Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to acknowledge and thank the former Deputy Prime Minister for his service not only to our country during its most trying time but to my electorate of Moncrieff and the Gold Coast more broadly. He visited Moncrieff soon after the last election in 2019 to announce funding for light rail from Broadbeach to Burleigh. He returned a further five times to announce various infrastructure projects on the Gold Coast, including the upgrade of the M1 in the member for McPherson's electorate.

I thank him for his support of the City Heart Taskforce that I convened in May last year. Since COVID-19 struck he has zoomed in for two of our meetings and updated executive members, including the general manager of the Gold Coast Airport, on various aviation measures. As recently as last month the member for Riverina visited the Gold Coast. We met and talked about the $1.2 billion aviation package that kept airlines flying in this country and assisted the Gold Coast greatly.

As a former Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development his portfolio covered RDA Gold Coast. I'm proud of the work that the City Heart Taskforce executive member and Gold Coast director Estella Rodighiero has produced with her Industry 4.0 initiative and the work that has highlighted the opportunities within the Regional Biomedical Supply Chain Development Project. It was great to welcome Estella and the chairman, Nick Scott, to Canberra just last week. We met with the former Deputy Prime Minister. I wish him and his family—Catherine and his three children—all the best for their future.