Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to rise this evening to talk about a great event in Townsville that's going to occur over the weekend, and that's the opening of the new Townsville rugby league stadium. I'm proud to be a member of a government that has contributed some $100 million to the opening of that stadium. It's a great thing for Townsville, it's a great thing for the Cowboys rugby league team and it's a great thing for a city that's been doing it a bit tough with floods and other issues over recent years.

I was reading the Premier of Queensland's, Annastacia Palaszczuk's, media announcement today, which was announcing the opening. Members here will remember that Annastacia Palaszczuk is the only Premier in Australian political history who has been found in contempt of her own parliament—that's our Premier for the good state of Queensland, Annastacia Palaszczuk. I'll quote from her media statement:

This stadium is being delivered on time thanks to the local tradies and apprentices who have been working hard since 2017 to make it happen.

That's good that the project has been completed on time, but what about the budget?

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tell us! Tell us!

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll tell you, Senator McGrath. I know you're interested in these matters. What about the budget? There's nothing about the budget referred to. The project is on time, but is it within budget? Well, you wouldn't know from reading the Premier's two-page self-congratulatory media announcement.

The truth is that the project blew the budget by $43.5 million. Why? The construction division of the CFMEU blew the budget by $43.5 million. What happened was the project reached a critical point in time and then the CFMEU construction division held the project to ransom. They held the project to ransom because they knew it was time critical. So the Queensland government entered into a deed of variation with the head contractor, Watpac, to pay them an extra $43.5 million. It's a form of industrial relations extortion.

Do you know how the Queensland government characterised this extra $43.5 million? They characterised it as a best practice industrial relations variation agreement. That reminded me of George Orwell's doublethink, where the department of peace is actually responsible for war, the department of plenty is responsible for starvation and the department of love is responsible for torture. When I read George Orwell in grade 12, I actually took it as a warning to modern society. I didn't assume my Queensland Labor government would use it as a blueprint for government. But that's what they do in Queensland; they actually use it as a blueprint for government. They don't consider it a warning; it's a blueprint for government.

Here we have another infrastructure project in Queensland that's blown out by $43.5 million. Does this matter? The Cowboys fans have got their great stadium. Does this extra $43.5 million really matter? Well, it does matter. The annual budget for the Queensland Rural Fire Service is $40 million. That's less than the blowout from that single infrastructure project. Ten mental health community organisations in my home state of Queensland get annual funding of $7 million a year. That $43.5 million would have provided funding for them for 4½ years. That's the cost. Two hundred and fifty schools in my home state of Queensland, where primary school children are sweltering in demountables, could be provided with air-conditioning. That's the cost. That's just one of the many costs to my home state of Queensland, and to the people of Queensland, as a result of the extortion tactics of the CFMEU construction division. The people of my home state of Queensland are waiting for the CFMEU construction division to be held to account and for all Queenslanders to be able to attend workplaces without fear of harassment and bullying. (Time expired)