Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my pleasure today to rise and congratulate the Ipswich Show Society for their great work in hosting the 2017 Ipswich Show. Held this past weekend, the Ipswich Show is a three-day event exhibiting the very best that Ipswich and the West Moreton region can offer. The show society committee is led ably by President Marcia Cruickshank and Vice President Darren Zanow. The show society always puts on a fantastic day out—an experience for the people of Ipswich and its surrounds, with this year's edition no exception. Tens of thousands of people pass through the gates each day. It is why the Ipswich City Council estimates the show contributes $13 million to the local economy every year.

I have been a proud supporter and sponsor of the show for many years. I recall, as a very young boy, being taken by my parents to the Ipswich Show. So I was pleased to hold a stall at the Ipswich Show for three days in the middle of the main pavilion, with the member for Ipswich West, Jim Madden MP, and the member for Ipswich, Jennifer Howard. It was a big Labor Party stall in the middle of the main pavilion. I was pleased to see the Labor candidate for the new seat of Jordan, Charis Mullen, turn up and campaign with us, and the member for Oxley, Milton Dick, was there as well on one of the days.

The Ipswich Show Society's contribution to the local area does not end with the Ipswich Show. The showground serves Ipswich all year round, supporting community groups, schools and sporting clubs. And, most importantly, the showground acts as the main evacuation centre in the event of natural disasters. Sadly, in my experience, we have had far too many of those, in terms of floods, in my lifetime, with our main floods being in 1974, 2011, 2013 and 2017—the recent floods.

Just recently, the show society announced their plans for a $40 million upgrade to the facility. It is an opportunity to establish a convention centre—or, should I say, an exhibition and evacuation centre. For Ipswich, this is really critical. And I am bitterly disappointed—really disappointed—that Ipswich continues to be excluded from the Building Better Regions Fund in terms of eligibility for funding. This was not the case when Labor was in power, under our Regional Development Australia fund. It was not the case under the previous National Stronger Regions Fund under this coalition government. And we saw great infrastructure being built Ipswich, such as the Ipswich Civic Centre upgrade, the Orion pool at Springfield, and the Robelle Domain parklands, funded under the former federal Labor government. We also saw the Somerset Civic Centre in Esk, the Fernvale Indoor Sports Centre, the Kilcoy Information Centre and the Somerset Regional Art Gallery in Toogoolawah, in the Somerset region—which still remains eligible, while, tragically, Ipswich does not.

I wrote to Senator Fiona Nash, the Minister for Regional Development, on 6 January this year and complained about the fact that Ipswich remained excluded. I got a letter back on 10 February this year, saying that the Building Better Regions Fund will be reviewed after round 1, which will allow for consideration of any changes before round 2 of the program. Much to my chagrin, can I say, I saw that, in the budget, Ipswich was again excluded, so I wrote to Minister Nash on 11 May, urging her to review this again. I understand there has been some latitude shown to at least one member of the coalition in relation to eligibility, and, given the Turnbull government's apparent willingness to reconsider boundaries for the Building Better Regions Fund, I urgently asked them to reconsider the program's boundaries and to include Ipswich and other, urban areas for consideration. Surely it is not the case, is it, that they are excluding areas that vote Labor in urban areas? Surely not! On behalf of the show society and Ipswich generally, I urge the minister to see reason and include Ipswich in the eligibility for the Building Better Regions Fund.

I commend the show society. Recently at the show we saw a bold new initiative which would cater for 4,000 people in an emergency situation and would seat over 600 people in the main auditorium. A beacon for expos and home shows, this would see more jobs and more profitable businesses in my area and would see the transformation of the current cattle pavilion into a four-storey exhibition and flood evacuation centre. There would be a thousand car-parking places.

This is a great project. It is one of many great projects, including the Woollen Mills arts precinct that Ipswich City Council wants upgraded. I am urging the government to reconsider, and I commend the show society. I urge community feedback in relation to this particular project.