Labor should be fair dinkum on penalty rates

I HAVE issued a challenge to the Labor Party to prove they are fair dinkum about cuts to penalty rates, regardless of who is making the decisions.I moved an amendment to a Labor bill, stating that any move to address cuts to penalty rates due to the Fair Work Commission decision must also address cuts in penalty rates negotiated between big unions and big business.I oppose the reduction of any take home pay through changes to penalty rates, whether it comes about by the Fair Work Commission decision or union approved agreements.

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Applications open soon for Bowen Basin Jobs & Investment Package

The Bowen Basin region with get a much-needed $30 million shot in the arm from the Regional Jobs and Investment Package, and the good news is that applications will open on May 31.With the Local Investment Plan, formulated by local representatives now done, the applications from the Bowen Basin region can roll in.This has been announced jointly today by the Minister for Regional Development Fiona Nash along with Federal Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry, Federal Member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd and myself.I thank the Bowen Basin Local Planning Committee for their hard work, based on local knowledge of the Bowen Basin region.

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Help for young parents in Mackay and Townsville

Disadvantaged parents of young children in Townsville and Mackay will soon have access to the training and support they need to become work ready, thanks to the Liberal National Government’s decision to expand the successful ParentsNext program.The best form of welfare is a job and we are focused on helping more parents of young children into work and off welfare.After successful pilots, the Government is rolling out ParentsNext nationally, to connect more parents of young children with personalised support to improve their work readiness by the time their children start school.20 new locations have been selected for the next rollout of this program, and both Townsville and Mackay are included.

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Labor Senators ‘don’t give a damn’ about jobs

LABOR senators can’t spent an extra few hours in Canberra to ensure thousands of workers get on the job sooner to build the Carmichael mine, port and rail line.This is the frustrating result of a series of last minute amendments and stalling in the Senate which has pushed off a vote on the Native Title Act for another month.Although Labor said they would support the necessary amendments to the Native Title Act which has essentially frozen a number of projects, including Adani’s Carmichael mine project, over indigenous land use agreements, they have managed to stall the process and further delay job creation.It’s just another example of the so-called ‘party of the workers’ failing to do what is necessary to support workers not only in Central and North Queensland, but also workers in South Australia at Arrium who will have job security through the company’s deal to supply steel to build the Carmichael rail line.The necessary amendments to the Native Title Act were scheduled for a vote in the Senate yesterday.

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Banks warned: Anti coal capitulation will cost

If banks are going to take actions to discriminate against businesses undertaking legitimate activities, I will take action too.To start with, I'll be pushing for the LNP and the National Party to shut down their accounts with Westpac and go to a bank that does support jobs in regional Queensland because of the stance they have taken against the Adani Carmichael Coal Project.I have been informed that the Mackay Conservation Group is planning to grandstand about their ‘huge win’ outside the Westpac bank in Mackay on Monday, and then head to CommBank to put pressure on them to abandon support for Adani.People have a right to protest against government decisions, but they are really treading close to the edge when they protest against a legitimate business activity, which is a bank financing another company to conduct a completely legal activity.For the banks to acquiesce to these green thugs is unbelievable.

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300,000 apprenticeships for rural and regional Australia

A new $1.5 billion Skilling Australians Fund announced in the Budget will give rural and regional Australia a jobs boost through the creation of 300,000 apprenticeships over the next four years.I welcome this move to reverse the dramatic decline in apprentice numbers, because vocational education and apprenticeships are vital in this region, and some of the identified growth industries to be prioritised are agriculture and tourism.And I welcome the fact that this is being funded by the abolition of the 457 Visa program, which will be replaced by a revised program which will require employers hiring temporary or permanent employer-sponsored foreign workers to pay a fee.

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Surging ahead on Haughton

The vital upgrade of the Haughton River Floodplain, which includes the replacement of the Haughton River Bridge, has been brought forward by nine months and tenders for the design and construction of the project will be called this week.This work cannot come soon enough.The replacement of the Haughton River Bridge has been voted the most urgent problem to be fixed on this stretch of the Bruce Highway between Mackay and Townsville.

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Campaign on Country of Origin labelling kicks off

The Federal Government’s country of origin labelling for food campaign, which was announced yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, the Hon Barnaby Joyce MP and Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Senator the Hon Arthur Sinodinos, is a welcome move.This new food labelling system which came into effect last year supports Aussie producers and Aussie jobs, and it’s what the Australian consumer wanted.It’s important now for the government to get out there and let people know what the new labels mean.

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Who should call North Queensland home?

21 APRIL 2017: Decentralising government can bring a lot of benefits if it is managed well so I'm asking North Queenslanders to help identify the best options and then I can lobby for North Queensland to be a beneficiary of the Liberal National Government’s decentralisation push.

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Scrapping 457 visas puts Aussie workers first

19 APRIL 2017: The Liberal National Government’s scrapping of the 457 visa program is a massive win for Australian workers. In November last year, I called for a complete ban of 457 visas in North Queensland because Australian workers here could not find jobs. Now that the entire program has been scrapped nationwide, that’s even better.

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Jobs flow from new overlaking lanes

12 APRIL 2017: MORE overtaking lanes are in place along the Bruce Highway, with two new sections opening between Proserpine and Bowen three months ahead of schedule. Completion of the overtaking lanes near Dingo and Emu Creeks – funded as part of the Coalition’s record $50 billion infrastructure investment programme – highlighted the government’s drive to improve safety and efficiency on the Bruce Highway.

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Funds for bridges on offer

Councils throughout the region have the chance to get local bridges in poor condition fixed with the help of direct funding from the Federal Government with the commencement of a new round of funding under the $360 million Bridges Renewal Programme.This is a great opportunity for state, territory and local governments to apply for funding to have ageing bridges fixed, with up to half the cost met by the Australian Government. This will be the third round of funding under the programme, which is continuing to keep communities connected and local industries profitable.Our councils can get on board by nominating local bridges that need upgrading or replacement. Residents who might like to put forward their ideas should get in touch with their Council to find out about any plans they have to nominate local bridges, or put forward suggestions.

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Elitists try to write off jobs in the North

The elitists are trying to write off jobs for struggling unemployed Central Queenslanders and North Queenslanders with their letter to Gautam Adani opposing the Carmichael Mine.Styling themselves as ‘prominent Australians’, these elitist wankers include investment bankers, CEOs of major corporations such as Telstra, pretentious literati, professional activists and has-been celebrities.I’d love for just one of them to come down to the Larrikin Hotel in Bowen and explain to the locals there who have been suffering from a stalled economy for years on end, why they think the jobs from the Carmichael Mine and Abbot Point coal port expansion should not be created.

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Tourism numbers for region on the rise

We know it's beautiful one day, perfect the next in Mackay and the Whitsundays, and others are working that out too.The latest latest tourism data released today shows an increase of 11 per cent in international visitor numbers to Mackay in the last 12 months, and an increase of 19 per cent in international visitor numbers for the Whitsundays.Mackay welcomed 47,000 international visitors in 2016 and they injected $31 million into the economy.The Whitsundays welcomed 248,000 international visitors in that timeframe and they spent $204 million in the region.

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Adani wants Mackay workers in jobs mix

I've come away from a meeting with Adani representatives in Brisbane this morning heartened by assurances that up to 1000 jobs will come on line by mid-year and Mackay workers will be actively encouraged to apply.There are 1000 jobs in the mix as Adani moves into pre-construction work later this year and these jobs will be advertised directly in Mackay as well as regionally, and Mackay workers will be encouraged to apply for these jobs.I met with a key spokesperson for Adani in Brisbane this morning to lobby them for a greater commitment to assist Mackay regional residents being to apply for positions that may become available with their mine and associated works.These jobs will be in fields such as earthworks, fencing, building dams; all that is required for setting up the basic infrastructure for the mine site.There will also be construction jobs associated with the rail line from the Galilee Basin mine to the port of Abbot Point.These construction jobs will go on for two and a half years, so the employment prospects for workers are imminent and significant.

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Helping women get into work

With today marking International Women’s Day, I welcome the expansion of a successful employment partnership between the Coalition Government and UnitingCare Australia to deliver meaningful pre-employment training to women looking to engage in the workforce.Over the past year, 31 women have participated in three pilot projects in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia with each pilot project achieving close to a 100 per cent completion rate.For many of the women, being out of work had impacted on their confidence, however the transformation from these pilot programs has been remarkable.Due to the success of this partnership, the Coalition Government has committed $10 million over the next three years to the new ‘Launch into Work’ program, which will commence later this year.

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Time to bring Wilmar into line

7 FEBRUARY 2017: IT’S time for the government to step in and resolve sugar marketing dispute with a mandatory code of practice for the sugar industry. Wilmar has had more than enough time to the right thing of their own free will and it’s time the government stepped in to stop the Singaporean-owned miller from bullying farmers.

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