Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There has been a big change in Queensland. We have seen a change in government at the state level and, while I commit at every reasonable opportunity to work constructively with the new Labor government in Queensland to deliver the best results for our community, I am already deeply worried about what the Labor Party will do to Queensland.

We have an amazing situation, as the member for Hinkler pointed out. The new government has come in and decided to have three days of pomp and ceremony in the parliament but they are not going to answer any questions. And the Queensland parliament is going to go nearly half a year without a single question to a minister. We see Labor ministers and the premier avoiding the media at every opportunity.

The member for Hinkler pointed this out: the Queensland parliament is going to sit for about 30 days this entire year. This parliament in Canberra is sitting for 75 days this year, and the Queensland Labor Party think they will just have 30 days: three days of great pomp and ceremony but no questions to ministers, then a go-slow for a year, and only work about 30 days of the year. That is not good enough for my community. They deserve an honest, transparent and accountable government, which is what the Labor Party promised. But already the Labor Party are running away from that commitment.

There are big concerns already out there about the honesty, transparency and accountability of Labor members—some of whom might be in my community, and I would suggest that the Labor Party will have some questions to answer there in the near future.

But I am also really worried about the issues that are affecting people in my community on a day-to-day basis. The biggest issue facing our community is the cost of living. So many locals are doing it so tough, trying to make it from day to day, from bill to bill, from week to week.

While there is always more work to do, the federal coalition government here in Canberra and the former state LNP government in Queensland have done a lot of work to give relief to locals when it comes to the cost of living. The obvious big ticket item was Labor's carbon tax, which was costing locals in my community with an average family household budget $550 a year. When we repealed Labor's carbon tax—which was costing that $550 a year—we also kept in place all the compensation measures that the Labor Party had put in. So the Labor Party said: 'It is going to cost pensioners in the community more for their electricity, so we are going to compensate them through the energy supplement. So, even though it is costing $550 a year, we will give single pensioners $361 a year and we will give couple pensioners $546 a year.' We said, 'Pensioners are doing it tough. We will keep that energy supplement—that $361 a year extra for singles, and $546 a year extra for couples—but we will remove the carbon tax, saving the average household $550 a year.'

The Labor Party also changed the income tax thresholds—effectively a tax cut—as compensation for the carbon tax. We said: 'We will keep that tax cut, but we will remove the carbon tax.' So we have increased the pension, which was the compensation for the carbon tax; we have kept the tax cuts, which were compensation for Labor's carbon tax; but we have abolished the carbon tax, saving the average household $550 a year.

Coming up on 20 March, we are lowering the social security deeming rates for pensioners as well, which is about a $200 million boost to 770,000 part-pensioners. That is about another $80 in the pocket of local part-pensioners. When we removed Labor's carbon tax, a carbon tax supported by the Labor Party in Queensland, the then state LNP government reduced public transport by five per cent. That was saving commuters in my electorate from Morayfield to Brisbane $220 a year. So a five per cent reduction was saving them $220 a year. The former state Labor government was increasing public transport costs by 15 per cent. For every single year, there was a 15 per cent increase in public transport fares. The former LNP government halved that; they halved Labor's 15 per cent year-on-year increases.

They also created free travel for daily commuters who were travelling nine trips or more a week—so, their weekly commute. That basically meant they got a free trip home on Friday. I notice that Labor members are laughing. They think that the cost of living is irrelevant. I know they have already lost touch when it comes to the cost of living. They are very sensitive about this. They are very touchy when it comes to this. These changes save commuters in my electorate $1,000 a year on their travel. The LNP, through removing Labor's carbon tax and changing bad state Labor policies, saved daily commuters in my electorate $1,000 a year. That is on top of the $546 a year for pensioners that got an increase for the couples. That is on top of the $550 a year in savings we saw on electricity bills.

Now, as I said, there is a change in Queensland politics. I accept that. There is a question for Labor members here and in Queensland. If the state LNP were re-elected, they were going to set aside $2 billion to lower water bills in our community by paying down South East Queensland water debt. That would have saved the average household in my electorate $100 a year on their water bill. What did the Labor Party say? Nothing, nothing at all.

We also had a multibillion-dollar fund to relieve the cost of living if the LNP were re-elected at a state level. That would have saved another $577 a year on electricity bills for locals in my community. If the LNP were re-elected in Queensland, and I accept that they were not, we would have seen water bills lowered by $100 and we would have seen another $577 reduction in electricity prices. I plead to the new Queensland State government. My question to the Labor Party in Queensland is: what are they going to do? What are they going to do to match that $100 saving on water bills that are affecting locals my community? What is the Labor Party going to do to reduce electricity prices?

Opposition Member:

An opposition member interjecting—

Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A Labor member screams out about electricity. You know, the Labor Party are creating an energy monopoly in Queensland. What are they going to do with a state-owned energy monopoly to guarantee that electricity prices will not go up for people in my community? What are they going to do? If we are really honest about this, I think the last people who thought they would be forming government were the Labor Party. But they have. They are now the government and there are serious questions when it comes to the cost of living for locals. What are they going to do on water bills? What are they going to do on electricity bills? What are they going to do on public transport bills? Our plan was clearly laid out. The coalition government has clearly made very significant savings for people in my electorate. The question now is: what is the Labor Party going to do when it comes the cost of living for locals?

There are also other questions. This one really worries me and I have already written to the Premier of Queensland about it: how are they going to fund the infrastructure that matters in our electorate? I am inviting the Labor member opposite to come up to my electorate and visit Boundary Road intersection on the Bruce Highway. It is a terrible traffic hot spot for locals in my community. We built a Cosco there recently.

An opposition member interjecting—

She says, 'The infrastructure Prime Minister.' Well, the infrastructure Prime Minister and the coalition government here in Canberra put $84 million on the table to upgrade that intersection. The Queensland LNP put $21 million on the table. Do you know what the state Labor Party put on the table? I would ask Labor members. What do you think the state Labor Party put on the table for the Boundary Road intersection? What are they offering people in my community?

Opposition members interjecting—

They are not offering one dollar for a vital infrastructure upgrade in our electorate. The Labor Party is now the government in Queensland. We accept that. I am pleading to them: put back on the table the $21 million to upgrade this vital infrastructure in our local community. The coalition government here in Canberra today has $84 million sitting on the table. The Labor Party has got to find that $21 million that would have come if the LNP government was re-elected.

That the D'Aguilar Highway is another one in my electorate that is a very important road. It is a tragic deathtrap there. There have been far too many deaths there. This is a state government road, but I committed on behalf of the coalition government $16 million to upgrade the D'Aguilar Highway. If there was not the change of government, we would already see work underway there. There has been a change of government and it has gone into limbo with the state Labor government. I am appealing again to the state Labor government. There is $16 million on the table from the Commonwealth. We are not actually asking for any more money from the state Labor government. We just want them to spend the money that is on the table and build these upgrades. With the change of government, with new ministers who are seriously struggling in their portfolios, they are not doing very much.

The other one is of course the Caboolture Hospital. I love how the Labor Party continues to laugh about really important issues to people in my local community. At Caboolture Hospital car park 100 spaces are to be upgraded. Guess how many spaces the Labor Party is committed to: zero spaces. I am calling on the state Labor government to fund this increase, because it matters to our community, regardless of partisan politics.