Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The mid-year economic outlook review is a good chance to reflect on just how far we have moved forward to deliver good outcomes for ordinary Australians. There are many national achievements delivered by this Liberal-National coalition government, and today I will reflect on some of them.

Firstly, the three significant key trade deals that we have secured with China, Japan and South Korea open new doors for Australian industries to build new trade links and create more jobs. In Capricornia, the FTAs have provided the much-needed impetus to reopen live cattle export trades, creating new jobs. In helping to dramatically boost the price of Australian export beef, they have provided our agricultural industries with greater profit margins and the ability to create more local jobs. We have not seen cattle prices this high for generations. This government can take credit for setting up an environment and opportunities to help local rural businesses and farmers prosper. It was, after all, a Labor government that closed the live export trade overnight, causing thousands of Queenslanders to lose their jobs in the farming sector, trucking industry, livestock trade, stock and station agencies and port sector.

When it comes to improving the lives of ordinary, hardworking, regional families and our most disadvantaged, this coalition government has taken other steps which we can proudly reflect on. Significantly, the axing of the carbon tax has freed up cash for larger organisations to use to invest in areas that create further jobs. That is good news for ordinary mums and dads looking for jobs. For ordinary hardworking families and our seniors, axing the carbon tax also reduced the burden of extra charges being added to their already escalating household power bills. Further to this, the Turnbull-Joyce government is serious in our promise to expand the role of northern Australia in our economy. It is committing more than $500 million to its future development to kick-start new businesses, trade and jobs. It recently appointed a new minister for northern Australia—based in Rockhampton, the official gateway to the northern Australia.

Closer to home, I am pleased to inform the House of progress that the coalition government and I have made in delivering serious and tangible infrastructure projects to my electorate of Capricornia. In Capricornia, we face a jobs crisis due to the coal downturn and tough times for tourism and small business. Families, too, are struggling to find work and make ends meet. The Turnbull-Joyce Liberal-National government has focussed on providing our region with road and infrastructure spending for projects designed to stimulate economic activity and employment. Recently, $20 million in new federal funding was announced for three key projects under the federal government's National Stronger Regions Fund program. The funding includes $2.34 million for the Capricorn Rescue Helicopter Service to construct a new hangar and medical aviation centre in Rockhampton. The project involves a two-bay hangar with engineering facilities and much needed space for doctors and medical teams to be on stand-by. We are providing $7 million towards the revamp and upgrade of the Rockhampton Riverbank Redevelopment on the Fitzroy in the city's CBD. The funding will support the Rockhampton Regional Council's project for better facilities and the opportunity for greater economic activity in the area. Also, we are providing $10 million towards stages 4 and 5 of the Yeppoon beach foreshore redevelopment on the Capricorn Coast as part of a major economic, job creation and tourist drawcard.

These funds come on top of $9.9 million in joint federal-state funding under the category D Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements to aid in the continued recovery after Cyclone Marcia. The NDRRA funds, which relate to rebuilding damaged infrastructure to a more resilient level, will be spread across six projects, including: $2 million to top up a fund in Livingstone Shire to rebuild the Scenic Highway, or Statue Bay road, with joint government funding now totalling nearly $12 million for this project; $3 million to continue further rebuilding of Kershaw Gardens in Rockhampton; and $5.1 million towards strengthening the rebuild of Pilbeam Drive, Glenmore Water Treatment Plant, Dean Street, Capricorn Street and Elphinstone Street in Rockhampton. In February, to mark the one-year anniversary since Cyclone Marcia, the Prime Minister joined us in Capricornia for a special morning tea with SES volunteers and crews from the Capricorn Rescue Helicopter Service to thank them for their participation in cyclone recovery activities.

Earlier, I mentioned that it is recognised that, due to a current mining downturn, the local Capricornia economy is doing it tough. The $30 million in investments in infrastructure that I have just outlined will go a long way to stimulating economic activity and job potential in these areas. Our federal coalition government has also been investing heavily in road-building projects to provide jobs to help offset the mining sector downturn. For ordinary Central Queenslanders this means the chance to apply for new jobs. Safer roads also mean saving lives and reducing the risk of accidents which could potentially claim the lives of any one of us or our loved ones.

In the two years I have been in this job I have managed to fight for nearly $400 million worth of local road funding. As we consider the economic outlook tonight, let me outline some of them. The Turnbull government's road projects include $166 million to fix up the Eton Range section on the notorious Peak Downs Highway west of Mackay. I was present to officially mark the start of construction there at the end of January. This project is about saving lives on the busy mining route, which has been the site of far too many horrific and deadly accidents involving heavy vehicles and trucks. It is worth noting that this is in fact a state run highway and, as such, is the real responsibility of the Queensland Labor government, but the federal Liberal-National Party coalition is the government that is actually contributing all of the $166.17 million to fix the notorious Eton Range crossing. The highway is predominantly used to serve the inland coalmining sector.

The new alignment between Nebo and Mackay will reduce the gradient of the highway over the Eton Range, making it safer to accommodate heavy trucks. Over 4,000 vehicles, including 800 heavy trucks, travel through the Eton Range each day. I am proud that our federal coalition government is delivering for the truck drivers, the mining workers, the local residents, the rural property owners and country travellers who use the Peak Downs Highway and this particularly dangerous spot. In addition, the regional economy benefits with around 295 jobs supported over the life of the project.

Other major road projects include $38.26 million to replace seven old bridges in Isaac and Rockhampton shires under the federal Bridges Renewal Program; $8.5 million on overtaking lanes on the Bruce Highway near Sarina; $15.5 million to construct three new overtaking lanes and to extend a fourth along the Bruce Highway from Rockhampton to north of Gladstone; $29.4 million in Roads to Recovery grants over five years to help fix up council roads and streets in five shires, including Rockhampton, Livingstone, Isaac, Mackay and Whitsunday; and $136 million to complete the stage 2 Yeppen south flood plain project on the Bruce Highway south of Rockhampton. The then Deputy Prime Minister, Warren Truss, visited Rockhampton in December to officially open this project. It is important to note that Rockhampton is the gateway to northern Australia and northern Queensland.

Previously, during floods Rockhampton was cut off by rising waters, leaving food, coal transport and freight trucks carrying vital goods up and down the Queensland coast stranded outside the city. The Yeppen south project is about keeping this city and our great region open for business in severe wet times and it is about awakening the future economic growth of our great nation. This is because the economic cost of freight and haulage trucks being stranded by floodwater represented a huge cost in lost business, revenue and trade.

Further to this, we are improving mobile phone coverage in Capricornia with a $3.14 million program to build or upgrade four new base stations, delivering better services to families in areas around Clarke Creek, Marlborough, Mount Chalmers Road between Rockhampton and Yeppoon, and Gargett in the Pioneer Valley. I continue to lobby for better mobile services in the Clermont area, about 400km west of Rockhampton, and for many other blackspot zones, including in the Sarina Range. By providing better communication we are providing better access for rural businesses to grow their client base and ability to create jobs. Better communication also provides better access to education for remote and rural children at school and for adults studying university.

Young people in Capricornia are also benefiting from the programs being rolled out by the Turnbull-Joyce government. For young people seeking work skills that may eventually lead to full-time jobs or careers, the Liberal-National government has injected over $3 million towards 16 Green Army projects which are either underway or completed in Capricornia. These projects range from Mackay to Yeppoon and Rockhampton, providing young people with experience in environmental projects and increasing their skill base to help them seek full-time employment.

I have been fighting hard too for families experiencing dreadful circumstances such as domestic violence and family court disputes in Capricornia. After much lobbying on my part the federal Attorney-General and I recently announced the appointment of a new Federal Circuit Court judge, Judge Anne Demack, to be permanently based in Rockhampton to service Central Queensland. Rockhampton has the highest rate of domestic violence in Queensland per capita, and this new role is a significant step forward to help those with family court disputes domestic violence and custody rows. This helps the most disadvantaged groups in our city.

The Turnbull-Joyce government is not just looking at the short term but also setting goals for our very long term future in Capricornia. Recently, I was pleased to announce that Central Queenslanders will benefit from a long-term plan to spend $190 million on defence infrastructure and intelligence programs in the Rockhampton-Livingstone region in the coming years. The projects were outlined in the release of the Turnbull government's 2016 Defence white paper. The paper sets out the government's comprehensive long-term plan for Australia's national security. The government will increase defence spending by $29.9 billion over the next decade. In Capricornia up to $190 million is ear marked for upgrades in infrastructure at the Shoalwater Bay training area, which is already considered one of the best sites for international military exercises in the Pacific.

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