James Bidgood (Dawson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

our resources, our coal, to the ports and make it a major export for this country. That is going to deliver to the bottom line of the economy of this country. Once we get the basics fixed up, which the other mob failed to do over 11 years, and get that income stream going, then we can invest in better health, better education and much better overall sustainability for our energy industry. It is when a government has vision that people thrive. It is when there is no vision that the people perish. You should never forget that, whatever side of politics you are on. You must have vision. You must have a goal as to where you are going.

I would just like to say that Bowen is an exciting place to be, right in the heart of the seat of Dawson. But, as you look to the north, you look to towns like Ayr, for example, a major sugar town in the Burdekin. Again across the political divide, I have spoken to the state member, Rosemary Menkens. I actually had a meeting with her and our Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, whom I took to Ayr. I rang up local community leaders—who are not on our side of politics—and I said, ‘Come and have a chat, because we need to talk about key things to do with sugar and how we can add value.’ Do you know what? There was consensus. Consensus works; it works. Those people said, ‘Wow! We thought that now that you were in government you’d just exclude us.’ I said: ‘No. We’re going to be inclusive, we’re going to be outcome driven and we are going to be consensus driven for the common good of all. We’re not going to be divisive. We’re going to build this nation. We’re a party of nation builders. That is what we are about.’ We have exciting plans in Ayr.

People came to the minister, Tony Burke, and we had had a discussion with about 25 people. We had farmers there who are farming 500,000 acres of sugarcane. They were saying, ‘Look, with the world prices for fuels and everything, we’ve got systems which we’ve seen working in Brazil and we could convert this sugar into ethanol.’ There are other plans, for bioenergies coming out of sugar and for cogeneration, particularly at the racecourse mill in Mackay, where the member for Capricornia, Kirsten Livermore, and I have been briefed. They have been working on a plan for 10 years, a feasibility study, but it was not viable until this last year, when global energy prices rocketed through the roof beyond the control of any national government. Now we in the seat of Dawson are well placed to add value to sugar and to meet energy needs. Cogeneration at the racecourse mill in Mackay is now a real possibility. It is a real possibility because the government are listening. The government are saying: ‘How can we help you? How can we make this happen?’ We now have a plan that is viable, and it is going to be an exciting time as I look forward to those mills presenting their cases to this government. I am excited about it because they are going to add value again to the bottom line. They are going to meet the energy needs of the local community as well. All these things are very important.

We have spoken about how we can add value to sugar in terms of energy and ethanol, cogeneration and bioenergies. We have spoken about that in Mackay and in Ayr. We have also spoken about that in southern Townsville, in Oonoonba, Stuart and Idalia. Also, Xstrata have been saying to me, ‘We need basic upgrades in port facilities, in road and rail infrastructure.’ It is this government which has come on board, having made a promise during the election. It is beginning to deliver, as the budget outcome, $95 million for the Townsville port access road. That is guaranteed, and in this financial year it is delivering the first $20 million to get the project started. That is basic infrastructure which is going to help with energy and access to the global market for exports, adding to our bottom line.

In conclusion, I speak in favour of this bill. Things like this only happen and work when you have a new vision for the country, a new vision with new federalism in mind, away from the old divisive ways of divide and rule and the blame game. We are moving forward to add to the bottom line of this nation, to the economy and to the energy needs of not just this country but also the world.

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