Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to talk about regional Queensland, federal Labor and federal Labor leader Bill Shorten's ongoing commitment to ensuring that we are representing the interests of regional Queensland. I note as I speak in this chamber that federal Labor leader Bill Shorten is in Gladstone and is already doing his fourth town hall in Queensland this year. He's already done town halls in Townsville, in Mackay, which I was lucky enough to attend, and also in Rockhampton, and tonight he is in Gladstone with our fantastic Labor candidate for Flynn, Zac Beers, who ran last time and got very close but is running again. When we did our town forum in Mackay, we had with us Belinda Hassan, our candidate for Dawson. It's been fantastic to help those candidates get off to a flying start.

Part of the commitment from federal Labor to spend time in regional Queensland—and leading by example has been federal Labor leader Bill Shorten—is to ensure that we are listening to those residents on the ground in framing our policies for the next federal election, to ensure that we are in touch with what's going on in those areas. It's really, really important that we have a federal Labor Party that is committed to doing that and listening to those local residents.

What we've seen for the last five years from those opposite is plenty of talk but very little action. Probably the best example of that in recent weeks has been around the money for regional unemployment. Despite it being promised 18 months ago, they've only now started to announce some of the money going to local businesses that have been crying out for jobs. If they actually spent any time in these regional communities, they'd understand how disappointed local businesses are that it's taken so long for this money to be promised. It took more than 12 months for the guidelines to be put out, let alone for anyone to actually make a decision about local businesses. Federal Labor doesn't want to look back after five years in government and say, 'What have we done?' We are listening now and we're going to ensure that we can start delivering for these communities if we win the next federal election. Part of what we have been talking about when we have been in these communities this year has been real jobs for regional Queensland, so that those people understand what a Labor government would mean for them.

When we were in Gladstone we talked about the port access road, which will ensure that the port will continue to grow, but it also will mean there will be fewer trucks on the road going through other parts of the town. We also talked about Rookwood Weir. For years we've heard the LNP talk about Rookwood Weir, but it was Labor who made the commitment to fund it once the state government had done their study into it to see if it stacked up. We see those opposite refusing to fund the full amount that is needed to go halves with the state in Rookwood Weir. We're excited about the agriculture jobs we'll deliver. Obviously there are the construction jobs that go with it as well, but it will be something that we'll be able to deliver for that part of Queensland for a long time.

In Mackay we talked about the next stage of the Mackay ring-road. This will be absolutely vital. What we talked about when we were there with federal Labor leader Bill Shorten was ensuring that those workers who have construction work up there now and do civil construction work on roads are able to continue to live locally, because they know their next job is coming around the corner. That way there is no delay. They can be confident that there's an ongoing pipeline of work that will ensure that they can continue to operate and live locally in those towns, and the community also can have some certainty about that next stage of the ring- road taking place. In Townsville, federal Labor leader Bill Shorten announced an expansion of the port as well, which will lead to more jobs and opportunities.

A visit that I made more recently was to Hervey Bay and Bundaberg. In Hervey Bay I met with the acting mayor of the Fraser Coast council, George Seymour. There were some issues there when the previous mayor was recently dismissed, so it was good to go and get a firsthand look at how that council is functioning with the acting mayor. It seemed to be business as usual. They've put a lot of the differences behind them and they are focused on residents and outcomes for the local community. Also, when I was in Bundaberg it was good to get an opportunity to meet with some of the locals there and, also, to talk to some of the local businesses as well.

There are some opportunities in these places. It's unfortunate that the federal government aren't delivering on their part to give these communities confidence, but we can assure those people that federal Labor are absolutely committed to listening to them, representing them and ensuring that we have policies that resonate with those communities.