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

It is obviously hard to follow that contribution from Senator Hinch with what I was going to talk about—and I will get to that—but I do know that Senator Hinch's motivation in this regard is always well-intentioned. I hope that those people who are in the gallery are getting the appropriate support they need. I also hope the other victims that Senator Hinch didn't name are comfortable with what he did, but, more importantly, get the ongoing support they need as well. I pass on that from my point of view.

I want to talk about the federal Labor country caucus that will be gathering in Rockhampton in a couple of weeks. This will be the second gathering of the country caucus since the 2013 election. It's been a development that has been led by the member for Hunter, Joel Fitzgibbon. The first conference of the country caucus was held in Casino in the run-up to the last federal election. This time we are getting in early because we understand there is so much neglect of regional Australia, and particularly regional Queensland, under this Liberal-National Party government.

What we know is that federal Labor is listening to regional Queensland and listening to regional Australia. You're starting to see a real divide when you get out and about in regional Queensland—I've noticed it myself when I've been getting out and about. The local communities are starting to understand the commitment from federal Labor and, indeed, from federal Labor leader, Bill Shorten, to listening to local communities, consulting with them and working with them.

Why is it so important that federal Labor has this focus? What we know and what we've seen from the National Party is a complete neglect of regional Queensland and regional Australia. You need look no further than the sitting National Party MPs in Flynn, Capricornia and Dawson. All of them have a sorry track record in delivering for their communities over recent years. We can all point to specifics where they have failed, and there is probably no better current example than the member for Dawson around the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements. We all know the damage of Tropical Cyclone Debbie and the impact that had on those communities, yet the fight for Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements funding continues. The state government have put up the $110 million to ensure that they meet their commitments, yet the federal government still will not keep up their end of the bargain and stump up the money to ensure that those communities can recover.

In Capricornia, the federal National Party member continues to fail her community when it comes to the flood levee. Again, we saw the impact that Tropical Cyclone Debbie had on flooding in Rockhampton and the long-term impact that has regularly on that community. But, despite the efforts of the local council, the state government and federal Labor, the federal LNP government continue to bury their heads in the sand on this important project, which would go so far in ensuring that the flooding problem that Rockhampton has is alleviated by the build-up of this levee.

Then there is Ken O'Dowd, the federal National Party member for Flynn. His record on jobs is a very sorry tale. We know the issue of the workers' camp that I've spoken about in this place previously, where they have done nothing to ensure that local businesses get the opportunity from those people who are living and working nearby. But also, since the downturn in the mining industry, we've seen a real suffering in the Gladstone community. Unemployment is up and there's a high level of vacant housing. The federal member for Flynn is really asleep at the wheel and failing to deliver.

I think it's a really opportune time. The commitment from federal Labor that we have had, listening to local communities, particularly in regional Queensland, is important. This has been led by the federal Labor leader Bill Shorten. He has made numerous trips to regional Queensland since the election. He has done numerous town hall forums, including two in the last month: one in Mackay and one in Bundaberg, which I was lucky enough to be at. It continues this genuine engagement with local businesses, industry, unions, community and local government that you're seeing from federal Labor. That's probably the most pleasing thing from my point of view—that the local government mayors in those regions know that federal Labor is committed to listening to them and working on local solutions. Federal Labor will use this opportunity to continue to formulate the policies that we know can connect with regional Queensland and regional Australia.