George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources. Will the Deputy Prime Minister update the House on the rollout of the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund? How will this fund benefit the nation, including my constituents in Dawson?

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for Dawson for his question and note his clear advocacy for the economic development of Central and North Queensland. I know that he is very interested in how we are going on the $3 million that we put on the table for Urannah Dam, to get the study started there, and the $1.9 million we have put on the table for the Burdekin Haughton channel capacity upgrade feasibility study. I know he is very interested to make sure that we continue to progress our $2½ billion program on building dams, not only in his electorate but in electorates in so many areas of Queensland. But unfortunately we have had to deal with Premier Annastacia Palaszcuk, who is not progressing any of these dams—none of them. In fact, she is spending a lot more time arguing with one of her colleagues, Ms Trad, about who is going to be the next premier of Queensland than about actually advancing the issues for Queensland.

Although we have put $19.8 million on the table for 14 studies, not one of them has been started. And not only have we put money on the table for the studies but we put $130 million on the table to start Rookwood Weir so we can get further jobs to that area, an extra $1 billion a year in income for the people of Central Queensland. But there has been neither sight nor sound of what Queensland intends to do. The Queensland Labor Party has basically gone to sleep on us. They are spending a lot of time talking about tree-clearing legislation. They are certainly doing that. Ms Trad has a lot to say about tree-clearing legislation but nothing to say about economic development for the people of North Queensland. Even though the federal government has funded 100 per cent of the $19.8 million for these 14 studies, we are not going anywhere with them.

The Labor Party in Queensland just seems to be fascinated with the internal politics and also the power of the Greens—the same power of the Greens that has had disastrous effects on the economic development of so many areas. We only have to look at what happened recently in South Australia with the power debacle. Of course, people have a lot to say about Greens policies when they are stuck in a lift—the 19 people who were stuck in lifts, the industry that has said quite clearly that, under a party that is infused with the power of the Greens rather than the power of the people, they are going to leave South Australia. It needed a wake-up call, but we had to wait for a severe thunderstorm before the Labor Party started realising the consequences of their action.

But it is very good for the Australian people to see what power looks like under Labor. Power under Labor is a blackout. Power under Labor is absolute chaos. But we will make sure that we deliver back to the people the vital infrastructure we have seen in such things as dams. (Time expired)