Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I have a number of issues I would like to raise with the parliament this afternoon. They are wide ranging and relate to my electorate in North Queensland. I represent Herbert, which is the city of Townsville, the largest tropical city in this nation and a city that is going absolutely gangbusters. We have recently had an election and I want to thank all of those who supported me in my re-election to the parliament. Seats either side of me had swings of 14 per cent, and we have new government members as members for those seats, but I survived with the confidence of the people of Townsville and I very much appreciate their confidence in me.

It was a very interesting election. I give a commitment today to the people of Townsville that I will work to ensure that all of the promises that were made by the government are delivered. I am sure that I will be able to work with the government to ensure that that happens. I will go a step further than that: I will work very hard with the government to make sure that all of the promises that I made to the electorate are delivered as well. They included things like the on-off ramps on the Douglas arterial in Riverside Gardens. I congratulate my colleague from North Queensland, the member for Leichhardt, who knows the importance of Townsville—in relation to Cairns—as the capital city of Northern Australia. I am glad to have that recognition. In relation to the roundabouts on the Douglas arterial, currently residents of Riverside Gardens have to do a round trip of six kilometres to get onto North Queensland’s only motorway. That is unacceptable. We should be able to move people on and off that motorway with on-off ramps in a strategic location.

I also intend to make sure that the Upper Ross community centre is delivered. It will use $6 million worth of funding from the better regions program. In addition, the three-laning of the Mount Low Parkway is very important to the residents of the northern beaches. Currently there is a very significant safety problem on that road, where vehicles wanting to turn into private driveways are being involved in rear-end collisions on that very busy road. That is why we need that particular road to be three-laned.

Mr Speaker, it will not have escaped your attention that we have had a bit of rain in North Queensland. In fact, we have finally had a pretty decent wet season. North Queenslanders will remember wet seasons of decades ago, and the traditional wet season has come back. It has rained with some ferocity in the north and right down the coastal strip. That has been good; the underground aquifers have been recharged. But people in Mackay have suffered very significantly. Places have been flooded that have never really been flooded before.

You have to feel for the people whose homes were inundated and whose property was destroyed. It has been heartbreaking for some. It floods and rains in North Queensland—and one of the issues relating to that is the fact that communications are affected, particularly in relation to the roads. We have to redouble our efforts under the former government’s AusLink program, which the current government has embraced, to make sure that we do as much as we can to flood-proof the Bruce Highway, because these days, with just-in-time delivery mechanisms for supermarkets, you need the roads to be open 24/7. That is how the supply chains work these days. It is unacceptable for supermarkets to run out of bread or milk, and that is what has been happening. We will redouble our efforts to make sure that we are able to continue the supply of goods throughout the coastal area of North Queensland.

There are some other very significant promises which I want to touch on in relation to the election last year. In the area of road funding, the current Australian government has announced that it will provide $100 million to four-lane the seven-kilometre stretch from Cluden through to Vantassel Street on the Bruce Highway. That includes widening a bridge over Stewart Creek and building a rail overpass. That will be very welcome. It is a part of the highway that is currently very congested. I am pleased that the Labor government took up my commitments to duplicate the five-kilometre portion of the Douglas arterial from University Drive to Upper Ross River Road.

For members of parliament one of the joys of this job is that you can argue and fight for projects for your electorate, and, when you get them and you see the results that they bring, it gives you great pleasure. The Douglas arterial road was a project that did not exist, and I certainly went in to bat for it. It was built after a lot of argy-bargy with the state government. It has been the most successful new road project in the north. It has been so successful that we are now going to have to duplicate it. That is the vote of confidence that the people of Townsville-Thuringowa have placed in that particular project.

I also arranged for the Townsville ring road, which connects to the Douglas arterial road, to be completed. That, too, will be built to motorway standard and it will be opened by the end of this year. That will provide terrific access from the northern beaches through to the university, the hospital and Australia’s largest defence base at Lavarack Barracks. Australia’s largest defence base, incidentally, is shortly going to become even larger. The 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment is going to move from Holsworthy to Townsville. That means we will have to spend $350 million on new working accommodation at Lavarack Barracks, build a significant number of Defence Housing homes and provide all sorts of new infrastructure in the north. This will be a big boost to the economy.

Townsville is known throughout the Defence Force, and throughout our community, as Australia’s garrison city, and it well deserves that reputation. It shows that, with our military presence—and I also note that there is a large presence of the Royal Australian Air Force in Townsville—we support our nation and the parliament. In relation to RAAF Townsville, we have all the Caribous being transferred to Townsville from Amberley. About eight of them have already arrived; there are still six to come, and that will mean that all of Australia’s Caribous are based in Townsville. More base infrastructure will be built to look after them. We do, however, need more hardstand at Townsville Airport, and I encourage defence planners to get that project underway, because when it gets busy at RAAF Townsville it gets really busy. It is nothing to see a couple of C17s and a raft of FA18s and the like present and trying to find space to park.

Over the road from RAAF Townsville, at the same airport, is 5th Aviation Regiment, arguably the second busiest unit in the Defence Force, with its Chinook helicopters, CH47s and Black Hawks, which will soon be replaced by the MRH90s. They will be a welcome addition. There will be, perhaps, another $40 million spent on that. The centre of gravity for defence in Townsville is certainly building.

I digressed there for a minute but I now go back to road funding. We also need to ensure that the $60 million pledge to build 30 new overtaking lanes between Sarina and Cairns is spent quickly. Overtaking lanes, in my view, are the best short-term fix for the problems of the highway that we currently have. $105 million has been allocated to build 30 new overtaking lanes between Sarina and Cairns, where there are the top 10 black spots.

But it is disappointing that currently none of that road building will actually start until at least mid-2009 and may not be completed until 2014. There is a real bottleneck there in road construction, and we hope that we can fast-track that to get the benefits to the users of the highway. An interesting promise that both the government and the opposition made in the election was to bring V8 supercars to Townsville. Mr Speaker, I do not know whether you are a supporter of V8 supercars—perhaps you are a petrolhead; I do not know—but what you would probably argue is that a V8 supercar race is a great family day. In every city which has an event like that, it would be enjoyed by the majority of the city. Some people say, ‘Look, it’s an environmental disaster.’ Well, it is not. Some people say, ‘It closes roads.’ Yes, it does, but only for a short while. The V8 supercars are much more than cars, and the focus that their presence puts on the cities where they race is nothing short of extraordinary. People all around the world see the images of Australian cities running V8 supercar races. Some $10 million from the current Australian government will see V8 supercars come to Townsville mid next year, and I will be very pleased to be there for the first race.

We are also looking for $3.4 million that has been pledged for the Townsville International Sports Centre. That will enable the Murray Sports Complex, which is used by every child in Townsville at some point in their life, to be upgraded. Under the leadership of Mayor Tony Mooney, the Townsville City Council is pushing that program through. There is also funding from the state government.

I want to move now to something that is rather concerning—that is, this letter I received last week from Anthony Wemm. He has given me his okay to use his name. He is a front-line paramedic in the Queensland Ambulance Service. This will concern all members, as it concerns me. It would not surprise me if this issue is the same in every electorate in Australia. It is an emerging issue in relation to what happens when a paramedic attends an incident to help people—there are physical attacks that occur. It is anathema to all of us. You do not call an ambulance to attack the paramedics or to physically injure them; normally you call an ambulance so you can be taken to hospital and get some medical attention. But Anthony says:

During my 3 years of employment as a Paramedic stationed in the Townsville region, some memorable instances have been being chased to my ambulance by a patient with a large butcher’s knife, blood thrown and spat on myself, kicked in the head by a patient in the rear of the ambulance and recently, set upon by two bystanders attempting to kill a patient in my care and/or myself resulting in physical injuries.

On an averaging weekly basis, I get verbally abused and/or threatened of violence to myself and/or threats of taking my life.

That is extraordinary, and I think that all of us have to make sure that our ambulance officers—and indeed our police—are kept as safe as possible. Anthony observes:

Furthermore, our current court system and given punishments are seriously flawed at deterring this violence towards our frontline Paramedics. Offenders are acutely aware that if they do get caught, that they will receive little if not no punishment under the current Queensland Criminal Code.

That is very sad. Anthony says:

Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics have a saying that I wish to share: ‘Police have Pepper spray, Batons, Bullet Proof Vests and Guns for protection, Paramedics only have a cheap plastic Mag torch and their mouth so I hope you’re a good runner or can fight.’

If that is the situation, that is terrible. Anthony and his wife believe that the Queensland Ambulance Service cannot provide a reasonable and safe working environment to practise in as front-line paramedics and save lives. He says:

Although the Queensland Ambulance Service and Queensland Government Politicians do publicly comment that there is zero tolerance towards violence on Paramedics but with the current attitudes displayed in our court system, I believe that this zero tolerance is not being taken seriously.

I ask my colleagues in the parliament today to reflect on that, and I ask the community and the Queensland government to reflect on that, because our people who give front-line service saving lives should not be subjected to that kind of abuse.

Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to a very recent article in the Townsville Bulletin entitled ‘Boom: we’re hot’. It basically says, as I would like to advise the parliament today, that more than $14 billion worth of major projects are on the drawing board for my region. We have been named as the hottest property investment location in the country, and we certainly deserve that. The cranes on the skyline have multiplied, and building is going on at great pace. That is good for our economy. It is good for our city. It ensures that all the services that we as a city that has a great lifestyle need are provided. Certainly Townsville is currently undiscovered except by the property developers. We welcome them and we certainly want to see that continue.

I would like to finish with an issue that I have raised with the state government in relation to Jezzine Barracks. Jezzine Barracks has a long history with the Australian Defence Force—in particular, the Army. The Army currently has the 11th Brigade based at Jezzine Barracks. It is a premier seaside location. The 11th Brigade are moving out to Lavarack Barracks to be with the Australian Regular Army. I negotiated, through the former Prime Minister, the gifting of the land to the Townsville community because of its importance to our community and its importance to military history. Defence of course wanted to sell it off. I was not having a bar of that. We were able to give $25 million worth of prime land to the community.

However, the deal was this: the Australian government would match, dollar for dollar, a $10 million contribution from the Townsville City Council to do the redevelopment. That gave us $20 million. But, in addition to that, the Australian government said that they would match a similar contribution from the state government, which would give us $40 million. Our problem as a community is that the state government will not commit to their $10 million, which means we lose $10 million of the Commonwealth’s contribution. The state government have written to me. Andrew McNamara, the Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation, said:

I can confirm the former Premier’s agreement that the gifting of the site to the Townsville City Council is likely to be of great benefit to the region and the state as a whole.

So they understand the importance of it. But he then goes on to say:

Once the proposal has evolved to the master plan stage, the Queensland government would be pleased to consider options for a contribution.

Thank you, Minister. That means that the trust who are developing the master plan do not know how much effort they should put into it. They do not know if they are going to get the money. They do not know how much effort they should put into developing that master plan. The current chair, John Bearne, would find this a very difficult situation to be in. I can understand the Queensland government wanting to have some control or some sort of say over what happens, because they are putting money in. We have arranged for two of their representatives to be on the trust so they do have that input. The trust is also working in a bipartisan way.

It does not matter whether it is the Australian government, the state government or the local authority; we are all working together to get the best outcome for the community because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to develop such a magnificent piece of real estate for the benefit of Townsville’s citizens. Those of you who have been to Townsville and seen the Strand know that it is magnificent—as opposed to the mudflats in Cairns. We are very proud of what we do and we want to add to that by developing Jezzine Barracks. I certainly ask that the Queensland government make an early commitment to Jezzine Barracks for the sake of our city and our community.

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