Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

You wear white shirts? Excellent heckling from the opposition! There's also $20 million for the Bruce Highway upgrade, which is a strategy about developing a plan for the future along the Bruce Highway. This is important work on the duplication of the entire Bruce Highway will start in priority sections, and I would suggest that priority sections would be in the north. We know that too many people have died on our roads, and any investment in the safety of our roads is a good one, a welcome one and something that needs to always be at the forefront of everyone's minds when we're doing construction and duplications on our roads. There is, in addition to our $184 million commitment for the Townsville Ring Road Stage 5, $86 million for the Northern Access Intersections Upgrade, duplicating the Bruce Highway between Veales Road and Pope Road.

We're also investing in CopperString. CopperString is a fan favourite, and it's a fan favourite because it's going to connect the north-west minerals province, which is near Mt Isa—or the Isa for locals—to the National Energy Market, the NEM, which is near Townsville. We know that this will put downward pressure on electricity prices and also create jobs, but the downward pressure on electricity prices is what's important, because industry, big business, mining companies and manufacturing want to go where there's cheap electricity. They want to go where they can run their business at a lower cost than somewhere else, and this is something that I know, regardless of political party, has support because CopperString is the future and it is something that will definitely benefit the north.

We're also investing $60 million for monsoon trough long-term recovery strategy. This is extremely important for the residents of Townsville but also for the north, because not so long ago we saw a one-in-500-year monsoon event in Townsville. We still have people that are struggling to get back into properties. We have insurance which is a market failure because of this and other things, and head of cattle and farmers were devastated. This is something that I believe is needed to help the community. But, when you say, '$60 million,' what does that actually mean? We need to break it down a little bit because it's not just a number; there are important strategies involved. I hope the member across from me gets here soon—I could finish quick so he might have to jump up and talk! What we're spending is $9 million for projects that support emerging industries, extend small-scale industries and add value to existing industries and their supply chains to generate economic and development opportunities.

The telecommunications and energy improvements—that's going to have a $15 million price tag on it and will support locally-led solutions that improve access to reliable and affordable telecommunications and energy services to support business and community growth. I think the key thing to take out of that was 'locally-led solutions'—not Canberra based led solutions, not Brisbane based led solutions but locally-led solutions. Not only will local governments have a lot to play here but also community groups, because any good level of government creates the healthy environment for them and the community to do what they do best and do their job and tell us what they need, not be told what to do from some bureaucrat in Canberra.

For managing disaster risks, there is $12 million for improved disaster risk management planning and risk mitigation. The funding will be available for individuals, enterprises, industries and communities, to increase risk management capability and capacity building. My favourite bit of this funding is for helping young people to be resilient. It's $2 million to support preventative mental health measures for children who have been in flood affected areas, making children more equipped with skills to identify the early signs of mental stress, talk about mental wellbeing and know where to turn for help. This is on top of the funding that's already been made available, but there's nothing more important than ensuring that our young people, our future, are mentally well and know how to communicate and who they can talk to. This is funding that is definitely needed. Headspace—and National headspace Day was yesterday—is overwhelmed with young people who are trying to get in and see a counsellor, and there's a long waitlist, so any extra funding to give support to these hardworking men and women who help our young people will be welcomed. The recovery and resilience grants have $20 million for locally led solutions that improve the strategy's objective. Flood affected individuals, businesses and communities will be actively involved in the region's recovery, to make sure that local needs are a top consideration. Once again this is locally led, and that's something that is welcomed.

We've also got $40 million for Reef HQ. Reef HQ is one of the wonders of the world. This is the largest and oldest coral aquarium in the world. We are on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef. With Reef HQ, our young people, our scientists and people from all around the world can come and visit and learn about the reef, learn about the fish, learn about the corals, go to the dangerous predators area, walk through the tunnel and see all the sharks swimming around. It's great for education, great for our young people, great for Townsville. We know we have the leading university in marine biology and marine science, JCU, and Reef HQ works hand in glove with them. I have asked if I can go for a dive and a snorkel in Reef HQ, but I'll be keeping away from the predator tank, because I'd be a tasty little snack for a shark! This $40 million is not just to improve the inside but also to give Reef HQ a facelift on the outside. You don't just want to see the inside of the best coral aquarium in the world; you also want to have a nice experience from the outside, so we're making sure it gets a bit of a facelift. Pre COVID, Reef HQ generated in the order of $2 million of revenue each year. This is reported in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's annual reports. They get around 130,000 visitors each year. Ramping up what Reef HQ will look like and the facilities—making sure that the turtle hospital there is not on the roof, in the sun, making sure that they have appropriate measures to look after the sick and injured wildlife that they pick up—and the experience that the young people have is so important. I know that Josh, the CEO, has been lobbying me and other members pretty hard. I see the importance as he does, and so do the community.

With defence, there is $1 billion over two years to deliver projects that will support an estimated 4,000 jobs. This is across Australia. The reason I'm bringing it up today is that in Townsville we are the largest garrison city in the country, so we know that this kind of spend will be fantastic in Townsville, creating those local jobs and driving the economy. It will also increase the employment of our reservists in the Australian Defence Force. This funding will look after them a little bit more, since some of our ADF reservists have lost their jobs through the coronavirus pandemic. It will also increase funding available for defence innovation industries and skills grants. It's very important that we grow our defence industry inside Australia and look to our professionals here to grow this industry instead of always looking at what we can get from somewhere else around the world. What we've learned through this pandemic is that it's extremely important to have manufacturing in Australia. We have always known that, but there's nothing more important now to drive our economy and to keep our nation safe and its sovereignty secure. We must bring forward investment in defence estate and accelerate important ADF capability development projects. Like much of the economy, our local defence industry is doing it tough because of COVID-19. We know this is especially so for small and medium businesses that support our defence industry. Australia's largest garrison city is Townsville, and I do expect quite a big piece of this pie for it; I hope Linda Reynolds is watching, because I'll be knocking on her door soon to talk about where we can get some of this funding rolled out in Townsville.

In Herbert specifically, 57,700 taxpayers in Herbert will benefit from the tax relief of up to $2,745 this year. It's important that we note that it's their money. It's not a handout, it's not a gift—this is taxpayers' money; it's their money. They're keeping more of what they earn. That is extremely important, because, in a time where we are all doing it tough, having more of our money in our hip pocket so we can spend it the way we like is something that I know that everyone wants to see. I spoke to my mum about this, and she was very happy. She said, 'You tell my Josh I'm very happy I can spend more of my money on what I want to do.' It does not feel like a handout, because it's not; it's their money, and they should keep more of their money.

We have a lot of people in Townsville that are doing it tough and we have a lot of small and medium businesses that are also doing it quite tough. I know that 10,100 businesses in Herbert will write off the full value of any eligible asset they purchase, building on the success of the instant asset write-off earlier this year. JobKeeper is supporting around 2,700 businesses in the electorate of Herbert. It is supporting them through the pandemic and keeping them connected to their employees. As they move off JobKeeper—I know that a lot of them are trying their best to do that—and get on with doing what they do best, getting governments out of their way and not having politicians ringing them all the time saying: 'Hey, how are you doing? Is there anything you need?'—they just want to get on with what they do best. The Ville in Townsville is a fantastic place; it connects to the casino. A lot of people that come from and travel to this place will stay there. They had to let a lot of people go at the start of the pandemic. I was speaking to their CEO, and they're bringing more and more people back on. We want to see them operating near normal. We haven't had a positive case of COVID-19 for several months, so we're nearly back to normal in our operating. Easing restrictions there a bit will be welcomed.

In my last 30-odd seconds I just want to say that, regardless of politics in this place, I know that everyone puts their community first. Through this global pandemic, which has been so tough, I just think it's so important that we all link together and learn from each other, to best support our communities around the nation. The people have to come first, and that's exactly what we need to put first—the people of Australia.

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