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

The North and South Burnett regions in my electorate of Flynn are home to some of the most fertile agricultural land in the country. With our new free trade agreements, agriculture is set to be a source of great economic growth in the future. To make this possible, we do need to keep up the pace with appropriate infrastructure. The construction of the Wellcamp airport provides opportunities for our Burnett region producers to access lucrative South-East Asian markets. The possibilities are endless: blueberries to Beijing, squab to Shanghai and citrus to Singapore.

Our roads need to be upgraded to get the produce to these new markets.

Mr Pasin interjecting—

Ms Husar interjecting—

Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Barker and the member for Lindsay will have some respect for the member on his feet please.

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

The Mundubbera Durong Road and the Proston Boondooma Road are vital to the Proston communities and their biggest employer, the Smithfield feedlot. We need work to begin on these roads to lift them to a road train standard. The roads need widening to complete the shoulders and some bridge work. These road upgrades will improve efficiency and safety and increase employment in the North and South Burnett regions.