Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Obviously, Senator Watt just does not like hearing about progress. He hates it. He wants to interject and stop progress. That's what the Labor Party are good at. But we on this side love progress. We love jobs being created. We love our country being developed. We're also developing the water resources of northern Australia. We're investing $700 million across water projects in northern Australia. These projects are across the north. Particularly, there are ones like Rookwood Weir, which is underway at the moment. That's going to help to double agricultural production in the Fitzroy Basin. We're investing $200 million to guarantee water security for Townsville in their future. We're also getting started on the Hells Gate Dam. It'll be one of the biggest dams in Queensland once it's built. That's starting under this project. Really, the benefits of this are for the people in these regions. For example, Simone Lawrie, from the Artizan Gluten Free Bakery in Rocky, says she currently employs 11 staff and will have more staff once the Rookwood Weir is under construction. That's what we're doing for jobs and supporting businesses in the north. (Time expired)