James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Queensland: perfect one day, paradise lost the next under Labor. For almost one full year—48 weeks, 335 days—the Queensland Labor government has been spinning, reviewing, back-pedalling and tap-dancing around a very simple question about the Paradise Dam fiasco in the Wide Bay Burnett region. It's a very simple question that the farmers and the graziers of Wide Bay Burnett want to know the answer to—that is: when will the Queensland Labor government safely restore Paradise Dam to its full capacity? Since the Labor government announced in September last year that they would release thousands of megalitres of water in the middle of a drought by just flushing it out to sea, farmers in the Wide Bay Burnett region have suffered through 335 days of uncertainty, not knowing when the damn will be restored and whether the water that underpins thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of investment will be returned.

The farmers in this region produce 75 per cent of Australia's sweet potatoes and more than half of Australia's macadamias. They grow chillies, strawberries, tomatoes, sugarcane and passionfruit. It's a cornucopia of all that is good for you. At times this region produces 25 per cent of all of the fresh food grown in Australia. But Labor have smashed the fruit bowl that is Wide Bay Burnett without care, without compassion and without common sense. This is a very real and serious issue, yet we hear nothing from Labor's Premier. We hear nothing from her agriculture minister. We hear nothing from her water minister. In fact, the only recent information to be found is on Sunwater's Paradise Dam Facebook page. Sadly, it does not provide the certainty that farmers and graziers in the Wide Bay Burnett region desperately need. Sunwater have stated that, 'Long-term improvement works at Paradise Dam are likely to include several years of construction activities to 2025.' But even that work is dependent on the outcome of a business case being undertaken by Building Queensland.

What the people of Queensland and the farmers in Bundaberg still haven't heard from the tired Labor government is what their dam plan is. How does Labor propose to plug the $2.4 billion economic hole that is going to be left in this region over the next 30 years if this dam is not fully restored? What is Labor's plan for jobs? What is Labor's plan for water? These are all questions that Queensland Labor have no answers to. Sadly, this is becoming a pattern for this tired, out of touch Labor government in Queensland. They have no plan to offer water security to our drought ravaged farmers. The Labor government are not only not building dams but tearing down existing dams. A fun fact, Madam Acting Deputy President Askew: of the 20 dams that have been built in Australia since 2003, 16 have been built in your home state of Tasmania. Labor are tearing down the one dam that has been built in Queensland.

The only people who have a plan to address these important issues in Queensland are Deb Frecklington and the LNP. Local LNP MPs Col Boyce, David Batt and Steve Minnikin, along with the federal members Keith Pitt and Ken O'Dowd, have been fighting for their patch of paradise and standing up for Paradise Dam, and standing up for all those who depend on the water that is in Paradise Dam. Deb and her team know that water equals jobs. Deb and the LNP are going to build Bradfield 2.0. They're going to set up the Queensland dam company.

Queenslanders know they cannot afford another four years of Labor, a Labor government who are using coronavirus as an alibi for their appalling economic activity over the last few years. Queensland has had the highest levels of bankruptcies and the lowest levels of business confidence. We've got a state Labor government who are using coronavirus to hide their appalling economic record. We've got a Labor government who are using base, grubby politics to divide communities along the borders of New South Wales and Queensland. Labor's Paradise Dam is Australia's largest and worst infrastructure fail. It is an Olympic gold medal, gold star, rolled gold, grand Pooh-Bah of a Labor stuff-up. There are only 67 days to go to throw out Labor, who have ruined Queensland for 25 out of the past 30 years. Queensland: perfect one day, paradise lost the next under Labor.