Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Blair once again is correct. The new senior vice-president would be the current National Party president. The Liberal Party executive would remain in place for the next three years.

The next question tends to be: would constitutional reform be required? The current Liberal Party of Australia Queensland Division constitution and Queensland National Party constitution allow for these changes. However, a constitutional convention would be called to amend the Liberal Party constitution to enable further changes to take place, and this convention would be open to all party members.

Another question is: is this a takeover? To be honest, it is a merger, and it is an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary concept. It is a genuine partnership between equals which serves the mutual interest of both parties. But, more importantly, it serves the interests of the electors of Queensland and is designed to achieve our highest common goal—attaining government in Queensland. I might add that of course we also want to make sure that the 29 federal members and senators which our merged operation would have will continue to make a positive contribution to conservative government nationally.

One of the things that a lot of people have criticised the current coalition for is its inability to do away with three-cornered contests. Mr Deputy Speaker, you and I have had these discussions; in fact, I think we had this discussion at my home on New Year’s Day. We have had many of these discussions. The great thing about this merger is that the three-cornered contest in the state seats of Broadwater, Mudgeeraba, Hervey Bay and Redlands would be resolved internally under what we call a process of objective assessment. To sum up, that means there would be zero three-cornered contests in Queensland because, after all, the Liberal Party and the National Party would be one party.

I mentioned before that the state shadow ministry would remain in place until the state election, subject to performance criteria. What would happen to the Queensland National senators and members in the federal parliament? Would they sit in the parliament as Liberals? That is a matter which is yet to be discussed and yet to be resolved. My own personal view is that it would be appropriate that we all sit together, because, after all, we would all be members of the same political party. But whether that happens immediately or it happens incrementally is something which will ultimately be determined by the party organisation.

What really is important is that this is an opportunity to create a new future for conservative politics in Queensland. The Liberal Party was formed from the merger of a number of disparate conservative organisations under the leadership of Sir Robert Menzies. That government was elected in coalition with the then Country Party in 1949 and has provided excellent government over many years since that time.

You cannot just assume that the arrangement that you now have will be the best arrangement forever. I want to say how much I admire the courage of the National Party organisation in Queensland, along with its Liberal Party counterpart, on being prepared to put aside a quarter of a century of internecine warfare to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ We have tried everything else. The National Party and the Liberal Party have each sought to blow each other out of the water. That has not worked. In recent years we have had successive Labor governments—Labor governments which, until they appeared to be as incompetent as the Beattie government now is, appeared to be entrenched into state government for a generation.

The National Party and the Liberal Party separately yesterday were prepared to sit down and say: ‘We have to do things better. We have to look beyond the square. We have to achieve something which is going to not only get rid of Mr Beattie but also make a huge contribution to the ongoing conservative government federally.’ We want to say thank you to you, Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, not in your capacity as Deputy Speaker but in your capacity as State President of the Queensland National Party, and also to your Liberal Party counterpart, former Senator the Hon. Warwick Parer, as well as the party organisations.

It is so much easier to simply say, ‘It’s all too hard.’ It is so much easier to walk away. It is so much easier not to, on occasions, offend one’s federal colleagues. It is important to do what is right. We have tried everything else. We are a long way from state government presently in Queensland, even though the Labor Party appears to be joining our campaign with their serial incompetence. But this in fact gives the two parties when merged as one a real opportunity—a real chace—to regain the treasury bench. It will also, of course, remove the occasional disputes which have happened between the two parties in Queensland, which have affected the coalition’s federal performance.

I represent an area of the Sunshine Coast and I am particularly pleased that my electorate has the opportunity to attract a large number of migrants entering Queensland from overseas and also from interstate. A recent Queensland government media release entitled ‘Queensland population grows at double the pace’ noted that Queensland accepted 30,000 new residents through interstate migration in the 12 months to September 2005. On average, that equates to around 2,500 interstate arrivals per month or 577 per week. It is an amazing total. The reason people are moving to Queensland, of course, is I suppose the prospect of a conservative government after the next election in Queensland! Seriously, the reason they are moving is that Queensland has a wonderful lifestyle. We have a wonderful atmosphere, a wonderful ambience and a welcoming population. This movement will continue to grow. Over the last 12-month period there were 17,500 new residents in Queensland who came from overseas. Altogether, this equates to around 913 extra residents who migrate to the sunshine state each week and many of those people move to the Sunshine Coast.

Queensland’s population grew by 75,900 last financial year or 1,459 people each week. I think it is important to recognise that the Australian government has rewarded our state for that growth. There have been sensible allocations outlined in the budget for things such as infrastructure, including much needed roadworks in Northern Australia. The Sunshine Coast will benefit directly from funds under the Roads to Recovery program. The City of Caloundra will receive $781,031, the Shire of Maroochy will receive $1,188,589 and Noosa Shire Council, which is in the electorate of my colleague the honourable member for Fairfax, will receive $517,939. The Roads to Recovery program covers about 85 per cent of Australia’s road network. In November I was able to announce funding in Caloundra and Buderim under the AusLink Black Spot program for 2005-06. These projects were: Mary Street and Arthur Street, Caloundra, for the installation of a roundabout at the intersection, $50,000; Beerburrum Street and Albatross Avenue, Caloundra, for the installation of traffic lights, $75,000; Mons Road and Tanawha Tourist Drive, Buderim, for kerb and channel modification works and a dedicated left-turn lane, $15,000; and Mons Road and Parsons Road, Buderim, to improve sight distance and upgrade lighting and signage, $80,000.

Having said that, I believe it is important that the government continue to recognise the infrastructure needs of the Sunshine Coast. I would like to see funds allocated to upgrade the Bruce Highway to six lanes all the way to the Sunshine Coast. We have, by upgrading the highway to Caboolture to six lanes, removed the worst bottleneck between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane. I would like to see more spending in that particular area, but the government must always be careful to make sure that it does not spend more than it earns. The Treasurer of Australia has ensured that the government keeps within its means. People these days will not accept deficit budgeting. This government has responsible economic management and I am proud to be a member supporting the government in this place.

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