Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak on a developing issue in my duty electorate of Petrie that has galvanised a community and spurred a local action campaign that any activist would be proud of: the potential consequences of the proposed sale of the North Lakes Resort Golf Club. In July, just three short months ago, the owner of the North Lakes Resort Golf Club announced that the club would cease operations at the end of 2019. I note the comments from the owner, Mr Simpson, in the local paper on 1 August, that the club's closure and sale is due to a lack of support from the golfing community, reflective of a national decline in golf participation. I further note the comment by Mr Simpson that he's tried for more than two years to sell the club to other potential golf course operators.

In announcing the closure of the golf course, Mr Simpson instead announced a proposal to sell the course to the Village Retirement Group, VRG. VRG has flagged its intention to lodge an application to council to develop part of this land. This announcement sent shock waves through the North Lakes community and the surrounding suburbs, through every local street and every local family, because this golf course and the valuable green space it provides is a hallmark of the award-winning, master-plan community that is North Lakes. This green space, the aspect and the health benefits it brings, along with its added recreational opportunities, is a key feature of the North Lakes lifestyle, a lifestyle that is now under threat.

Within days of the announcement that the golf course would be closing, a group of local residents banded together and the Save North Lakes Golf Course alliance was formed. Their first community rally attracted hundreds of locals, locals who had made decisions about where to live and where to raise their families, and now, understandably, feel let down by this decision. Since then, yard signs have gone up all over the place. The group has grown to around 4½ thousand followers on Facebook and garnered significant media attention. This is a remarkable grassroots campaign. I'd like to pay tribute to the group's executive and the individuals who've worked tirelessly in researching the issue, meeting with a range of community stakeholders, liaising with national and international golf associations, seeking legal and town planning advice and keeping the community informed and motivated along the way. I'd also like to commend this group for not just talking the talk but walking the walk, hosting a gala fundraising event on Saturday night. From all reports, it was a tremendous evening at the North Lakes Hotel, raising around $12,000 for Save North Lakes Golf Course's cause. I understand that a fundraising community golf day is in the works, and I look forward to hearing more about that as plans progress.

I also want to give recognition to another person who has been a strong advocate of the Save North Lakes Golf Course group, the federal Labor candidate for Petrie, Corinne Mulholland. Last month, Ms Mulholland travelled to Canberra to bring this issue to the attention of a number of key decision-makers, including Labor's shadow minister for the environment, Tony Burke. Ms Mulholland directly lobbied me and Mr Burke on the need to come to North Lakes and see this green space firsthand, to meet with the local residents and to talk through how we can assist the campaign at a federal level. Last Tuesday, Mr Burke and I joined Ms Mulholland to visit the golf course.

We'd like to thank two members of the executive of the group, Andrew Cathcart and Craig Brown, for taking time out to meet with us and show us through the area. It became very clear to me why this community is so passionate about preserving this green space.

To be clear, I am not antidevelopment and I understand businesses needing to rethink their operations when times get tough. But, after walking around the facility, it was plain to see this land is much more than just a golf course. Although not owned by the community—and therein lies the crux of the problem—it is a valuable community asset in its current form. It's an important ecological system. Public access walkways and bikeways traverse the course, providing linkages for school students and workers and recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike. The location of the course also helps to prevent flooding in the housing development. These factors all contribute to the lifestyle appeal.

It's not just the human lifestyle that's under threat. The golf course and surrounding habitat are home to many different types of fauna, including koalas and kangaroos. We've also met with the Pine Rivers Koala Care Association, who told us that this area is one of the few places where they're able to release koalas back into the wild. This habitat is a critical link in the local wildlife corridor, particularly for koalas, which must be considered in the case of any development application.

In response to Ms Mulholland's advocacy, I undertook to raise this issue in the Senate to capture a new level of national attention. Together we will do everything in our power to support the local North Lakes community.