JUNE 20, 2016: A re-elected Coalition Government will invest $30 million into the Bowen Basin to diversify the region’s economy, create local jobs and grow skills in the local workforce.I was happy to join the Minister for Regional Development Fiona Nash, as well as the Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry and Member for Flynn Ken O'Dowd for the announcement today at Paget business D&T Hydraulics and Engineering. This jobs package is something I lobbying hard for to help out as our struggling economy continues with making the transition from mining boom to a more diversified business base.The next two years will be a critical time for our region, and that's why we're asking the region to choose its own economic direction.Local business people know where the opportunities are and unlike the Labor Party, we'll use local knowledge to help direct our jobs plan.The commitment will attract matching funding from participating businesses resulting in a total package of $60 million for the region, and where the money is invested will be guided by the local region.Minister for Regional Development Fiona Nash said the $30 million jobs package announced today will bring forward local business investment and expansion, creating local jobs in the Mackay and Fitzroy regions.Regional centres with access to the fund include but are not limited to Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Clermont, Emerald, Blackwater and Biloela.The jobs package will: •​Provide business innovation grants on a competitive basis to help businesses invest in new technology, diversify operations and create new export opportunities to create new jobs •​Upgrade existing local infrastructure or investing in small new local infrastructure projects to generate immediate local employment. •​Deliver targeted skills and training programs to address regional skills shortages and support workers impacted by structural change to retrain and upskill to help them find jobs. Minister Nash said grants from the package will assist existing local businesses to grow and also offer incentives for businesses outside the region to expand into the Bowen Basin and employ local people.“Local communities will assess their region's economic opportunities and develop tailored, forward looking local investment plans, creating a community-driven government investment — a genuine partnership between the Coalition Government and local communities.”"Applications for grants from the jobs package will be assessed against the investment plan which the Coalition will ask Bowen Basin communities to develop, and against a jobs growth assessment criteria."As Deputy Nationals Leader and Minister for Regional Development, I aim to help build regional, rural and remote communities our children and grandchildren either want to stay in or come back to, and creating local jobs is a huge part of that.“Labor's 'plan' dictate's solutions from Canberra to the Bowen Basin. The Coalition's jobs plan will ask the Bowen Basin to tell Canberra what direction it chooses."