Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As this is the last sitting week of the year, I think it is really important that we reflect on what has been an amazing year of achievement locally. Probably the biggest difference that I have noticed, particularly in the last few weeks, as I get around the electorate, is that prosperity is returning and businesses are prepared to put on more staff. That is as a result of our policy settings, whether that was getting rid of Labor's carbon tax or the mining tax or, this year alone, over $2 billion in red tape.

Kennedy's Timbers in Narangba have put on five staff.

Mr Brough interjecting—

The member for Fisher interjects; I know he opened that business. I think they are very good people. Well, they have just put on five staff, including a new apprentice, since we repealed the carbon tax, after downsizing during the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years. We helped R&R Hire Services in Caboolture with their red tape as part of our red-tape repeal agenda, and they have, in about the last six months, doubled their staff.

We have also signed landmark free trade agreements with Korea, Japan and China, and they are helping macadamia farmers in Elimbah. Packer Leather in Narangba pays a 14 per cent tariff going into the Chinese marketplace, which all goes under this Chinese deal. And they are putting on more staff. So we are seeing prosperity return to our small businesses.

But the coalition government has also approved nearly $1 trillion in environmental approvals for projects, and those include part of the approval for North East Business Park, or North Harbour, locally, which has just got under construction. This is incredibly exciting. It is a project that had been delayed for nine years. Over 15 years, their independent economic modelling shows, that will create 20,000 jobs across our region.

So, while things are moving in the jobs market locally, we have also made very significant changes across a whole range of areas locally. One of the best things that I have done in this job is to walk down to Dale Street in Burpengary where, as locals know, it floods every time it rains. As somebody who lost a family home when I was growing up, I can sympathise with what these people face. After years and years of inaction by both state and federal Labor governments, I sat down with the Prime Minister and said, 'This is something that we need to do for this community,' and we funded $1.9 million to build a flood levee for the people in Burpengary. To tell them that they no longer have to go through the issues that you go through when you lose a family home is probably one of the best things anybody can do in public life.

Also, as to saving lives locally, the D'Aguilar Highway, as locals know, has seen tragedy after tragedy. I campaigned on this in 2010. We came to government last year. I can now say that $1 million has already been spent on the upgrade, with $15 million more to be spent early in the New Year to upgrade the worst spots on the D'Aguilar Highway. It was something that had been put in the too-hard basket for too long; now there is $16 million flowing.

Nearly $3 billion is being spent on the Bruce Highway between Pine Rivers and Gympie. As locals drive up it, they are seeing the work that has been done on basically every intersection along that highway—

Mal Brough (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And Roys Road!

Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

including Roys Road in the member for Fisher's electorate—not in the member for Longman's electorate, I would just point out! But it is making a very big difference to our community and will unlock the economic potential of our region.

One of the big things we have struggled with locally is mental health. We have far too high a youth suicide rate, and I was very proud to announce, just a few months ago, that Caboolture will be a site for a headspace clinic which will help generations of young people to deal with some of those very difficult issues that we face with youth mental health.

As to the Dakabin train station, anybody who commutes to Brisbane would have seen that the Dakabin train station had hundreds of cars parked along the road in a very dangerous situation, and students at Dakabin State High School had to deal with that. Well, by Christmas, or very close to Christmas, construction will be complete on a 300-space car park, and that was a $300,000 commitment that I took to the last election. It is almost completed; it may well be complete by Christmas, weather permitting, making a big difference to local commuters.

After years of policy missteps on the NBN, the Labor Party, we knew, under the strategic review, would not complete the NBN until 2024. Today we added to the 37,000 local homes with the extra suburbs of Sandstone Point, Ningi, Beachmere and Godwin Beach. The NBN is getting back on track and, by mid next year, that will be done, improving the lives of many locals.