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

I would like to use this opportunity, and it's the first opportunity I've had since the Queensland state election, to make some reflections and give some thanks and make some acknowledgements. Firstly, I thank the over one million Queenslanders who voted for the LNP at the last state election, and I deeply respect the decision of all those Queenslanders who did not vote for the LNP and recognise that it's incumbent upon us to seek their trust and support at forthcoming state elections.

I'd like to give my heartfelt thanks to all of the candidates who stood for the LNP at the last state election, and there were some truly great candidates. It was a true honour to campaign with each and every one of you. I thank all of you and your families. It's a real gift to the community when a candidate steps up and puts themselves forward for election, and it's their families who give them the support to do so. I pay tribute to you all.

I give a special call-out to Amanda Camm, who will be the next state member for the seat of Whitsunday, and she will be a superb state member. I first met Amanda during the Senate preselection process for George Brandis's vacancy. She impressed everyone then and she'll impress everyone in the Queensland state parliament when she takes her seat.

This evening my thoughts are with Laura Gerber, the state member for Currumbin; Mr David Batt, the state member for Bundaberg; and Mr Marty Hunt, the state member for Nicklin. All of them are in extremely tight battles. My last check of the seats in doubt on the ABC election website demonstrated that those three seats are still too close to call, so my thoughts are certainly with Laura, David and Marty this evening.

I know the sitting members who were returned will continue the good fight for our values and work to hold the government to account. I pay tribute to the LNP state executive, particularly President Cynthia Hardy and her husband, Ben. I especially acknowledge the circumstances in which Cynthia came to the presidency. She did an absolutely sterling job in terms of rallying the troops and boosting morale across the state.

I also pay tribute to our state campaign team, which was led by the indefatigable Lincoln Folo. Lincoln, no-one works harder than you do in a state campaign. It is acknowledged and truly appreciated.

I pay tribute to the rest of the HQ staff under the leadership of Michael O'Dwyer, including the finance section, which had to come to grips with dozens and dozens of pages of laws that were enacted in the last few months before the state election. They did so tirelessly.

I pay tribute to our state leader Deb Frecklington, who took us to the election. I thank her and her family—Jason and their three beautiful daughters—for the commitment they've given the LNP over many years. I saw on election night how close you were as a family as you were digesting the news that what we all hoped for was not meant to be. The mutual love between the family members was truly inspiring.

Tim Mander was the deputy leader. Tim, no-one could be a better deputy than you were to Deb. To the new leaders who are to be elected I give you the commitment—and I'm sure, Madam Acting Deputy President Stoker, you would agree—that all LNP senators will be rallying around you and providing you with all of the support you need.

Lastly and most importantly, there are all of our members. The LNP is like a big family. I've been a member for almost 34 years now. In that time we've won only one state election in Queensland. We've had much greater success at the federal level, but Queensland at the state level has been quite difficult for us. Notwithstanding that, we always dust ourselves off and recommit to our values with a deep faith that that in which we believe will provide the best opportunity for all Queenslanders to realise their full potential wherever they live, whether it's in the city or in the country.

There is one piece of housekeeping I need to tidy up. I was on my way to a citizenship ceremony when I got a desperate call from one of my staffers saying that the member for Moreton, Mr Graham Perrett, had tipped the bucket on me in the lower house. This was quite surprising to me, because Mr Perrett is my own local member and, even though he's on the other side, I usually have quite a convivial relationship with him when we attend community events. I went to the record and, sure enough, on Monday 19 October 2020 Mr Perrett said:

Here, we have an LNP senator—

that's me—

using taxpayer money to bag Labor for not getting this done—

and he's talking about the Coopers Plains railway crossing, and I'll talk about that. Then on 29 October he started a speech by saying:

The LNP Senator Scarr used taxpayer funds to condemn Queensland Labor for not committing to build the Coopers Plains rail crossing.

That is untrue. It is false. It is incorrect. It's misleading the parliament.

I think the thing that disappointed me most about it was that Mr Perrett, notwithstanding the fact he's got my mobile phone number, notwithstanding the fact we service many of the same community groups south of the Brisbane River, didn't even take the time to pick up the phone and call me and ask me whether or not I had in fact used taxpayer funds. In fact, I'd used my own funds. The reason I used my own funds was I was so frustrated that, over so many decades, nothing had been done about the Coopers Plains railway crossing. Mr Perrett has campaigned to fix it, so I thought there was an opportunity during this state election campaign to raise the issue. And I was right; there was an opportunity to raise the issue, and I managed to get a reaction.

Here is what happened. On 13 August 2019 Minister Alan Tudge and the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Adrian Schrinner, committed $73 million of federal funds and $40 million of Brisbane City Council funds to fix what is, and what Mr Perrett has described as, the fifth-worst railway crossing in Brisbane. But the state Labor government were silent. They've been in power for 25 of the last 30 years and they haven't fixed this thing. So I thought, 'I'll put a little DL out.' I put a DL out, paid for by myself. It had a skeleton in a car and it said: 'Waiting for Labor to fix the Coopers Plains railway crossing. Authorised by Paul Scarr, LNP of Queensland' et cetera. That is what Mr Perrett took exception to.

But do you know what? After I put that DL out, Graham Perrett tipped a bucket on me. He falsely and incorrectly misled the lower house in relation to my purported use of taxpayer funds, which was absolutely incorrect. It would be defamatory if repeated outside the House, but he was very canny in putting up a direct excerpt from Hansard on his social media—he knows his defamation law! But guess what happened after I put my little DL out? On 14 October Queensland Labor transport and main roads minister Mark Bailey, with the local state Labor member, announced a commitment of $66 million during the state election campaign, after pressure from the flyer.

So I put my little DL out, I paid for it myself—it was not the taxpayers; I paid for it myself—and Perrett tipped a bucket on me. I don't know if he's going to apologise in the lower house. Frankly, I don't care. If he wants to show respect to the institution of parliament, he should. What I care about is the Coopers Plains railway crossing getting fixed. There have been numerous fatalities at that site, and Labor haven't lifted a finger to fix it in the 25 of the last 30 years they have been in power in Queensland. Now they say they've committed $66 million. But let's wait and see, Mr Graham Perrett, member for Moreton—my local member, who tipped a bucket on me and misled the lower house. Let's wait and see if they actually fix it. If they don't fix it before the next state election, expect LNP Senator Paul Scarr to dip into his pocket again and raise the same issue, to fix it.