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

Labor governments have ruled Queensland for 25 of the last 30 years—that is, 25 years of failing Queensland. In the time that I have before me, I am going to go through the top 10 current failures of the Labor government in Queensland. To begin with, Labor have failed to build the infrastructure to keep pace with population growth. Whether roads or bridges or the rail duplication at Nambour, things are just not being built. Labor are not building dams. Not only are they not building dams; they are reducing the proposed Rookwood Weir and are tearing down existing dams, so that counts as an extra fail. Paradise Dam, which I have spoken about in the Senate many times, is Australia's largest and worst infrastructure fail, and it happened on Labor's watch.

We now get to point 3. Labor have failed business owners and jobseekers alike, with Queensland recording the lowest business confidence, the highest unemployment and the highest rate of bankruptcies, all before COVID. Labor are, shamefully, using COVID as an alibi to cover up a dodgy record. The fourth failure: Labor have increased the basic cost of living in Queensland, jacking up registration costs or skimming cash off electricity generators so power bills go up. Not only have Labor failed our farmers when it comes to water security, but they have also introduced Draconian green tape in the name of the reef regulation in a desperate attempt to gain love, cuddles, and preferences from the Greens, because Labor know they cannot win the coming state election unless they do a dodgy preference deal with the Greens.

The sixth failure: Labor have failed to support Queensland's coalminers. From dragging their feet on Adani to refusing to secure the jobs of miners at Acland or on the Darling Downs, this party of the worker can no longer look coalminers or their families in the eye. Don't take my word for it. Ask Jo-Ann Miller, former Labor MP and Labor minister. Labor have also failed the most basic requirements when it comes to integrity in government, from dodgy Jackie's property purchases, to Mark 'Mangocube' Bailey's emails, to the premier herself being found guilty of contempt of parliament. The Palaszczuk government has that sniff of old prawn head stuck in a wheelie bin in the middle of the Queensland summer.

We also have nine new or increased taxes—everything from payroll tax to land tax, gas royalties and property taxes. Labor are really, really good at increasing taxes or bringing in new taxes because they know that the only way they're going to pay for their promises is by taxing you.

The ninth failure is that Labor has failed to outline a vision for, or even deliver, a budget before the next state election. Instead, on the last sitting day they tried to sneak through a bill that would see journalists thrown in jail for reporting allegations of corruption. I wonder what they're trying to hide before the coming election. More worryingly, Labor have failed to protect our most vulnerable children. They failed Mason Jet Lee, the deputy state coroner said, 'in nearly every possible way'.

Wickedly and shamefully, they are using the politics of the border to be cruel, mean and horrible to the sick and the dying and to the families of the sick and the dying. Exemptions are granted for the rich and the famous and for the Labor mates, but not for the sick, for their families or for those who want to say goodbye to dad, who's passing away. There are no exemptions for them. Labor's record on the border is truly shameful, and it is something the Premier should hold her head in shame about when she thinks about the pain that she is causing to Queenslanders.

Queenslanders know they deserve better. They know that they deserve compassion and common sense at this very difficult time. They know they cannot afford four more years of failure under this Labor government.