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

Flynn is a very large and very diverse electorate. It covers 133,000 square kilometres. Many electorates have multiple local governments; Flynn has eight. With the House's indulgence, I would like to run through some of the industries and products region by region.

I will start off with the Gladstone region. The Gladstone region is home to one of the most magnificent natural harbours in the world, a harbour whose port continues to set new records for tonnage per year. It was 120 million tonnes last year. Last month the Gladstone Port exceeded 9.5 million tonnes. It handles coal, grains, bauxite, alumina, magnesia, woodchip, ammonium nitrate and general cargo. It is home to Queensland's largest coal-fired power station. In the energy field it as an oil refinery, shale oil, cement—it has the biggest cement manufacturer in Queensland, which supplies Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria—and three new gas plant on Curtis Island. The coastal region is also home to Agnes Water and the 1770 coastline. It has world-class beaches and tourism. It has fishing— freshwater and saltwater fish. It is a gateway to the southern Great Barrier Reef. Lady Elliot Island, Lady Musgrave Island and Heron Island are just three of the main islands for tourism. It has world-class snorkelling and dive sites.

The Burnett shire has very diverse horticultural products: mandarins, lemons, oranges, blueberries, dairy production and beef production. There is Brahmans, Droughtmasters and Santa Gertrudis. It is home to the Brigalow Research Station. It also dabbles in timber milling. Spotted gums near Gayndah are milled locally. It has high-quality timber and innovative milling techniques.

The Central Highlands, Emerald being the capital, is home to much of Queensland's most fertile grazing and farming land thanks to Fairbairn Dam, whose water a lot of Emerald farmers use to irrigate their produce. It covers cotton, sunflowers, sorghum, corn, chickpeas, mung beans and macadamia nuts. It has the largest citrus farm in the Southern Hemisphere, 2PH Farms. It has great tracts of highly productive cattle breeding, growing and fattening country. It is at the centre of the huge Bowen Basin coal region. Mines like Blackwater, Minerva, Ensham and Lilyvale have been the heart and soul of the industry in Australia through its biggest ever boom. It has high-quality coal that continues to be exported at record rates. It has gem fields to the west. They are unique. They have supplied sapphires to a lot of gem seekers over 120 years and they are still going. There are still sapphires to be found.

Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council operates a very effective beef-breeding program and broadacre-cropping operations, including for mung beans, chickpeas et cetera. They handle about 40,000 hectares all up and are very productive in training the young Aboriginals from Woorabinda. It is a success story.

The Bundaberg region is host to a bounty of different produce, including sugar cane, macadamias, pineapples, blueberries, beef, macadamias and lemons. It is home to tourism. It is a gateway to Hervey Bay and Fraser Island. Places like Miara, Moore Park, Avondale and Baffle Creek are becoming more and more popular with holiday makers.

The Banana shire has towns like Banana, Baralaba, Wowan and Taroom. It has its own coal-fired power station. It has high-quality beef and stud genetics for the whole world. Arcadia Valley is one of the best cattle growing regions in the area. It includes Theodore. Rockhampton has a coal-fired power station and fruit and veg. South Burnett has piggeries, cattle feedlots, small crops and peanuts.