Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support this motion relating to Torres Strait communities brought before this House by my friend and colleague the member for Leichhardt. It is with some sadness that I speak on this today as this motion has been before the House before and has had bipartisan support, but what we have here is a fundamental breach of faith. I have a great deal of time for the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government, but he has let down the very people about whom he should be most concerned. As the member for Leichhardt has already stated, there are six Torres Strait islands heavily affected by king tides, particularly over the last four years. These king tides inundate the low-lying islands which causes roads to flood and we see seawater through houses, businesses and even cemeteries. The cost to repair the seawalls that exist to protect these assets and infrastructure and personal spaces from flooding has been estimated at between $22 million and $24 million.

The minister backflipped on the government's support for Mr Entsch's 2011 motion stating that it was the responsibility of the Torres Strait Island Regional Council and the Queensland government to fund and that it was not appropriate for it to be paid for from the Regional Development Australia Fund, or RDAF. If that was not bad enough, Minister Crean backflipped again, allocating $5 million for the project through the RDAF this month. So the previous speaker saying that there are not constitutional grounds for the federal government to do this would seem to fly in the face of what the government has actually done. That there is no plan in place for the other $17 million to $19 million beggars belief. They have stated that there should be $12 million from the state government, which has never been involved in this process, and do not even outline where the other $5 million in funding will be found. Perhaps if the Torres Strait islands were declared an independent nation our government would be all over them, like it was 102 degrees in the shade and they were prickly heat, to give them the money.

Our government will spend more than $160 million over five years in funding especially to help the Pacific island nations deal with the impacts of climate change and rising sea levels, yet if you are an Australian citizen this government will walk away from you. What do the people of the Torres Strait do here? Australia's full aid budget for East Asia and the Pacific in 2012-13 is $2.5 billion, and yet we cannot support these people at home for $22 million to $24 million. For that I say: shame on this government. This government always talks a good game when it comes to Aboriginal and Islander affairs, but at every turn it walks away from commitments and opportunities to show that very support, be it in public housing on Palm Island or help in the brave efforts of the community radio station 4K1G to keep an Aboriginal voice over a huge part of North Queensland and Cape York. It is true to form at every turn. The problem with this government is that every time there is an opportunity to do something it simply rolls out the platitudes and starts conversations recognising the traditional owners and then walks away thinking the job has been done. From the first Australians of my electorate and on behalf of those people in the Torres Strait who have been left behind by this government's platitudes, I say, 'Thanks for nothing.'

I will digress to give an example. On Palm Island we build houses not much bigger than a garden shed at a cost of over $600,000. And we build them with the toilet pan below the waterline so they cannot be flushed properly and are therefore uninhabitable. There is no use of the licensed builder and the five licensed plumbers and electricians or even of unskilled labour from the island's residents. The end result could have been so different, but I still have houses on Palm with over 20 inhabitants and that is no good for anyone.

With 4K1G, you will see every manner of government minister ringing Lloydy Wiles to get their message across; but when they receive a call from the station that they are struggling with cash flow but are asset rich, they disappear. They disappear even though you have the Attorney-General, the Minister for Aboriginal and Islander Affairs, and the minister for communications physically in Townsville for the best part of a week. And yet they cannot spare 4K1G 20 minutes for a meeting. Instead they send a staffer along to tell them which government departments they could possibly write to. It simply is not good enough to come in here and sprout a good game; we must actually do something and have an ability to get behind this thing to fix the things in the Torres Strait and to show the people at home that we actually care about them: the people in the Torres Strait who are without the services and the people in the Torres Strait who are being inundated by health concerns from Papua New Guinea. The people of the Torres Strait are citizens of Australia and deserve better than not having a $22 million wall replaced and not funded. That the government—the member for Moreton—can sit there and say that it is not in the constitution beggars belief. It absolutely beggars belief, and it is pretty much chump change to the people of the Torres Strait.

I call on the government to back this motion and actually deliver for the Torres Strait.

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