Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to rise to speak on two issues of community support and security within my electorate of Flinders. The first is in relation to the Crib Point bitumen plant. The proposal for this plant is a bad one. It seeks to bring, in violation of an election promise, an odorous bitumen plant right into the heart of Crib Point. It will do it in a way that will bring trucks—heavy movements—right through residential areas in the beautiful town of Crib Point. It will also lead to the reindustrialisation of a town which has become a residential community. For those three reasons I stand fully and squarely with the people of Crib Point in their opposition to this proposal for a bitumen plant. It is, in particular, in violation of a promise made by the state government of Victoria prior to the last election. It was an express, clear and absolute promise. The time is now coming for the state government, through the relevant minister, Mr Madden, to make it clear that they will uphold their promise to the people of Crib Point, to the people of Hastings and to the people of the Mornington Peninsula. It was an election promise that there would be no bitumen plant in Crib Point because it is a residential community, because it would have an impact on their quality of life, because it would have an impact on their road safety and because it would lead to the reindustrialisation of what is otherwise a beautiful residential town.

We are about to see the planning scheme amendments which are subject to an appeal call-in advisory committee report brought to the minister. This report should be made public. This report should advise that there will be no bitumen plant and the minister should conclude that there will be no bitumen plant. I say to the minister: release the details and guarantee the people of Crib Point that there will be no bitumen plant and reject the application for a bitumen plant.

The second area of community support and security to which I wish to turn is in relation to the many age pensioners in my community. We have fought hard over many years to ensure that there are benefits. We saw an increase of over 57 per cent in the rise of the age pension during the previous government, an almost 24 per cent real increase in that time. I am very proud of the fact that the constituents of Flinders, in representing the age pensioners, put the case directly to the former Prime Minister for the one-off bonus payments. Today’s announcement takes that further, but it is no substitute for a continued $30 a week increase in the base rate of the pension. That is what we advocate. We have put that on the table and we have circulated a petition. (Time expired)