Corinne Mulholland (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ask anyone in this place, and they will tell you all politics is local. Without the work to improve the lives of locals out there, we don't have a job in here. The backbone of Australian communities is councils that care for the daily lives of locals. The MVPs are of course Queensland councils, because Queensland councils represent the most diverse, decentralised and disaster impacted communities in Australia.

Whilst my job here in the Senate technically only started on 1 July, since 3 May I have been out meeting Queensland communities and the mayors that represent them, including the City of Moreton Bay to launch construction on a long-overdue Youngs Crossing bridge with our wonderful MP, Ali France, and Mayor Peter Flannery. I went to Lockyer to inspect the Resilient Rivers Water Infrastructure Program with Mayor Tanya Mulligan. I went up to Toowoomba with Mayor Geoff McDonald and the show society to see the much-needed upgrades at the equestrian facilities at the showgrounds. I went over to the Sunshine Coast to see the exciting recycling initiatives in Nambour and the tourism upgrades for Mooloolaba with Mayor Rosanna Natoli. I went over to Scenic Rim to inspect sporting facilities with Mayor Tom Sharp. All of these are initiatives funded by the Albanese government.

I look forward to working closely with councils across Queensland. In fact, we have 77 incredible local governments across our massive 1.8 million square kilometre state. As someone who has worked in disaster management, I know firsthand how hard our councils work during times of disaster. In fact, we witnessed some incredible responsiveness from our South-East Queensland councils during Cyclone Alfred, which wreaked $1.2 billion worth of damage in February this year. Our councils jumped into action, making sandbag stations available to residents. I was there sandbagging at my local station along with hardworking council workers who were working overtime to protect their local communities. I'm looking forward to working very closely with our local councils.