Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health Services and Indigenous Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The stunning Southern Moreton Bay Islands are truly a series of jewels in Moreton Bay, and it is a unique honour for me to represent these populations, which are on some of the few subtropical islands in the world where residents can commute over water every day to a major capital city. Of course, that brings with it extraordinary challenges with having to catch water taxis and vehicle barges, sometimes more than once a day. Particularly in the context of non-subsidised transport for those who do not have concession cards, it represents a significant added burden on the cost of living for those residents. So obviously this engages the mind of everyone who represents that part of the world, at all three levels of government. It obviously throws our minds back to the 1970s, when these islands were, with very little research and thinking, subdivided without any undertaking for infrastructure charges to be extracted from those who developed and sold off the land. Today we are reaping the consequences of those short-sighted decisions of the 1970s. So, without casting any blame, there is a need for a solution, and most would understand that the revenue model of local government is such that those sorts of challenges simply cannot be overcome by being passed to council alone; it will require state and federal government to work together.

Of course, islanders also face a unique predicament in addition to that wonderful quality of life. People say that, if you move to an island, you choose to take on a certain level of isolation and, with it, fewer services. But there comes a point where Australian citizens should be able to say, 'I can reasonably access a doctor; I can reasonably access food and essentials on that island without either undue risks or enormous expense to obtain them.' Seniors, predominantly, who find themselves on the island and young families who find that there are not adequate facilities for their children are completely right to be asking for solutions to those challenges. Right now the key problem is parking. Anyone on those islands will tell you that the plans being considered by Redland City Council to charge for parking present an extraordinary financial challenge to families that are feeling the greatest pressure of all. You have only to visit South-East Queensland to know about those cost-of-living pressures. The challenge is faced by the council to come up with solutions through a consultancy with GHD, but the solution is really the job of the state and federal governments. I call on the council to engage those two levels of government to work towards a sustainable solution. Parking for 2,400 cars will never be easy along a foreshore in Redland Bay. The option of multistory parking is extremely expensive and it is difficult to justify that revenue model.

From the 'Our Parking Spot' group, I want to acknowledge Stuart Sommerlan, Ellen Ulrich, Gay James, Clair Molloy, Val Marsden, Lorraine Taylor, Joanna and Lindsay Hackett and Gayle Nemeth—the Aussie whip-maker—who have worked together to staff a tent embassy 24 hours a days, seven days a week outside Redland City Council. This is a fantastic example of people power. This small island community—in many cases, out of sight, out of mind—of South-East Queensland residents were able to effectively stake out the council until it committed to doing the transport studies that the 'Our Parking Spot' group called for and to providing the car parks. Council cannot do it alone—I emphasise that. But it is so important for council to not just pay lip-service and just talk about consultation but engage. There are many other groups on the island as well who are asking for the very same thing, such as Lee Shipley and his colleagues who are looking at new and novel ferry and water taxi solutions around Moreton Bay.

The islanders are here to stay. The islands are jewels in Moreton Bay. We have a chance to optimise so many things about services to those islands. It will take a little forethought and some future planning, but for now it is the Redland City Council that must rise to the challenge. Six thousand signatures from locals, most of them mainlanders, have said, 'Though we do not live on the islands we can understand the needs.' We know it is an ageing population. We know there are small kids who must finish school and transition to a trade and a career. We know from St Vincent de Paul studies that this area faces significant socioeconomic challenges. As the federal member, I will not lose sight of that. We will work. We know there is no easy and simple solutions. I sympathise with the council in that regard.

At yesterday's general meeting, I know the mayor passed a mayoral minute confirming that parking charges will not spread throughout the length and breadth of Redland Bay but that they still are looking at options around Weinam Creek. I put my support fully behind the residents of the islands who are asking for nothing more than an affordable solution. If that ultimately means incorporating travel on the bay into South-East Queensland's TransLink arrangements so that travelling on water is simply another zone of public transport then that will be a very important advance. Access to parking for all islanders both secure and non-secure is also important.