Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Working in parliament has been the biggest privilege of my life. I have been fighting hard to improve the lives of the people in my electorate of Longman. As everyone who has worked in government knows, delivering funding for a local project or services isn't necessarily guaranteed. We as representatives of our communities here in parliament have to fight hard to deliver for our communities. There are electorates in every corner of this great country of ours, all competing over limited funding, whether it is to fix a road, build some new infrastructure or improve access to social services. I am fighting each and every day to ensure that people living in Longman are getting their fair share.

My vision while in office is to help make Longman the best place to live in Australia. It is a lofty goal, but it is one I truly believe we can achieve over time. But I know that I can't do it on my own. When I was first elected, even though I'd lived in the area for over 40 years, I had no idea how many great community support groups there were in the electorate. They all do great things and have their own unique niche that help with varied needs in our community. I knew in a small way as someone who had been in small business in the area for many years how generous the business community is and, having been involved for decades in various sporting clubs, how awesome the sporting community is. The issue I saw was that, while we had all these great community and sporting groups and businesses that wanted what I want, which is to improve the lives of every person in our community, they were all doing their own thing and many of them didn't know about each other.

That is why I've established a regular community networking event I've called Vision Builders. Vision Builders is a forum where local business, community and sporting groups, schools and local councils can connect, share experiences, learn from each other and talk about what they do all in the name of creating a better community for all of us. At these events I get various locals to share what it is they do in our community. We have had business owners such as Allan Sandilands and his daughter Amy from Taipan hoses, Michael and Gale Hudson from Pies Galore and Chris and Karen Dutton from Woodford Gardens. We've had representatives from community and sporting groups share what drives them to do what they do for our community—groups like Spiders Boxing, the business and professional women's group, Intercept Youth and Family Service, as well as community leaders like the head of campus from our university at the Sunshine Coast campus. As a result of this, we are starting to see some fantastic things happen as the people within the group are starting to work together and refer people they may not have been able to help to someone else in the group. They are using local services and businesses that they may have not previously known about. It's my belief this will lead to the outcome we are all seeking ,and that is to fulfil my vision to make Longman the best place in Australia to live.

A big part of this vision is to help those people who want to work into a job. As an employer and a small-business owner, this is one of the things I am most passionate about. We all know that, when people work, they feel better about themselves, they become better citizens, the crime rates drop and drug use drops. So I am committed to making this happen. I have been advocating for jobs creation and encouraging businesses to invest in the electorate, and we have seen some great results. This is because the electorate of Longman has one of the highest unemployment rates in Australia, and I am determined to get that down. To help combat this, early last year I held a jobs forum in conjunction with the federal government. It was a huge success. We had 1,981 jobseekers come through the doors and 40 exhibiters, including over 29 local businesses and apprenticeship, traineeship and service providers, offering a range of diverse employment opportunities.

I know for a fact there are many businesses in Longman who are looking for new employees to join their team right now. My Berries, run by the McGruddy family, are always on the lookout for young workers to join their team and pick some fruit. But it is not just fruit pickers; there are also other jobs in Longman. I've spoken to a local roof tiler who has had two apprenticeships going since last July and can't get anyone to take those jobs on. I've also got a big manufacturing sector there that employs almost 5,000 people. There are jobs in those sectors, but when I go out and speak to employers they are struggling to find workers. We've got the Narangba industrial estate. We've got the brand new Corporate Park East, at Caboolture East. It's a massive development; they've got 1,000 square-metre, 2,000 square-metre, 5,000 square-metre and 16,000 square-metre sites. It's general industry; if anyone out there wants to get around a lot of the council regulations that stop businesses from performing, general industry is how you want it zoned so you can do whatever you like there. That is selling fast. Stage 1 is out, and there are only two blocks left.

The government's $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy will further harness our local manufacturing capability, and it's helping drive our economic recovery. Manufacturing is critical to our local economy. It's key to almost every supply chain. Over time we will deliver even more manufacturing capability to further drive the sector in Longman and create new jobs for locals. People in my electorate from Bribie Island to Dakabin, from Narangba to Woodford, expect me to deliver on infrastructure for their communities, and that's what I'm doing.

Right now in Longman there are three major road projects underway thanks to a $680 million investment by this government. Work to widen the Bruce Highway to six lanes between Caboolture and Beerburrum has begun at a cost of $662½ million, with a federal government contribution of $530 million. Work has also begun on the $163 million New Settlement Road overpass in Narangba. This overpass is long overdue, as the traffic for residents, particularly in morning peak hour, has simply been unacceptable; I had to endure it for about five years myself. I'm pleased to say the federal government contributed over $130 million of the $163 million for this project. There is also the $30.4 million Bribie Island-Old Toorbul Point Road upgrade, which we contributed $20 million towards. It's only a few months away from completion. We are all about getting stuff done. The congestion on the roads between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, which go right through my electorate, is a nightmare on a Friday afternoon and a Sunday afternoon. It has to be fixed, and we are fixing it.

These three major road projects are important investments in my electorate, but just as important are the smaller projects that deliver a massive benefit in our communities. I have advocated and delivered funding for the Bribie Island after hours health service. When I got elected I thought, 'I'm going to try a new concept; I'm going to get out and talk to some locals, and see what they want.' The people on Bribie Island told me they were struggling. They were waiting for up to two weeks to see a GP. That just wasn't right. After some consultation with the PHN—who I want to commend for their service in this area—we were able to secure funding from Minister Hunt. Thanks to Minister Hunt we got $500,000 for a three-year trial for some after hours service on Bribie Island. So we fixed that. Patients now won't have to drive 20 kilometres to Caboolture Hospital, because you can't get a doctor after five o'clock on Bribie Island. That is just not good enough.

I also found out a lot of the residents on Bribie Island are on the older side of the population. Having an 85-year-old father and an 80-year-old mother, I understand what that means: they sometimes don't like technology. There is no Services Australia agency or office on Bribie Island, so they were driving to Caboolture. A lot of them didn't like that; it's a 25-minute drive. A lot of them didn't want to jump online and do the stuff. So I went and saw the minister, Stuart Robert, and said, 'Can we help these people?' He said, 'We do have a thing called an agency.' We've just been through the tender process, and last week it was announced that we've got a winner for that agency, and we now have a Medicare and a Centrelink agency on Bribie Island. That is fantastic. Again, we have listened to what the people need and we have delivered. To me, that's what good government is about.

The other great thing is we've done a lot of work with the local council. The Moreton Bay Regional Council have been terrific to deal with. Through some of our funding we have been able to contribute and do some joint projects. Some of the projects that I'm proud of include upgrading the lights at the Sandstone Point sporting fields, at a cost of $220,000, and upgrading some roads under the Roads to Recovery Program, with funding of $2 million for Keane Street; $1.5 million for traffic lights at Lear Jet Drive; and $1 million to upgrade Pates Road, Wamuran, to name just a few. And it's not just those bigger projects. It's the smaller programs, like the Stronger Communities grants, that really make a difference to some of these small community groups that did it tough through COVID, whether it's a tennis court for St Paul's Lutheran School, a trailer for the Boys' Brigade, or storage and a canteen for Caboolture Little Athletics. That stuff is just as important to the community as those bigger projects. We've also declared war on drugs and alcohol abuse in my electorate of Longman. At a cost of $11 million, we funded the Wunya rehabilitation centre, and I'm pleased to say it's operational. It operates 24 hours a day. People go in and they'll stay there for 12 weeks and get cleaned up. I was there recently, not as a patient but as an observer, and I spoke to one of the people who was in there. He was so delighted; it has turned his life around. He has actually done the 12-week course twice. Now he's looking forward to becoming a productive member of society and getting himself a job, which is fantastic.

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