Telling it like it is

11 FEBRUARY, 2015: The concerns of the people of the North regarding jobs, project development, the rights of cane growers and water quality in reef waters have been shared in Parliament this week. Read my speech below or click on the video link.LINK TO VIDEO OF SPEECH: * http://youtu.be/Rk_WW_blaCII hear many voices in this place – often spin doctors and mostly media – commentators and agitators – relentlessly pursuing their own agendas.But in the real world, real people are trying to earn a living, make ends meet, and improve their lot in life.Tonight, I am their voice, in speech and in the form of a petition for which I will shortly seek leave to table.Some years ago, I led a convoy of Liberal and National MPs, including the Deputy Prime Minister, along the entire 1600km length of the Bruce Highway.We listened to what people had to say, we consulted with individuals, councils, and community groups who provided input on what to fix and how to fix it.As a result, the biggest funding commitment in the history of the Bruce Highway has projects under way and already completed.Today, there are strong and passionate voices in North Queensland railing against the 100 per cent Fly In Fly Out mining operations that were approved under the former Labor government in Queensland.I campaigned against this postcode apartheid then and I do now.In a desperate bid to win a Queensland election, Labor’s leader, Annastacia Palaszczuk, committed, in writing that Labor would:“Review, within the first 100 days of office, all existing 100% FIFO approvals. Where a mining operation is located near a resource town or regional community, 100% FIFO will not be permitted.”That’s on page 5 of Ms Palaszczuk’s own policy document: Strong and Sustainable Resource Communities.Despite the potential new Labor deputy, Jackie Trad, trying to back-track on that commitment, the people of North Queensland and myself, as their voice in this place, will hold Labor to their word should they form government in Queensland.When I listen to North Queenslanders, they are not concerned about the machinations of parliament, parties, leadership, and question time.They want someone to stand up for them.To stand up to the sugar mills that are riding roughshod over canegrowers and taking away farmers’ rights to have a say in how their sugar is marketed.Yesterday, I chaired the first meeting of a Sugar Industry Code of Conduct taskforce where it was agreed the best means of achieving the right outcome is extensive consultation.As taskforce chair, I will be facilitating meetings with growers, with millers, and with other stakeholders to ensure we are listening to the right people, explaining the problems, canvassing solutions, and building collaborative outcomes.Policies should be created less by government and more by people who know and understand issues and industries.In the Whitsundays, it is the local people who see the potential of super yacht visitation.Locals, including Paul Darrouzet from Abel Point marina, explained that every week one of these super yachts is in dock, $50,000 is injected into the local economy.In Noumea, I understand the average stay for a super yacht is a week or more and they have 200 visits a year – or roughly a $10 million boost to the economy.This is where the government needs to review environmental regulations and taxation issues that prevent the industry from developing.Voices in the tourism industry tell me that water quality on the Great Barrier Reef is critical to the future of the industry.I am currently working with locals such as the charter boat operators to secure research funds for improving water quality in our region, which will then improve the tourism experience and secure the industry long-term.Unfortunately, the water quality issue and the entire reef have been hi-jacked by radical greens to fight an entirely different agenda – to close down all mining in Australia.The voices of GetUp! And the extreme greens are very, very loud but also very, very wrong.They campaigned against “toxic sludge being dumped on the reef” in an attempt to shut down coal mining by blocking dredging at Abbot Point.However, the dredged material is natural sand (hardly toxic sludge) and far from being dumped on the reef, the proposal that project proponents, the Federal Government and I support is for the material to be disposed of on land.But the anti-mining, anti-capitalism, anti-jobs brigade are not local voices.The local voices, the ones that know the area, know the project, and understand exactly what is planned and what the impacts will be … are right here.And I seek leave to table this petition of 1057 signatures representing the views of the small town of Bowen, which desperately needs some of the benefits that will come with the 27,000 jobs created by Abbot Point, the Carmichael mine, and associated infrastructure.These voices are calling for immediate legislative changes that would reduce the powers of groups or individuals to further delay the Abbot Point expansion.