate impact in helping people to try to recover their lives and their livelihoods, as well as helping business.

There are great things happening in Dawson, and one of the greatest things is the resource boom. The Queensland Resources Council has said that by the year 2015 we will need an extra 15,000 resource jobs. Cane has an exciting future. We have the possibility of ethanol adding value to sugar and possibilities for cogeneration and biofuels. These are exciting times for people in the seat of Dawson. With tourism we have an excellent opportunity with the Baz Luhrmann film Australia, which is coming out in November. This is an excellent opportunity, and there are no greater places to bring people than to Mackay, the Whitsundays and Bowen. As you know, Bowen was one of the principal places where filming took place. We are excited in Dawson that our seat is going to be showcased to the world through the filming that took place in the town of Bowen. This government truly does recognise the contribution of the seat of Dawson to the bottom line of the national economy. Whether it is resources, cane or tourism we are an important part, and we know that this Prime Minister is taking the seat of Dawson seriously.