Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to commend the actions of all South-East Queenslanders over the last few days in taking serious steps to ensure that we could emerge from lockdown. I also express my concern for residents and businesses in Cairns, who also are now facing a lockdown, which hopefully won't last for too long.

Quite apart from COVID-19, over the weekend a new threat to the lives and livelihoods of not just South-East Queenslanders but all Queenslanders emerged in South-East Queensland—a new threat that is intent on coming all the way down from Queensland to Canberra and wreaking havoc, just like we've seen it do before. What is that threat? 'Hello, Newman.' That's right: it's former LNP Premier Campbell Newman. He's back from the dead, like the zombie apocalypse. He just will not go away. Now he's here to terrorise not just Queenslanders but Senator Stoker, Senator McGrath and Senator Canavan as well.

This is the former LNP Premier who cut 14,000 jobs from the Queensland Public Service; who cut health services; who closed and sold schools; who tried to privatise our power network; who abolished literary awards; who commenced a war with traditional LNP supporters, like lawyers and doctors; and, of course, who curbed civil liberties in Queensland in a way we had not seen since Joh Bjelke-Petersen.

There is a very real risk that if Campbell Newman is elected to the Senate along with the Morrison government being returned they will do to Australia exactly what they did to Queensland when Campbell Newman was the Premier. He will team up with the Liberal and National coalition to cut jobs, cut services and cut all sorts of civil liberties that we enjoy right now, just like he and the LNP did when he was the Premier in Queensland.

There is a very clear message for Queenslanders: if you want secure jobs, vote Labor in the House and vote Labor in the Senate. If you want quality services, vote Labor in the House and the Senate. If you want job cuts, vote for the LNP and Campbell Newman.