Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in the House tonight on a matter of great importance. I've spent some time contemplating whether or not to make the statement I'm about to make. I have a firm belief that people should always come before politics and that it's vital to play the ball and not the person. I also have a firm belief that it's important to do the right thing and stand for what is right. It's in that vein that I stand before the House tonight.

Over the past six years, the people of Townsville have been devastated by a crime crisis that has seen our city draw comparisons to Johannesburg in South Africa. Devastating new statistics show that in the month of May alone there were 483 break-ins, 342 thefts, 140 assaults and 131 car thefts. You can guarantee that almost every single one of those crimes was against a hardworking, decent, law-abiding North Queenslander who deserved better and has now had their life turned upside down through absolutely no fault of their own. A petition launched by the Queensland opposition leader calling for urgent criminal legislation reform drew more than 15,000 signatures in a matter of days. North Queenslanders are gutted and have also had a gutful of living petrified, in fear of what's coming next. I stand in the House tonight to call on the Queensland Labor Party to pick up its act and clean out the rot that starts at the very top of the Labor Party tree.

The elephant in the room here is that Townsville would have to be the only place in the nation that holds the unenviable title of having a sitting mayor who is facing a death charge in courts, a state MP banned from a safe night precinct for late-night drunken brawling and a local Labor campaign strategist with a history of unlawful drug possession. While the Labor Party would prefer we gloss over these facts and pretend it's all fairytales and rainbows, we have three people in positions of extreme power who are making a complete mockery of our city, the people who live in it and the trauma they face on a daily basis.

Recently I spoke to the family of Darryl Lynch, the man who died after being hit some 16 months ago by a vehicle Mayor Jenny Hill was driving. While it's important to note in this House that I make no judgement on the circumstances surrounding the accident and that I extend my sympathies to all involved, it has been truly horrific for Mr Lynch's family to have to see the person who was behind the wheel in that accident remain so visible in our community and appear on their television screens almost daily, including just days ago when Mayor Hill posed in the Townsville Bulletin beside a V8. To say that was in poor taste is a gross understatement. In the interest of basic decency and out of respect for the esteem in which the position of mayor should be held, I would ask that the mayor reconsider her position and stand down until after her matter has been finalised and due process has occurred through the court.

I also call on the Queensland Premier to start leading by example on crime and discipline the member for Mundingburra for his role in the drunken brawl that saw him fined and banned from Townsville's safe night precinct. It's no wonder young criminals in our community are laughing at the system when the lawmakers in the state hold no regard for the law and receive no repercussions for their unlawful actions. I'd also like to ask the Premier why Labor campaign strategist Dolan Hayes remains in the Labor love-in circle, despite pleading guilty to possessing dangerous drugs. This is a man who, aside from being a key adviser to campaigns including those of Mayor Hill and Townsville MP Scott Stewart, is on the public record as having open access to Queensland government ministers. For a Premier who likes to talk a lot about integrity, we're certainly not seeing that in her actions.

It says a lot about why our community is in the state it's in when three people named by the Townsville Bulletin as being among the most influential people in the city have faced or are facing serious court and public nuisance matters. I call on the Queensland Labor Party to clean up its act, lead by example and bring some integrity back to the positions from which our city desperately needs to see some leadership.