Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is always a pleasure to follow Senator Macdonald. We well know that Winton in Western Queensland is the home of a dinosaur museum, but there are other dinosaur exhibits in regional Queensland—particularly in Townsville, where Senator Macdonald is from. It is pleasing to follow him after his endorsement of Premier Palaszczuk, a very good friend of mine. He neglected to mention the great work of the Mayor of Townsville, Jenny Hill—also a good friend of mine—who is out there fighting for this project; of Mayor Strelow in Rockhampton, whom I spoke to last week about this project; and of local regional mayors, who are talking up the importance of this project because they know that it means so much to them for local jobs.

What was interesting in Senator Macdonald's speech was that he talked about the high rate of unemployment in a lot of these regional towns. Since we last sat, I have visited Townsville, Bowen, Mackay and Gladstone. I have spoken to a lot of people on the ground there who are suffering from the economic downturn. The saddest thing about it is that the federal government have done nothing about it. They talk about NAIF—they talk about its importance—but it has spent zero dollars. It has not contributed one thing or created one job, other than that of the CEO, whom they appointed from down south. The only money it has spent is on a CEO and its executive structure. It has not actually spent one cent on a project in northern Australia. Whilst the government can talk a big game on it, NAIF has not done one thing to create a job apart from some fat-cat salaries.

We saw the government 12 months ago going around regional Queensland, promising money for jobs packages. Here we are, hours before the federal budget this year, and they have still not spent one cent on those job packages—including in the Bowen Basin, which, as Senator Macdonald said, has a high level of unemployment, along with Townsville. I know, particularly through the travels I have done over the last month, that there are really strong concerns from locals about their economic future and what opportunities are before them. That is something that the Labor Party has been very strong on and will be addressing between now and the election campaign, to ensure locals have those strong job opportunities.

It is really sad to hear from the Greens—and what a sad political movement they have become. Once a principles based organisation, now they have basically become a left-wing version of shock jocks. After sabotaging the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in 2009—a national scheme Labor had produced that would have brought down carbon emissions that the Greens were responsible for knocking off—we see them going around the country, project by project, trying to knock off these resources projects. They give no thought to local economies and how important these projects are for local jobs. If you spend any time in these communities, you get an understanding from locals of how important it is that they have opportunities for themselves, and, particularly, from those people who have kids who are about to finish high school, the feedback I get is: what is their economic future in regional Queensland?

Labor has been very clear on its position in regard to the Adani coalmine: it has to stack up commercially and financially, and it has to meet the stringent government approvals that are set in place. That has been the absolutely clear message from Bill Shorten over a period of time now, and it is supported by the federal Labor Party. I was with Bill in regional Queensland over the last month, and he has been very strong in his language around this so that people understand where he is coming from.

But all we see from the Greens is pandering to the inner city with no consideration of what is good for regional Queensland. This project is important for regional Queensland because of the unemployment that we see in these towns. Townsville has gone into double figures for unemployment, and across regional Queensland we see a higher level of unemployment compared with the south-east corner. And this is whilst the federal government has been sitting on its hands in regard to the local infrastructure.

As I mentioned, NAIF, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, has not spent one cent on job-creating projects in regional Queensland, despite all the talk we hear from Senator Canavan and others in this chamber. It is really sad to see that, even when the federal government do spend money—like on the Mackay Ring Road, which is a very important local project to that economy, with about $500 million to $600 million being spent on it—local contractors miss out. It really is not good enough that, even when they are coming in and spending money, not enough of that money is going to local contractors so that local communities can benefit. Instead, contractors are coming from down south, scooping up the money, doing the work and then taking it with them. The federal government need to do much better to ensure that, when they do spend money on local projects, it is local contractors who are getting the work so that the local community can benefit.

Then there is the sad case of the jobs packages, which Senator Nash went around spruiking over the election campaign that went for two months. Yet here we are, a year later, with not one cent having been spent and not one job having been created. It really is not good enough for this government to talk a big game on this but fail to deliver.

It is clear from the way that Senator Waters talked about this, and from what you hear other Greens say about this issue, that they have not spent time in regional communities in Queensland. If they had, they would understand the importance of this project for these communities. As I mentioned, I did a jobs forum in Cairns and I spent time in Townsville. I went with the shadow Treasurer, Chris Bowen, to Bowen, where we had a strong response from locals there. I did a northern Australia jobs forum with the shadow minister for northern Australia, Jason Clare, in Mackay; and I also did a jobs forum with Matt Thistlethwaite, the shadow Assistant Treasurer, in Gladstone, over the last month. These have been really important opportunities for me to listen to locals, to get feedback from them and to use that to influence Labor policy as we get closer to the election.

We understand the importance of fighting for local jobs and of creating opportunities for locals to get employment not only now but into the future—and, particularly, where the TAFE and training system fits in with that so that people can see a future for themselves where they grew up, in their local communities and, often, where their families have spent time as well. It is really important, and Labor understand the importance of these local projects to regional communities. They will be at the forefront of our policymaking before the next election.

In terms of the NAIF, there are concerns about its governance. This is something that Wayne Swan, the member for Lilley, has raised in the other chamber. He has written to the Auditor-General asking his office to investigate potential risks in the fund, saying:

I am concerned the real risk of maladministration may lead to significant losses to the Commonwealth in the future and the misallocation of resources due to political pressure and poor governance, resulting in funds failing to be allocated to more worthy purposes.

So this government cannot have it both ways. On one hand, they are saying that the NAIF is independent and will make decisions itself. On the other hand, the minister is pushing his preferred projects, such as the Adani rail line and his other pet project, the coal-fired power station. And he is trying to do this with minimal scrutiny.

There is one issue they have not addressed. To be eligible for financial support Adani must demonstrate the assistance would be, from the investment mandate of NAIF, 'necessary to enable the project to proceed or to proceed much earlier than it would otherwise'. In December last year, a NAIF spokesperson said:

This is something that governments of all political persuasions have done in the past and I assume will do in the future, it doesn't necessarily mean it's make or break for the project.

This has been said on multiple occasions. They are also on the record as saying that government funding is not necessary for this project to happen.

The government have not adequately dealt with this. They are trying to use NAIF to fund this rail line, but Adani have been on the record, on multiple occasions, saying this is not necessary. The government definitely have questions to answer around how that will transpire. Given their track record, I expect more loans schemes with no concrete funding, more back-of-the-envelope accountability and more platitudes about the regions but a failure to deliver.

Federal Labor has been clear. The government needs to meet the tough legislation that is set up. It needs to stack up financially. This is an important project for regional Queensland.