Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Most honourable members would be aware of the problems in Queensland as a result of the systemic failures of the Beattie Labor government. Thankfully, the Liberal Party—and, I imagine, the National Party—have some excellent candidates with proven track records who will run in the next state election. One of them is Councillor Steve Dickson, in the state seat of Kawana in my federal electorate of Fisher. Kawana needs a swing of less than two per cent to be lost by Labor, and Steve is an excellent candidate, an excellent councillor who at the council elections receives a vote of between 60 and 70 per cent.

He is a current councillor for the Maroochy Shire Council and he has proven in that challenging position that he has what it takes to represent the real needs of people, and he has the nous to be able to make good decisions that have positive outcomes. He is currently chairman of planning at the Maroochy Shire Council, and the wisdom he has displayed in that position has meant that for the first time in a long time the planning department is running smoothly and efficiently, without the controversies that have dogged it in past years. Well done, Steve Dickson; you have proven yourself to be a leader who gets things done. Queensland needs people like Steve Dickson, who has the capacity to be a state cabinet minister as part of a resurgent Liberal Party which hopefully will defeat the Beattie Labor government at the next poll.

As a result of the Labor government, on the Sunshine Coast we have a terrible situation with regard to the hospital system. Waiting lists have blown out; doctors are resigning left, right and centre; emergency wards are struggling to cope; and morale is at an all-time low. Steve is well aware of the problem and has been doing his bit to lobby the state government to get its act together. There has been a massive mix-up with regard to the new hospital that was pledged to the people of the Sunshine Coast, to be located beside our excellent University of the Sunshine Coast at Sippy Downs. Despite promises that it was going ahead, the state Labor government has now claimed it never promised anything and the site is under dispute. This is another vivid example of a state Labor government that has totally dropped the ball on health, a government that is happy to mislead the people of the Sunshine Coast on the issue.

Only half an hour’s drive south is the debacle that is the Caboolture Hospital. Just a few hundred metres from the front of this hospital an accident took place, but as there is no emergency department they had to send the people involved off to Brisbane. It is interesting to see how quiet the state Labor member Chris Cummins has been on this and other issues. He always wants to be in the media—he is a clone of Peter Beattie—but certainly, with respect to health on the Sunshine Coast, he has dropped the ball and he has hidden. Thankfully, the people of Kawana have a fantastic candidate in Steve Dickson, who has proven that he is a tireless worker and can actually get the job done.

There are many other unacceptable problems in Queensland and on the Sunshine Coast. The state government, which received every last cent of the GST, is not funding infrastructure requirements adequately to keep up with our booming population, although it has belatedly decided to start spending money on the Maroochy River Bridge duplication, perhaps to try to placate a community which is increasingly suspicious and sceptical about the promises made by the Beattie Labor government.

Steve Dickson has vast experience in a wide range of businesses, from holiday and tourist accommodation management to vineyard establishment and management. He is concerned about the most important natural resource in Australia, water, and as such is a member of the Caloundra-Maroochy Water Supply Board and the south-east Queensland wastewater commission. He has been involved and is involved in numerous community organisations, including the Buderim War Memorial Community Association, the Sunshine Coast Dog Obedience Club, Neighbourhood Watch, Buderim Wanderers Soccer Club, the Suncoast Hinterland Softball Association, Chancellor State College P&C Association, the Sunshine Coast Hockey Association and the Sippy Downs and District Community Association.

Steve has achieved a lot of success during his time as an elected representative on the Maroochy Shire Council. He is very well respected, well known and well recognised in the community. He is someone to whom people can go with a problem and he will help solve that problem. He is a proven leader, has the capacity to play a very important role in a future conservative government in Queensland and will hopefully consign Chris Cummins to the retirement benches.

I want to commend Steve Dickson for his successes in the past and for his very strong track record of making a positive difference to his community. I wish him well in his future endeavour to become the Liberal member for the state seat of Kawana in a coalition government, hopefully to be elected after the next poll.

The Beattie Labor government is completely on the nose. They have dropped the ball. They have got another by-election coming up—and we hope they lose that—but with people like Steve Dickson and other excellent candidates coming forward to compete in the election on behalf of the Liberal and National parties, Mr Beattie has every reason to be greatly concerned. His serial failures are now coming home to roost.