Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I congratulate Senator Ray on his 25 years in this place. Some may say—I can imagine Senator Ray would be the first to say it—that he needs to have his head read for staying in this place for that long. But he has made a marvellous contribution over the years—not always a contribution I have agreed with—and has become one of the most respected of all senators here. His voice is very often listened to regardless of what topic he is on about, and the speech he has just given is very clear evidence of that.

I would have hoped that other Labor figures around the countryside might have followed the lead set by people like Senator Ray. Regrettably, this has not occurred in the city of Townsville where I have my base. Last week, our Prime Minister came to Townsville with a marvellous announcement for our community. The Jezzine Barracks at Kissing Point in Townsville has been a very significant site for many years. It is steeped in military history. It has supported troops garrisoned in the city of Townsville for many decades from before the Second World War, and during the Second World War it was a very significant area.

In recent times the Reserve brigades have been at Kissing Point and Jezzine Barracks, but it became obvious to the Department of Defence that that was not the appropriate place and that they should be moved over to Laverack Barracks. That decision made some time ago is to be implemented in the not-too-distant future. It, of course, left the question of: what happens to the land at Jezzine Barracks at Kissing Point? It is a very valuable piece of land. Some valuers have estimated that it might be worth $50 million; others have said it could be worth double that. The Commonwealth and the Defence bureaucracy, naturally enough, thought that with defence moving out of the area it would be a good opportunity to subdivide this very valuable piece of land—leaving aside the military museum and the forts on the actual point—and get a bit of money in for the taxpayers to help subsidise some defence commitments over the next decade or so.

This decision resulted in community agitation led, I might say, by the member for Herbert, Mr Peter Lindsay, about retaining that particular piece of land in the community’s hands rather than private developers subdividing it. There has been a lot of talk about this over quite a number of months—stretching into years, in fact. Many proposals have been put, a lot of requests have been made and there has been a lot of uncertainty about what might happen. But all of that was put to rest last Tuesday, a week ago, when the Prime Minister came to Townsville and announced that the government had decided to gift the Jezzine Barracks to the Townsville City Council for community use and heritage—87 per cent of the land, including the forts area, the point area, most of the old parade ground would go to the community. The defence department would retain Jezzine House as the residence for the senior military commander in Townsville, and the 31st Royal Queensland Regiment Precinct would house a relocated Army history museum.

The community is very happy with the proposal. Jezzine House and the senior military commander are part of the community. This arrangement where, effectively, the whole of this land was given to the community was one that many in the community had been seeking and which the Prime Minister, at the urging of the member for Herbert, Peter Lindsay, and I, was able to put into place. I should also recognise the contribution that the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, Senator Sandy Macdonald, made in this decision.

But the good news does not stop there: in addition to that, the Prime Minister announced that the Commonwealth government would spend some $4 million relocating the museum, repairing the forward area and P1 huts, and undertaking the remediation of contamination and subdivision works. In addition to that, the Prime Minister also announced that the Commonwealth government would provide $10 million in cash to a trust to be established to oversee the provision of funding for the development of the site in accordance with the wishes of the community and the heritage listing requirements. That community trust will be established by the defence department but, once established, it will operate independently of the Commonwealth government. The trustees are going to include a cross-section of the local community with government, military, heritage and Indigenous representatives.

The Prime Minister said the Commonwealth government will give the trust the $10 million needed to upgrade the site to make it into an attractive place for the general public to visit and be able to see through some of the heritage areas. The $10 million was given on the condition that the Townsville City Council, who have been agitating for this land for a long time, provided a matching $10 million. In discussions that Peter Lindsay and I have had with the mayor—whilst it was never agreed in exact words—it was always a wink and a nod that the council would put money into it. The Townsville City Council is meeting tonight, and I hope that it will confirm that it will match the $10 million.

The good news does not stop there. The Prime Minister went further and said the Commonwealth would provide an additional $10 million on the condition that the Queensland state government also provided $10 million to that particular new facility. That is a total of $40 million to go into making Kissing Point and the old Jezzine Barracks site an extension of the Townsville Strand and really turn it into a world-class area where people will visit to see the old fort and the military museum and simply enjoy the ambience and remember what happened there.

In the speech I made at the Prime Minister’s announcement I particularly recognised Mr George Roberts, a very significant Townsville person—a former deputy mayor and a former leading solicitor—and very much involved in community activities. He is now aged 93. He is a man with passion. Even at the age of 93, he was out there in support and even went so far as to carry a placard not long ago to try and ensure that Jezzine Barracks was given to the community.

The disappointing fact of all of this was that although the Labor Mayor of Townsville, Councillor Tony Mooney—not a bad fellow—was invited, he refused to turn up. He sent along some other councillor to what was really the most significant announcement to be made in Townsville for many years. Since that time, he has behaved fairly petulantly; hence my comment before that Labor politicians should follow Senator Ray’s distinguished contribution and the way he behaves in all sorts of situations. Regrettably, the mayor did not turn up, which seemed to me to be a spoilt-boy approach.

Also, while the Liberal Party at the state level has committed a new incoming coalition government to match the federal government’s $10 million, so far as I am aware we have not yet heard a peep from the state Labor government. So I certainly hope that that does not mean that the $10 million state contribution and the $10 million matching Commonwealth contribution will not be available. And I certainly hope that tonight the Townsville City Council will agree to match the $10 million. I am disappointed at Mayor Mooney’s advertisement in Saturday’s paper. Again, it is spoilt-boy tactics at the expense of the Townsville ratepayer. I urge Mayor Mooney and the Townsville City Council to get behind this project and to back Peter Lindsay and the government in what could be a magnificent thing for Townsville and indeed for Australia.