Jon Sullivan (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australian people expect their governments to be forward-thinking, to have a vision for the future and a plan to achieve that vision, but the Australian people also expect their governments to include them in the development of those plans and that vision. That is why Kevin Rudd’s Australia 2020 Summit was such a success, as were the many smaller 2020 forums held around the country, including one I convened at Deception Bay in my electorate. The government has reaped a rich reward in so many areas from that consultation with the community. As a consequence, so too will the people of Australia. In particular, I am looking forward to the outcomes of the Henry commission on taxation—what the Prime Minister has called a ‘root and branch’ review of Australia’s tax system—which emerged as a result of the 2020 processes.

As an Australian who is also a proud Queenslander, I am delighted by the latest initiative of our Bligh Labor government: Toward Q2. Toward Q2 sets, for a target date of 2020, a collection of challenging ambitions in the five key areas of economy, lifestyle and environment, education and training, health, and community inclusion. Queenslanders can visit the online website, www.towardQ2.qld.gov.au, where they can obtain a 44-page document outlining Toward Q2, as well as provide input into the process. Public forums are also being held across the state to give as many Queenslanders as possible the opportunity to contribute via that medium.

For the people of Longman, their first opportunity to attend a forum was at Strathpine on Tuesday of last week. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend and observe, as this parliament was sitting at the time. The next opportunity for my constituents to attend a forum is next Monday night, when a forum will be held at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Again, unfortunately, I will not be able to attend because of another longstanding commitment in my electorate.

The ambitions for Queensland set out in Toward Q2 are far-reaching, as the Premier says they are ‘bold and meant to stretch’ the government. Queensland Labor governments have transformed the state. It is no longer the backwater it was in the Bjelke-Petersen years. Achieving the Toward Q2 goals will ensure that it never is again. Trends suggest that Queensland will in the very near future become the second largest state in the Commonwealth in population terms. That carries with it a serious responsibility, and I am pleased that the Bligh Labor government is not shirking that responsibility.

I note with satisfaction that the government actions anticipated under the health target of having the shortest public hospital waiting times in Australia include the building and rebuilding of hospitals across Queensland. I have a special interest in ensuring that the community I represent is adequately served by public hospitals. The Caboolture Hospital was built in 1992 as a result of an election commitment I gave as a candidate in the 1989 state election, a commitment I acknowledge played no small part in my success in that election. During the federal election campaign of 2007, I pledged to do all I can to ensure that our rapidly growing community does not have to wait well beyond the time the need is apparent for another public hospital, as was the case throughout the late 1970s and the 1980s.

The relationship between the Commonwealth and the states has, in the last 10 months, undergone a transformation, a surge of cooperation replacing the finger-pointing, name-calling blame game of the past. The acknowledgement that the state will need to build new hospitals and the economic ambition to develop infrastructure that anticipates growth are pleasing indicators that my own goal will be easier to achieve, and will be achieved in a cooperative environment. I am certainly committed to cooperating with my state colleagues on this matter so that together we can bring a new hospital into existence in good time to meet the needs of the community we all represent.