Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Families and small businesses are doing it tough in the Central Queensland city of Rockhampton. Capricornia faces a major jobs crisis due to the coalmining downturn. Resources will never be the same again. That is why we need to kickstart alternative industries to drive our future economy.

We can create thousands of jobs around Rockhampton within two years, but the Labor Party once again is holding back this opportunity. Rookwood Weir, near Rockhampton, is a key economic driver. But Queensland's Labor government and Rockhampton state Labor MPs like Bill Byrne are sitting on their hands delaying the project—and, along with it, stalling 2,100 new jobs.

This is in contrast to the Turnbull-Joyce coalition government, which has put $130 million on the table to pay for 50 per cent of Rookwood Weir. Further to this, we gave Queensland an extra $2 million to get on with the job of completing the state's business case required for Rookwood—and this is the point of contention: while we say it can be done now, they say a business case will not be ready until late 2017.

This week in The Morning Bulletin, state Labor MPs rolled under the skirt of Building Queensland—a group that carries out economic evaluations on behalf of their state government. Let me quote them:

The business case is being developed in accordance with Building Queensland's best practice Business Case Development Framework and is investigating the need for water security in the region and potential economic development opportunities. Consultation with key local stakeholders has already commenced.

Building Queensland anticipates presenting the completed business case to government for their consideration in Quarter 3, 2017.

What on earth is wrong with Building Queensland and the state government? Perhaps they need to check the filing cabinet. They should have this material at hand by now. Why? Because, way back in 2006, then Labor Premier Peter Beattie made the commitment to build Rookwood by 2011. The year he made that commitment is also the year Annastacia Palaszczuk—now the current Labor Premier—was elected to parliament. Essentially, she was elected to parliament on a Labor promise to all Queenslanders to have Rookwood Weir built by 2011. Ten years after promising the weir and five years after Labor promised it would be finished, they now come out saying the Rookwood business case must not be rushed and will now take until the end of 2017. This is unacceptable. Get on with it Queensland! You already agreed to have it built by 2011.

Let me quote the promise made by Pieter Beattie, just to remind Queensland Labor MPs, Annastacia Palaszczuk, Bill Byrne and Brittany Lauga of their Labor Party failings. In 2006, Peter Beattie said:

My government recently announced funding to accelerate the raising of the Eden Bann Weir and the building of the new Rockwood Weir by 2011. These will be key infrastructure components in assisting the development of this region.

Tonight, I ask the Labor Party: where is it? Where is Rookwood Weir? If Peter Beattie can promise Rookwood Weir to be finished by 2011, surely there must have been enough studies and consultations conducted to satisfy the Premier of the same party, today. I ask the question again: why is the Queensland government stalling? Why are they hiding behind the bureaucrats at Building Queensland? Every day they stall on the Rookwood business case, they stall on creating thousands of new jobs.

Here is a newsflash: the Commonwealth government of Australia is already satisfied with the case for Rookwood. The Prime Minister of Australia has already committed $132 million to Rookwood. And at the height of hypocrisy, when it comes to major projects like the Brisbane Cross River Rail or Townsville's stadium, Queensland Labor asked for Commonwealth money, without a business case even having been started! I join the Deputy Prime Minister in saying again: get on with it Queensland. Rockhampton is waiting for our jobs and our weir.