Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I didn't expect much different, and I will, from here, head straight over to the Treasurer's office and hand deliver him the Lilley electorate budget submission, because my community has worked very hard to put it together, and I am here on their behalf, trying to work with the federal government to get things done on the north side. That's what I was elected to do, and that's what we are all elected to do, as 151 different communities in this place. I think, particularly after the past month, what our constituents are crying out for is to see a bit of responsibility, a bit of dignity in this place, and a bit of bipartisanship, working together to actually get things done and make things better.

This isn't a partisan document. I am just trying to tell the government what we need on the north side in order to create jobs, what we need in order to boost our local economy. For leave to table the Lilley budget submission to be denied is disappointing. But, as the minister said, I will use the opportunity to go directly to the Treasurer after this and hand deliver that submission myself. I will do that because, now more than ever, targeted community driven infrastructure projects are fundamental to creating jobs and to improving our local economy on the north side. That's exactly what this budget submission does and what the initiatives, if taken up by the government, would do.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused far-reaching and ongoing difficulties for communities right across Australia. As the federal member for Lilley, I know how difficult COVID-19 has been for the 108,608 northsiders I am privileged to represent. Approximately 8,687 Lilley residents currently rely on JobSeeker support, 4,716 more than the number of pre-COVID-19 recipients. We also have 1,792 businesses and 5,515 workers who are still relying on JobKeeper even to this day and who will be negatively impacted when the scheme is axed on 28 March, in just a few days.

The end of JobKeeper will rip away approximately $2.7 million a week in support of the Lilley economy. The extended period of economic turbulence experienced by businesses and workers in Lilley is in no small part due to a result of the unique characteristics of our electorate. We are home to the Brisbane domestic and international airports as well as the 6,600 aviation workers who work there. The tourism economy is critical to the economic recovery of the north side of Brisbane, with approximately 23.8 million passengers travelling through those airports each year. One in 70 Queensland jobs are enabled by Brisbane Airport. Over 425 local businesses are located in the Brisbane Airport precinct, employing nearly 24,000 people. With international passenger numbers down by 98 per cent, terminal retailers have been forced to close, and thousands of workers who support international and domestic movements have been stood down or made redundant. The mass job loss experienced at the Brisbane Airport has had severe flow-on effects for jobseekers outside of the sector as aviation workers have flooded the job market.

I know northsiders have aspirations and they want a government that invests in them but this government has phoned in any real plan by turning a blind eye to the plight of our workers and electing to parade failed policy. As elected representatives, this is our moment. We have been asked to meet a challenge we could not have foreseen and with no road map. I want a pathway forward for the north side. (Time expired)

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