A division of the Liberal Party of Australia
Welcome to the November 2008 edition of Northern Opinion Online.
Rudd running scared on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)
Ignore the gamesmanship and political sabre rattling of Kevin Rudd. The last thing he wants is an early election on a scheme that will cost thousands of jobs in Queensland, particularly in Central and North Queensland, but do absolutely nothing to arrest world greenhouse gas emissions.
Big emitters will move offshore to non-ETS countries and Australian working families will be without work.
The Coalition’s proposals are right. We must delay until we get an idea of what the rest of the world will do at the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change in December.
We need a productivity commission to properly asses the impacts of the ETS rather than rely on the half baked treasury modelling that assumed everyone else in the world (Indonesia? Columbia? South Africa? - fat chance) would do the same! And which didn’t bother modelling the impacts of the ETS on regional Australia!
The voluntary carbon market proposed will allow credits to be banked immediately providing the opportunity for business investment sought by some groups.
It all makes sense!
Southern votes more important than northern lives
I don’t need to tell those living in the north of the terrible state of the Bruce Highway. I travel on it regularly from my home in Ayr to my office in Townsville and have been dodging the same potholes for the last 6 months!
These conditions are the regular cause of both fatal and non-fatal car accidents all along Queensland’s east coast.
The Federal Government needs to make the Bruce Highway survivable for Queenslanders. Unfortunately the Rudd Government would rather shave 28 minutes off the journey between Newcastle and the Hunter Region.
How can the Government get it so wrong? The Hunter Expressway was not even on Roads Australia’s list of priority projects yet it gets $1.45 billion from the Federal Government. While only a third of that is allocated to priority projects on Bruce Highway.
It seems that Hunter region votes are more important to Mr Rudd and his Government, than the lives of Queenslanders.
Is your super really yours?
As taxpayers we have all been bombarded with rhetoric about the wonders and benefits of the $42 billion dollar Nation Building plan – we even footed the advertising bill.
But we will have to pay for much more than just the advertising…
See the government can’t actually afford to pay for all the projects it has committed to so is seeking private investors. The trouble is private investors have more sense that to put their money into poorly costed and financially unviable projects – so where is the money going to come from?
Well the Governments advisory group Infrastructure Australia has the answer – The plan is to use the $1 trillion of super Australians have put away for their retirement to plug the $58 billion hole in the disastrous Nation Building program.
All you can do is hope that your super isn’t taken to make up that $58 billion shortfall.
Mackay and Gladstone
These two power houses of the Australian economy will have most to lose if the Rudd/Wong Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is implemented.
I was pleased to have the Senate Enquiry dealing with ETS matters hold hearings in both cities give workers, industry and community leaders the opportunity to express their view – mostly very negative I might add.
Malcolm Turnbull also recognised the importance of this region by personally conducting Jobs Forums in both cities in a well received visit that impressed locals with his commonsense, understanding and energy.
Flynn and Dawson are two must win seats at the next election and are electorates heavily impacted by the crazy Rudd/Wong ETS proposals. You can expect to see much more of Malcolm Turnbull in central Queensland over the next 18 months.
Feds to the rescue on another Bligh failure
Many people forget that Anna Bligh had a couple of spectacular failures before the Labor party and Union movements misled voters into electing her premier.
Perhaps the most notable of these failures is the never-ending crisis that is our public hospital system. Many in the north are aware that the Townsville hospital one of the worst effected by the years of Labor mismanagement.
In fact it has become so bad that the Queensland government couldn’t possibly fix it by it self and needs to be bailed out by the Federal Government.
Given Labor’s track record on the Townsville hospital I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for work to start, especially since we’ve already been waiting since August 2006.
Working for Northern Australia
The 8 week break between Parliament sittings from 20 March to 12 May gave the opportunity for me as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the North to get out and talk to people in Northern Australia.
I was able to take two trips to Darwin to speak to Country Liberals Leader Terry Mills, to meet the Local Government Association and visit the Tiwi Islands as well as inspecting the large peanut operations in Katherine.
As well a five day road trip enabled me to see first hand the impact of the severe flooding in the Georgetown, Normanton and Karumba areas of North-West Queensland.
Two trips to the Hughenden Richmond area of Western Queensland have cemented relationships I have built up with the community and local Government leaders in these areas.
My regular trips to Cairns keep me in touch with community, business and tourism leaders in that fair city.
Rudd snubs rural and agricultural sector
In recent times most industries have had to scale down their activities due to a lack of demand.
However in Australia one industry has proven more resilient than others. The rural and agricultural industries have proven to hold up a little better under these uncertain times because while people aren’t buying new cars they still need to eat.
This strong result from a trade competitive, national industry might appeal to some governments as a sound investment for the future and an industry that can help return growth the nation’s economy.
But Mr Rudd and Labor have done the opposite - they have slammed the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry with an efficiency dividend stopping $12 million worth of projects. They will also slash a further $12 million from the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (so much for investing in Australia’s future).
This just goes to show that unless it’s for a Labor Party shrine that somewhat resembles a dead ghost gum – Australian pastoralists shouldn’t expect much from the Rudd Government.
Pew says “Jump!” Garrett says “how high?”
I am worried about the declaration of the Coral Sea Conservation Zone because with all the potential loss to Queensland’s tourist trade – there is no clear winner.
Evidence given at Tuesday’s Senate Estimates Committees shows that there is very little impact on the Coral Sea from any current human activity.
The area of the Coral Sea that is subject to the Conservation Zone was already being analysed to see which areas need to be conservation parks and identifying how other areas can be enjoyed without damaging bio-diversity.
All of a sudden the Pew Foundation, an American foundation that got its original funding from oil and gas exploration, releases a report wanting to shut down the Coral Sea - and Minister Garrett says it’s a great idea.
Why did he rush declaration of the conservation zone instead of waiting for our own analysis to be completed? What were his motivations?
The implications of this decision could be immense, affecting tourist charter operations and sustainable commercial fishing. It would appear at this stage, he put valuable Australian industries in jeopardy just to impress an old American Oil company?
LET ME KNOW
If there are issues you believe the Federal Opposition should be investigating, please do not hesitate to drop me a note.
As a Senator, the whole of the State is my constituency, and I am happy to help in any way possible.
I also welcome your feedback, positive or negative, on any of the issues raised in this online newsletter.
Ian Macdonald
Liberal Senator for Queensland
Opposition Spokesman on Northern Australia.