Mackay's One Billion Dollar Man

28 JULY 2016: With the support of the Liberal National Government, I am driving a one billion dollar investment to create more than a thousand jobs for Mackay over the next three to four years.

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Where’s the commitment from Labor?

A lack of commitment from Labor could lead to a net gain of zero for the region if the unthinkable happens and a Shorten Labor Government is elected.This region will miss out unless Labor stumps up and puts some commitments on the table for the people of this region.Labor needs to commit to at least the same funding that the Liberal National Government has committed to.The Coalition has a number of election commitments on the table already.

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Labor: the party who’ll kill coal jobs

THE Labor Party would kill the Adani Carmichael Coal Project if elected, and that job-destroying fait accompli was made clear on national television last night by a key Labor spokeswoman.The Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition Terri Butler sealed Adani’s fate under Labor on the ABC’s Q&A program last night.Ms Butler showed her true colours on Adani’s coal project last night when she said, and I quote, ‘I don’t support the Adani mine either I’ve got to say’ and then for good measure she repeated her opposition stating ‘I don’t support it’.

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Labor-Greens alliance would end Adani project

A Labor-Greens government would spell the end for the Adani Carmichael Mine Project and the thousands of jobs it would provide.This has been made crystal clear by Greens and Labor candidates this week.If the Greens get to power-share in a Labor minority government, we can kiss the Carmichael Mine Project goodbye because the Greens will push to overturn the mine approval and sound the death knell on the thousands of jobs it would create.Greens Senator Larissa Waters has said the Adani mine should never have been approved.So this is how it would play out if we ended up in the mess of having a Labor-Greens minority government.

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Why won’t Bill Shorten support job-creating projects for CQ workers?

LABOR leader Bill Shorten has confirmed that his government will do nothing to support the workers of Central and North Queensland who are desperate to see Adani’s Carmichael Mine Project go ahead.Why is Mr Shorten so opposed to the project when it’s vital for the economy of the region?Mr Shorten said in Mackay today, and I quote ‘The Commonwealth Government I lead wouldn’t be putting taxpayers’ money into the Adani mine.’

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Hollow boast from Labor candidate

Labor’s claim on approving the Carmichael Mine (Bowen Independent, 6/4/16, P8) is a hollow boast, considering Labor are still holding up the approval of the Abbot Point port expansion.The Labor Party ran a half page ad for their candidate in the upcoming federal election but what they failed to mention was they’re still yet to approve the Abbot Point port expansion.In fact Labor’s State Environment Minister Steven Miles is on the record stating he will not issue the Abbot Port approval until Adani has the finance for the project.

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Campaign points to need for ring road jobs Now

DUE to the positive response to my pointed campaign for action on the Mackay Ring Road, I'm extending the cut-off date to return signed petitions.This petition urges the State Labor Government to throw more resources into the design phase of the Mackay Ring Road, so that work on the massive job-creating project can get under way.We desperately need jobs in the Mackay region right now, and the construction of the Mackay Ring Road will create 600 jobs.

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Labor shows lack of support for Adani jobs

I have called on Dawson Labor candidate Frank Gilbert to decide whether he supports the development of Adani’s Carmichael Coal Project which will create thousands of much-needed jobs in the region.Mr Gilbert is telling people desperate for jobs that he supports Adani, but at the same time he’s attacking the project on social media.Last night Mr Gilbert attended a Bowen Chamber of Commerce meeting where I was guest speaker, and he told that audience that he supported the Adani project.But earlier this month on Facebook, Mr Gilbert posted a link to an article which attacked the Carmichael Coal Project and he himself commented that it was “ignorant and irresponsible” to back the fossil fuel industry.

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Other worker options in horticulture

I will support the Bowen Gumlu Growers in their push for a 15% flat rate of tax for backpackers. But growers should also consider other options when looking for workers.Growers need to realise though, that this is going to be very difficult to achieve.And though it's labelled a backpacker tax, this is not a tax.It’s the removal of the tax-free threshold which was increased from $6000 to $18,000 only a few years ago.The difficulty is this measure represents a $540 million saving to the Budget bottom line, and it’s going to be extremely difficult to find another avenue to recoup that saving.

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MP urges Labor to support job-creating bill

THE call to put an end to extreme green legal warfare against job-creating projects in Central and North Queensland was on the agenda in Canberra this morning with the presentation of a Private Member’s Bill on the issue.I called on the Australian Labor Party to support the Liberal National Government’s amendments to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act in order to put an end to frivolous legal challenges which held up major projects.An endless round of legal challenges from the extreme green eco-terrorists against projects such as Adani’s Carmichael Mine are destroying this country’s reputation and we risk sending investors elsewhere to secure the fossil fuels they will need for decades to come.

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MP calls for croc cull

There is an obvious need for a carefully managed cull of crocodiles in populated areas in our region following the removal of a 4.7 metre saltwater crocodile from The Strand at Townsville last night.We need to ensure the areas where children swim and play, like the very popular Strand, are safe as we don’t want to see a tragedy unfold because we are too lax on this issue.This needs to be done in a strictly managed fashion and I am calling on the State Government to implement a legal crocodile cull as soon as possible.

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Adani needs patience of saint to wait for state

NOT only is the Queensland Labor Government dilly-dallying on the approval of a mining lease for the Carmichael Mine, but there is a swag of other approvals pending which are holding up progress on the massive job-creating project.A major developer needs the patience of a saint when dealing with the Palaszczuk Government and quite frankly it’s ridiculous.It’s not like this combined mine, rail and port project hit the in-trays yesterday; it’s been going on for years.

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MPs: Grant Adani mining lease so work can begin

I joined several of my Queensland colleagues at Parliament House today in a joint call for the Queensland Labor Government to issue a mining lease for the Carmichael Mine, now that an environmental authority has been issued.Doing so would allow Adani to get started on the massive job-creating project which has been 10 years in the making.The development of the Carmichael Mine is an absolute no brainer.

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Time for Premier to walk the walk

THE Queensland Premier’s talk of fast-tracking infrastructure projects in North Queensland is an absolute joke when two of the biggest job-creating projects, namely the Mackay Ring Road and the Haughton River Bridge replacement, are lost in a bureaucratic bog.We need more than rubbish talk from Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on fast-tracking these big projects, because the blame for holding up hundreds of jobs lies squarely with the State Labor Government.The Federal Government had already committed to fast-tracking funding for these infrastructure projects at my insistence; that promise was secured back in September 2014 from then Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

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Taking the tax pledge

HAVE signed a Tax Pledge demonstrating my commitment to vote against any tax increases, and I'm challenging Labor Leader Bill Shorten and his local Labor candidate to do the same while they’re both in Mackay tomorrow.I've taken this stance ahead of an orchestrated “GST Forum” being hosted by the Labor Party on Wednesday night.I didn’t go into politics to increase taxes, I went in to lower taxes, and in fact in my maiden speech I said exactly that.

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