Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the recent state election, there were some heartfelt battles in my electorate. I want to acknowledge some of the incredible work that was done by some of our local LNP candidates and acknowledge some of the outgoing members. Ian Rickuss, a tireless warrior for the LNP in the Lockyer Valley, announced his retirement some 12 months ago. As a result of that, the seat was contested by the deputy mayor over there in the Lockyer Valley, a bloke named Jim McDonald, a local senior sergeant of police. The seat was heavily contested by One Nation. It was expected to go to One Nation, but the incredible tenacity of the LNP team over there meant they hung onto that seat. I want to acknowledge Jim, the campaign team and those people who worked on the ground for the incredible work they did in that space. My heartfelt congratulations go to all of that team.

In the middle of my electorate and totally encompassed is the seat of Scenic Rim, held by Jon Krause. John also held onto that seat. He did an incredible job. He had an amazing campaign team around him. All strength to his arm. Over on our Gold Coast side, in the seat of Mudgeeraba—10,000 electors are part of that electorate in the federal electorate of Wright—is Ros Bates. She is just a cracker. She's the shadow opposition minister for domestic violence and does an amazing job moving around the state of Queensland, espousing the party's positions on domestic violence. One of the people who were not successful was Sid Cramp, the member for Gaven. Three thousand of his electors fall into my electorate. Sid worked tirelessly through the campaign. I don't know if he's conceded yet but, unfortunately, it doesn't look like we're going to get that seat.

I also want to acknowledge the volunteers within the party and how fortunate we as an organisation are to have those volunteer man-hours. It was an arduous campaign because we had to take up the fight on many fronts. We had to take the fight up to Labor. We had to take the fight up to the Greens. We had to take the fight up to GetUp! We had to take the fight up to the CFMEU and the other unions. Arduous battles were had. We also had to fight a new foe in One Nation. So we had very few allies out there and it was just so comforting that, with everything that was thrown at these members, the LNP were still victorious through the bulk of my electorate.

The electors of Wright, with their state voice, know how important jobs are in this country. The Turnbull-Joyce government is putting no less than 1,000 jobs a day into the economy. No less than 355,000 jobs were created this year—that's nearly 1,000 jobs a day—85 per cent of which are full-time jobs going to small business. Why is small business employing people? Because we've got the tax policy settings right. Our instant tax write-off and our appetite for a decreasing company tax rate are creating the engine room that is driving the economy.

The largest contributor to GDP in my electorate is agriculture. Our free trade agreements are providing new opportunities, new frontiers, new trading opportunities for businesses in the agricultural sector as they look to enhance and increase their international opportunities. You have two duopolies like the two major retailers screwing you down on price, and you now have the choice to go overseas with your product and sometimes get a 50 to 60 per cent better price. The free trade agreements have assisted. Our local communities are strong only if we have a strong agricultural sector. If we have a strong agricultural sector, we have strong communities, we have money flowing through our businesses, and we have fewer people looking for employment. I want to offer my congratulations to all those who were victorious.