Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ever since I was elected in 2016, I've worked to build a better Wide Bay. That has involved working with the community to identify local solutions and seek assistance from government to get the right outcomes. I've worked with many community, sporting, veterans and service groups across Wide Bay to help them get the support they need and work with the community and my coalition colleagues in Canberra to secure funding for the Gympie bypass and the Tiaro bypass. But over the last three years the challenges Wide Bay and our nation face have been made so much harder by the Albanese Labor government.

Labor's bad decisions, warped policies and wrong priorities have made life harder for everyone. At the last election Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised a better future for all Australians, but if you ask yourself, 'Are you better off now compared to three years ago?', I bet the answer is no. The answer is no because of Labor's homegrown inflation disaster, which has seen an 18 per cent increase in the cost of living. The answer is no because Labor has delivered seven quarters of negative growth, giving us the longest per capita recession for 50 years. It's no because productivity has crashed 5.6 per cent, and real disposable incomes have fallen by 8.7 per cent. It's no because Labor promised a $275 reduction in our power bills but instead Queenslanders are paying $948 more than Labor promised. It's no because gas is up 34 per cent, insurance is up 19 per cent and savings are down by 10.2 per cent. It's no because Labor has given us the worst six months of business insolvencies on record, with 27,000 businesses going insolvent over the last three years. It's no because mortgages have almost tripled. It's no because Labor wanted to divide our country by race. It's no because Labor's economic, energy, immigration and industrial relations policies are driving up inflation and stretching household budgets to breaking point. These failures are hitting homes and businesses in Wide Bay, and we can't afford another three years of Labor.

When you look back three years, before Labor was elected, you can see that real progress was being made across Wide Bay. This Labor government has abandoned regional communities like ours. I worked to extend mobile phone coverage to 19 new locations throughout Wide Bay. But, in the time since Labor was elected, they've not funded any new mobile phone sites. With the 3G shutdown, which occurred under Labor's watch, mobile phone coverage has seriously deteriorated.

In Maryborough, we secured $28.5 million to build a new projectile-forging plant, creating a hundred new jobs and boosting Australia's defence capability. A $700,000 commitment is helping to upgrade the Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum. We invested more than $25 million replacing and upgrading bridges in Fraser Coast, Gympie and Noosa, including the replacement of Coondoo Creek Bridge on Tin Can Bay Road to better connect Cooloola Coast with other communities.

In Noosa, I worked with organisations like Sunshine Butterflies at Cooroibah so that they can share their magic with more families. I helped secure $2.5 million to build a new community house at Peregian Beach and another $2.5 million to build the Sunshine Beach Surf Club. I also worked with Katie Rose Cottage Hospice at Doonan to secure $1.5 million to increase its capacity. In Murgon, I worked with my friends at the Murgon Men's Shed to help them bring the railway museum to life. Veterans in Murgon have a dedicated drop-in centre thanks to a $450,000 commitment to help them access advocacy services. A $1.65 million fossil and fine arts museum, 55 Million Years Ago, is showcasing Murgon's paleontological history.

In Gympie, a $1.8 million project is underway to create a new place to honour our veterans, and 200 new jobs have been created at Nolan Meats through a $5 million investment to extend their production line. I also helped a number of sporting groups to access funding, including the Granville Tigers hockey club, Noosa Dolphins, Noosa pickleball and Maryborough district hockey club.

Anyone who knows me knows how concerned I am about improving road safety. As a former police officer, I've seen the tragic aftermath of fatal crashes on the Bruce Highway. I fought, with my colleagues in Canberra, the former Queensland government and the Albanese Labor government to make the highway through Wide Bay as safe as it is from Gympie to Melbourne. In 2018 a huge community effort resulted in an $800 million commitment by the former coalition government for the Gympie bypass, transforming one of the deadliest sections of the Bruce Highway into one of the safest.

I worked with the community to secure $269 million from the former federal government for the four-lane Tiaro bypass, but state and federal Labor governments put lives at risk by going slow on this vital project. The former Queensland Labor government said the detailed design would be completed by the end of 2023, that tenders would be called in 2024 and that construction would start in February this year. But none of that was true. The detailed design has only just been completed, the tender hasn't been called, and construction has not started.

The Albanese Labor government has failed to deliver the new major projects on our stretch of the Bruce Highway, much of which, between Gympie and Maryborough, is rated less than three stars out of five for safety. It's been revealed that the bulk of the recently announced $7.2 billion safety upgrade funding won't be available for many years to come. State and federal Labor have proven that they can't be trusted with our safety on the Bruce Highway, but I won't give up fighting for the safety of my locals. We need to get Australia back on track, and that starts with a government that understands and delivers for our region, not ignores it, as the Albanese Labor government has done.

I'm looking to the future to continue my work with the community to deliver for Wide Bay, including fighting to extend mobile coverage across Wide Bay, particularly in areas such as Booubyjan and Teewah Beach. I'm keen to work with local community and sporting groups to help them get the support they need, including funding for a new clubhouse for the Noosa Dolphins rugby union club. Improving the capacity of other sporting clubs in Wide Bay is a priority for me as well, and I'm working with the Gympie and Maryborough district hockey associations to upgrade their clubs. I'm also working with the Noosa Women's Shed to secure funding for their shed, and with the Gympie Pistol Club to redevelop their clubhouse.

So many families and businesses have experienced economic pain caused by the Albanese Labor government. The statistics I outlined at the beginning of my speech tell of the hardship inflicted by this government. We can't afford another three years of Labor's weak leadership and economic incompetence. We need to get Australia back on track, and I'm working with the coalition to deliver the right policies and the right priorities to deliver for Wide Bay and make Australia prosperous, secure and united again.