Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This federal Labor government has committed $33.6 million across eight projects with a value of more than $134 million in my state of Queensland. We have done that, and there are a number of projects, two in my electorate. The Somerset Regional Council received a second round of funding of $500,000 towards a $1 million Kilcoy Showgrounds facility development, and the Ipswich City Council received $5 million towards the $15 million Robelle Domain stage 2 parkland development.

I also noticed $5 million going to the Torres Strait Island Regional Council towards the $24 million Torres Strait coastal protection works. I then decided to have a look at the application and what the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government Arts and Sport said on their project fact sheet, which I would like those opposite to have a bit of a look at from time to time, because it talks about the Torres Strait coastal protection works helping to protect low-lying island communities in the Torres Strait from destructive coastal erosion. Then there is the matter of how the project will be funded. The application was made by the Torres Strait Island Regional Council, which asked for $5 million from the federal government and made the point that they could leverage a further $19 million in partnership funding. That is what they said, and the project was to be completed by 30 June 2015. We have come up with $12 million: there is $5 million from Regional Development Australia, and Senator Jan McLucas announced up to $12 million to help fund coastal protection works in the Torres Strait.

I have heard those opposite from Queensland waxing lyrical about the member for Leichhardt, but the Regional Development Australia fund and the money we are rolling out—over $1 billion—is funded under the minerals resource rent tax. Every member opposite, including the member for Leichhardt, voted against that legislation, which provides the funding source from which we have given money to the Torres Strait council in relation to this particular Torres Strait coastal protection work. So the member for Leichhardt really has a gall to come into this chamber and say to us that we should be providing all this money when he and all those opposite voted against the very $5 million that is being funded under the Regional Development Australia fund, opposing every last dollar and cent for the Torres Strait coastal protection works.

They are not acknowledging the fact that the Torres Strait Island Regional Council actually put a proposal to the federal government asking for the $5 million. Those opposite say we should be providing $24 million. There is no recognition of the fact that their government—the LNP state government—has not put a brass razoo towards this project, or of the fact that the regional council said that they could get partnership leveraging funding assuming that they could get some money from the LNP state government, as we expected. But no; the LNP state government have just gutted road funding, by hundreds of millions of dollars. All those members opposite who say that we should be putting more money into infrastructure in Queensland should take note of the fact that their state colleagues are gutting road and infrastructure funding in Queensland.

We called on them to put the $12 million into this project in the Torres Strait at the same time as we have doubled funding for infrastructure in Queensland: $8.5 billion for road, rail and port infrastructure. But those opposite not only voted against that in terms of the Regional Development Australia Fund that we are providing for the Torres Strait Island Regional Council they voted against every last dollar and cent that we are putting into Queensland in that regard. If anybody should hang their heads in shame, it should be the member for Leichhardt and all his LNP comrades and colleagues from Queensland, who opposed this funding.

We are happy to work and provide funding for regional Australia and the Torres Strait to take action in relation to the damaging effects of climate change in the Torres Strait and all of Queensland. We are prepared to do it. We are partnering with the local councils, whether it is the Somerset Regional Council, the Ipswich City Council or the Torres Strait. Those opposite are opposing every dollar and cent. (Time expired)

Debate adjourned.

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