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

Central Queensland, as many in this place would be surely tired of hearing, is the engine room of our nation's economy. We are home to the fundamental industries that keep our people fed and clothed and keep the lights on at night. These are the industries that not only produce jobs and wealth for our region, our state and our nation but produce commodities and goods that travel the world, providing the same to dozens of trade partners across the face of the globe. The most notable of these industries are the local giants, the coal industry and the beef industry.

Rockhampton, the undisputed beef capital of Australia, has a proud history of production and of processing the bovine protein needs of a vast section of the carnivorous community of Australia. With two long-running abattoirs set on the north bank of the mighty Fitzroy River, one of the state's largest saleyards at Gracemere and six magnificent bull statues along the Bruce Highway route, Rocky locals have always been aware of just how important the grazing industry was and is to the region. Prime cattle do not get to these abattoirs or to saleyards by magic. Nor are we still in an age where animals would be walked along stock routes to market. Today's beef industry relies on trucks, especially road trains and B-doubles.

It's remarkable how the needs of one sector can so closely resemble the needs of another. The coal sector is a remarkable force within the Central Queensland economy. From one little black rock, formed from organic matter under the pressure of time, we derive so much. Extracting this rock requires a great deal of heavy industry, as scores of metres of so-called overburden is displaced by some real big boys' toys. These toys don't come cheap, and thousands upon thousands of man hours are poured into each machine, many of these at Rockhampton's Hastings Deering workshop or at any number of fabricators and repairers across the city. Huge machines and their parts are delivered, new or used, even abused, to people who are skilled and trained in preparing and fixing them, and fix them they do. I may be biased, but I've seen what our workshops are capable of, and I reckon we have some of the best tradespeople in the country. We need to give them the infrastructure they need to grow and to develop.

As I said, the thing that links these industries is their usage of heavy transport: road trains, B-doubles, low loaders, floats—they all need good quality roads, roads that can not only handle heavy traffic but ease congestion and improve connectivity for our industries. That's why projects like the Rockhampton ring-road are so important. This is a major project, a great example of real job-creating infrastructure. This is a chance to drive Rockhampton forward, to create jobs, to unlock potential, to give CQ a chance. It's a billion-dollar project, but I am passionate about it and I won't be deterred from fighting for the funding we require. The funds for Rookwood Weir did not just appear; they were drawn out of government by perseverance. I am backing our region to go ahead, and this is one of the projects we need to make it a reality.

For the doomsayers already banging the drums, I remind them this isn't a bypass; it is a ring-road. It is a way to get so much of our heavy traffic off congested bridges. It is a way to connect our industrial areas at Parkhurst and Gracemere without driving through town. Just think of the 'big stuff' that comes out of Parkhurst, with businesses like SMW, Humes and Coxon's Radiator Service not having to trek through the middle of town just to get to the mines they are destined for. And it's a way to connect these zones with our city's greatest asset—our airport. This is a project that can work. This is a project that will work. It is a project for all of Central Queensland. It's a project we deserve, it's a project for our future and it's a project I will work to the bone to see realised. So to those back home, I say: get ready for the future. To the ministers in earshot, I say: look out, because here I come.

Question agreed to.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 12:01

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