Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker Scott, what I am about to speak on comes as no surprise to you because we share boundaries, between Maranoa and Flynn, and there is a stark contrast between our areas. Maranoa has had a lot of drought and no rain for the last three or four years, whereas in Flynn we have had floods for four out of the last seven years. Some parts of my electorate have been severely affected. So we have that contrast between our two electorates, and it is a very big contrast, but nevertheless it has the same effect on the people. Whether it be drought or whether it be flood, the mental health issues are still there and the stresses on finances are still there. It is a pretty sad situation. I was speaking to one of my constituents this week. He said: 'I've been on my property for four years, and I've had two floods in those four years. My neighbour has been on his property for 50 years, and he has had two floods. He can much more sustain his business than I can mine, and it looks like I've got to put the shutters up. I've had enough. I'm going to have to move away from the land which I love.' He said, 'But what else can I do?' He said, 'I've got debt up to my eyeballs,' and while interest rates are low, he said, 'I cannot afford to pay off my old loan before I get a new loan'. Added to that is the fact that valuations of properties and the cash-loan ratio have drifted far apart, and this has put more and more pressure on businesses. It is not only the primary producer, as you know, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is the townsfolk who run small businesses to help the primary producer and help the workers in the town to survive. They are getting very, very stressed, and there is no money left in the community.

In remote Queensland, the suicide rate between 2008 and 2010 was 20.65 per 100,000 people. It has now got worse. This is significantly higher than the national average, and this is why we are trying to encourage young people back onto the land to replace their mums and dads who have been working on the land for all their lives. When these sorts of events happen, it makes it that much harder for the people to come back to the land and enjoy a reasonable income. Young people probably have more brains than their parents—but to stick out there on the farm, as the older people have done: the young people are not prepared to take that risk anymore. Some are, and good luck to them.