Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Fisher has some nerve to stand in this place and move this motion. Whilst I support decentralisation, as a fighter for the north there are three huge problems that I see with this motion. Firstly, the member for Fisher is a member of a government that has been taking a sledgehammer to our public sector jobs in the north. To stand here in this place and say you are wanting APS jobs, whilst your government has made massive cuts in the north, is the epitome of hypocrisy and absolute grandstanding. Not only are the member for Fisher's words empty in this motion but so are those of the Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce. All of his talk of decentralisation has been just that—talk.

That was evidenced in last year's budget, where not one cent was allocated towards government services being decentralised. The Turnbull government's budget has highlighted the absolute hypocrisy of the Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, and his regional jobs plan. The Deputy Prime Minister has misled regional Queenslanders with his decentralisation plan, as it is fiction. Regional Queenslanders are doing it tough, and we are fed up with this government's big talk and lack of action.

This motion states that the Sunshine Coast is regional. The Sunshine Coast is in what we in the north call 'the golden triangle'—South-East Queensland. My electorate of Herbert is in the real regional part of Queensland. I was born, bred and raised outside the golden triangle of Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. Trust me, real regional Queenslanders have a huge problem with the member for Fisher saying that a city only an hour's drive away from Brisbane is equivalent to my home town of Townsville, which is a 19-hour drive from Brisbane.

We need to get real on this issue. The Turnbull government has taken a sledgehammer to regional public sector jobs. In a city where unemployment is 9.1 per cent and youth unemployment is 20 per cent, the Turnbull government is still continuing to slice and dice jobs in Townsville. Here is the history of the Abbott-Turnbull government job cuts in Townsville: Townsville has 50 fewer Defence staff as of June 2017 than it had in December 2012. The consolidation of the Townsville tax office in 2014 saw 110 jobs cut from Townsville. Over the last few years, 19 jobs have been cut from the CSIRO in Townsville, with five more expected to go. Regional Queensland Customs staffing has been cut by 50 per cent, with 30 fewer jobs from Gladstone to Thursday Island, and Townsville was one of the hardest hit.

The government's change in process in the second division will see up to 10 Townsville APS Defence support staff leave their jobs. The Townsville office for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority closed, forcing five of our local veterans out of a job and ending any sort of a career transition pathway for local veterans and ex-service personnel. And, just last week, we heard the announcement of the relocation of the Royal Australian Air Force's 38 Squadron, Beechcraft King Air fleet, which will move from Townsville to East Sale, Victoria, which is another 40 jobs lost to Townsville. This is the track record thus far regarding the Turnbull government and jobs in Townsville.

In real regional Queensland, the Turnbull government equals job cuts. Enough is enough, and I will fight against these cuts. I want jobs for Townsville—quality, secure jobs—not the cuts, privatisation and casualisation that the Turnbull government is delivering. Townsville needs secure quality jobs, not cuts, lies and empty promises from this government. Our public sector is under threat from this LNP-Turnbull government. Our public sector was once a thriving industry but is now being decimated under this government, and the only thing that will stop the Turnbull government from making further cuts to our public sector is if we stand up and fight back.

I call on the Turnbull government to end these harsh cuts and, instead, reinstate the jobs they have cut from North Queensland's public sector. It's a bit rich to stand in this place and spruik the wonders of decentralisation that will create regional jobs when this government has savaged jobs in regional Queensland. It is hypocrisy at best. When you live in Mount Isa, when you live in Cloncurry, when you live in Charters Towers, when you live in Townsville, Mackay, Cairns—anything above the tropic of Capricornia—you are talking about regional Queensland at its best, and the job cuts in that area have been nothing short of absolute disaster for those communities.

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