Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the gems of the electorate of Herbert is Great Palm Island, a community with a rich Indigenous heritage and history. Recently I had the great pleasure of heading over once again for a visit, to inspect a brand new building which is going to improve the life of people who live there. Just across from the ferry terminal and across the road from the general store stands a brand new retail and business precinct which I had the privilege of officially opening for business. The community has been crying out for this $10 million facility for many, many years, and with the help of the Building Better Regions Fund it's finally become a reality.

One of the major problems that the Palm Island community faces is the inability to easily access basic supplies without having to make a 1½ hour ferry trip to the mainland and Townsville. While there are basic groceries and other necessities available at the small supermarket, other things are nearly impossible to get on the island, not just physical products but services, as well. There's no hairdresser, no coffee shop and no nail salon—many things that we take for granted in our everyday lives—so this brand new retail and business precinct is going to change all that. There are 570 square metres of retail space on the ground floor and 560 square metres of commercial office space on the first floor. What I love about this project is that it's an empty shell. Why would I love an empty shell? Because it's now up to the people of Palm Island to fill the facility with what they want. It's not about people from the mainland coming across and telling the locals what they want; it's about the locals putting in what they need. It's about the locals getting involved and engaged. During my visit I spoke to one local who runs a coffee van business. Now he's looking at renting a permanent shop in the facility so he can grow and develop his business and provide a service for locals. This was a view shared by a lot of the other locals who turned up to the ribbon cutting and traditional smoking ceremony community event. They all told me that this project would be delivering many great things for this community. In fact, it's already made a huge difference in the short period of construction. During that time, with the help of A. Gabrielli Constructions, the contracted company, 12 jobs have been created. That's 12 people who can say they were involved in one of the biggest projects the island has ever seen. Not only that, but Gabrielli were so impressed with the work of some of the apprentices they had that they've put on apprentices. They've offered full-time contracts to continue their training and launch themselves into the workforce. Of course, the impact of jobs will be ongoing. It's estimated that, once the fitout is done and the tenants have moved in, there'll be 40 ongoing jobs based at the centre.

But there's a wider economic impact, too. The precinct will provide enhanced employment opportunities for local community members, will enable community members to direct more of their spending to local businesses rather than having to travel to the mainland and will provide a safe and inviting environment for the expansion of tourism and events. So this will benefit not only members of the Palm Island community but visitors to the island as well, and we know tourism is an area we want to see grow and thrive. It'll make life easier for locals who will be able to access this one-stop shop for a number of different activities all in the one place— retail, hospitality and health—and it will reduce the cost of living by making more local retail opportunities available.

This is just one of many ways we're investing in the community of Palm Island. I've been working closely with the Minister for Indigenous Australians and the National Indigenous Australians Agency. The agency currently funds nearly $50 million worth of programs and infrastructure projects in the electorate of Herbert—that's supporting 43 different organisations. A lot of that work is directed at Palm Island. We've also invested $2 million in improving the quality of drinking water for the community. Some of that work is out to tender. This is a time when I'm not going to lay the boot into the Queensland state government, because this is a time when we must be working together, because people need to be put ahead of politics. As my mother-in-law, who was born on Palm Island and who's probably eagerly streaming this live at her house back in Cairns, knows and we in this whole place know, regardless of where you sit, people must come before politics. This isn't a time for jousting; this is a time for the people.