Hansard 17 October 1995 - parliament.qld.gov.au€¦ · Medical Act 1939— Medical Board of Queensland Amendment By-law (No. 1) 1995, No. 272 Nature Conservation Act 1992— Nature

Legislative Assembly 363 17 October 1995

TUESDAY, 17 OCTOBER 1995

Mr SPEAKER (Hon. J. Fouras, Ashgrove)read prayers and took the chair at 10 a.m.

ASSENT TO BILLS

Assent to the following Bills reported byMr Speaker—

Parliamentary Committees Bill;

Local Government Amendment Bill.

PAPERS TABLED DURING RECESS

Mr SPEAKER: Honourable members, Ihave to advise the House that the followingpapers were tabled during the recess inaccordance with the details provided on theDaily Program circulated to members in theChamber—

18 September 1995—

Central Queensland University—Annual Reportfor 1994

2 October 1995—

Queensland Investment Corporation—AnnualReport and Statement of Corporate Intent for1994-95

6 October 1995—

Annual Reports for 1994-95—

Supreme Court Library Committee

Australian Financial InstitutionsCommission

13 October 1995—

Litigation Reform Commission—Annual Reportfor 1994-95.

PAPER

The following paper was laid on thetable—

Optional electorate office equipment purchasedfor Members of the Legislative Assembly—Annual Report for 1994-95.

USE OF LAPTOP COMPUTERS INCHAMBER

Mr SPEAKER: Honourable members,recently I have received representations fromseveral members seeking approval to usenotebook computers in the Chamber. Withincreasing computer literacy among members

and the many demands that are now placedon members' time, I am of the view that it istime to allow this form of informationtechnology into the Chamber. I propose to trialthe use of notebook laptop computers in theChamber provided the following guidelines areadhered to—

(1) the computers must be configured sothere is no sound when they arefunctioning; and

(2) they must not disturb the orderlyconduct of the proceedings.

I would expect that, as a matter ofcourtesy, any members wishing to use suchequipment would seek the agreement ofthose who sit alongside them to ensure thatno distraction is caused. If there are anycomplaints about the use of this equipment inthe Chamber, I will review the situation.

REVISED NOTICE PAPER

Mr SPEAKER: Order! Honourablemembers, since the commencement of thenew procedures relating to questions on noticeearlier this year, I have received numerousrequests for a document which contains thetext of all questions.

Administratively, the current arrangementsare unsatisfactory and some departments areencountering difficulties in keeping abreast ofwhat questions have been placed on notice.There is also no dedicated publicationavailable to the public which contains suchinformation.

Now that we have had some experiencewith the new arrangements, I have decidedthat it is necessary to produce a newdocument which will incorporate orders of theday, general business, notices of motion andquestions on notice asked for each sitting day.The revised Notice Paper will be produced foreach sitting day and provide a more efficientsystem for keeping track of questions onnotice.

PETITIONS

The Clerk announced the receipt of thefollowing petitions—

Port Hinchinbrook

From Mr Barton (15 signatories) prayingthat the Parliament of Queensland will ensurethat Port Hinchinbrook is developed asadvised in the Valentine report i.e. 100 bedsor less.

17 October 1995 364 Legislative Assembly

Police Numbers, Gold Coast; PalmBeach Police Station

From Mrs Gamin (93 signatories)praying that action be taken to boost policenumbers in southern areas of the Gold Coastand that a police station be built at PalmBeach.

Effluent Disposal, MooloolahElectorate

From Mr Laming (1,179 signatories)requesting that no effluent be released intothe Mooloolah River or Pumicestone Passageand that the responsible Minister ensures thatthe Caloundra City Council adopts analternative proposal.

Facilities for Disabled Citizens

From Mr Lingard (11,645 signatories)requesting that the planned closure ofresidential institutions, special schools, respitecare centres and other much-needed facilitiesfor disabled citizens be stopped.

Dialysis Unit, Sandgate

From Mr Nuttall (648 signatories)requesting that the House consider (a) thefeasibility of the Dialysis Unit at Sandgateremaining open; or (b) securing an alternativesite at Sandgate within easy reach of theexcellent bus and train services located atSandgate Station.

Petitions received.

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

In accordance with the schedulecirculated by the Clerk to members in theChamber, the following documents weretabled—

Agricultural Chemicals Distribution Control Act1966—

Agricultural Chemicals Distribution ControlAmendment Regulation (No. 1) 1995,No. 268

Chemical Usage (Agricultural and Veterinary)Control Act 1988—

Chemical Usage (Agricultural andVeterinary) Control AmendmentRegulation (No. 1) 1995, No. 269

Corporations (Queensland) Amendment Act1995—

Proclamation—the provisions of the Actthat are not in force commence 16October 1995, No. 284

Dairy Industry Act 1993—Dairy Industry Amendment Regulation(No. 1) 1995, No. 259

Dairy Industry (Scheme for RestructuringDistribution) Amendment Order (No. 1)1995, No. 275

Fisheries Act 1994—Fisheries Amendment Regulation (No. 3)1995, No. 270

Forestry Act 1959—

Forestry Amendment Regulation (No. 5)1995, No. 276

Gaming Machine Act 1991—

Gaming Machine Amendment Regulation(No. 2) 1995, No. 267

Gas Act 1965—Gas Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 1995,No. 278

Gas Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 1995,No. 279

Health Act 1937—Therapeutic Goods and Other DrugsAmendment Regulation (No. 1) 1995,No. 266

Justices of the Peace and Commissioners forDeclarations Act 1991—

Justices of the Peace and Commissionersfor Declarations Amendment Regulation(No. 1) 1995, No. 263

Medical Act 1939—

Medical Board of Queensland AmendmentBy-law (No. 1) 1995, No. 272

Nature Conservation Act 1992—

Nature Conservation (Protected Areas)Amendment Regulation (No. 9) 1995,No. 265Nature Conservation (Protected Areas)Amendment Regulation (No. 10) 1995,No. 273

Nature Conservation (Protected Areas)Amendment Regulation (No. 11) 1995,No. 281

Nature Conservation (Protected Areas)Amendment Regulation (No. 12) 1995,No. 285

National Environment Protection Council(Queensland) Act 1994—

Proclamation—the provisions of the Actthat are not in force commence15 September 1995, No. 264

Parliamentary Members' Salaries Act 1988—Parliamentary Members (Annual Rate ofSalary) Order (No. 3) 1995

Petroleum Act 1923—

Petroleum Amendment Regulation (No. 3)1995, No. 280


Primary Producers' Co-operative AssociationsAct 1923—

Primary Producers' CooperativeAssociations (Exemption of CooperativeAssociations) Amendment Regulation(No. 1) 1995, No. 260

Racing and Betting Act 1980—Racing and Betting AmendmentRegulation (No. 1) 1995, No. 261

Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act1994—

Transport Operations (Marine Safety)(Motor Boat and Motor Vessel)Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 1995,No. 271Transport Operations (Marine Safety)(Transitional) Amendment Regulation(No. 2) 1995, No. 283

Transport Operations (Road Use Management)Act 1995—

Transport Operations (Road UseManagement) Regulation 1995, No. 157

(This instrument replaces previousinstrument No. 157 tabled on 6 June 1995)

University of Queensland Act 1965—University of Queensland (Statute No. 1)Amendment Statute (No. 1) 1995, No. 262

Water Resources Act 1989—Water Resources (Quarry Material)Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 1995,No. 282Water Resources (Rates and Charges)Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 1995,No. 277.

RESPONSE TO PETITION

Teacher SuperannuationThe Clerk laid upon the table of the

House a response by the Treasurer to apetition received by the House on 12September 1995. The petition was presentedby Dr Watson on behalf of 55 petitionerspraying that the Parliament of Queensland willurgently reconsider a buy-back proposal forteachers with broken patterns of service whohave been financially disadvantaged in termsof superannuation retirement expectations.

TREASURER OF QUEENSLAND

2 Oct 1995Mr R D DoyleThe Clerk of the ParliamentParliament HouseAlice & George StreetsBRISBANE Q 4000Dear Mr Doyle

I refer to your letter of 19 September 1995enclosing a Petition received by youconcerning a buy-back proposal for teachers

who have been financially disadvantaged interms of superannuation retirementexpectations.

I offer the following by way of response:The State Service Superannuation Scheme wasthe superannuation scheme applicable duringthe period referred to in the petition. TheScheme was structured under legislationpassed by the parliament to provide a range ofbenefits, with the Government funding set tofund these benefits in total. The Scheme wasdesigned to meet employment conditions thatwere considered acceptable at that time by theGovernment of the day. Whilst some formermembers may not have received an employerfinanced benefit, other members received abenefit that was affordable within theGovernment's total funding constraints. Noamount is held by the Government today thatrelates to former members who resigned.

The matter of a buy-back of years of servicehas been raised previously by the QueenslandTeachers' Union with the Government, and ashas been advised, a substantial additionalliability would be imposed on the schemeshould periods of previous service be includedin current superannuation entitlements. Thereare many persons in the State ServiceSuperannuation Scheme with previous periodsof membership, and providing additionalbenefits to a select group of employees, asproposed, could be discriminating against otheremployees with previous Government servicewho had ceased for equally justifiable reasons. The Queensland Government is committed tofully funding its superannuation schemes, andthrough responsible management, has beenable to provide all employees with access togenerous superannuation. This Governmentthrough the Q Super scheme had made everyeffort to improve superannuation throughintroducing full employer vesting for currentemployment, and markedly improving access tocontributory superannuation. The total costs tothe Government for employee superannuationhave increased significantly over recent yearsas a result of improvements to thesuperannuation coverage for employeesgenerally.

As some people may be aware, other Stateshave not funded their superannuation liabilitieson an actuarial basis and as a result, have had toclose their contributory schemes. These Statesare now only contributing at minimumsuperannuation levels (6%) in comparison to theQueensland Government's standardcontribution to Q Super of 14.55%. TheQueensland Government does not believe thatit should introduce large unfunded liabilities intoits superannuation scheme that couldpotentially threaten the viability of the schemeas a whole. Whilst I am sympathetic with the positionoutlined, the conditions of the scheme at thattime were known to employees and mirrored


many major schemes in both the private andpublic sectors of employment. I could notcondone further increasing the alreadysignificant superannuation costs of theQueensland Government by retrospectivelyenhancing conditions of employment for pastand completed employment periods.

In view of the above I am unable to support theproposal.

Yours sincerely

(Sgd)

Keith De Lacy MLATreasurer

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Lang Park Trust

Hon. T. J. BURNS (Lytton—DeputyPremier and Minister for Tourism, Sport andYouth) (10.07 a.m.), by leave: I refer to aninaccurate report in the newspaper BusinessQueensland which appeared yesterday underthe heading "Trust seeks bail-out". The StateGovernment has a proud record of sportsfunding, which is second to none in thiscountry. This year, the Goss Government isproviding more funding for sport andrecreation than any other State and more thanall the other States added together if WesternAustralia is removed. This proud record offunding includes the contribution of $5m forthe Suncorp Stadium redevelopment,$14.25m for the redevelopment of the Gabba,and $4.8m for the State hockey centre atColmslie.

Today, I can announce details of fundingfor the Lang Park Trust which will assist thetrust plan for future improvements and futureredevelopment of the Suncorp Stadium. TheState Government has negotiated to purchaseland from the trust adjacent to SuncorpStadium to be used to construct SportsHouse, an administrative facility for 35 minorsports which cannot afford adequate facilities.In addition, the State Government will providethe trust with $2m from funds set aside forsuch purposes in the Sport and RecreationBenefit Fund. I ask the House to note "$2m",not $30m as referred to on the 7.30 Reportlast night. This funding and money for thepurchase of the Sports House site will be usedby the trust for debt capital repayment andservicing and grandstand repairs andmaintenance. The debt reduction facilityincluded in this package will allow the trust toplan for future development of the SuncorpStadium facility. It will assist the trust in itsefforts to raise funds for future improvementsto grandstand facilities.

In addition, my department is promotingSuncorp Stadium with the organisers of theSydney Olympics as a venue for theelimination soccer games and as a pregamestraining facility for international teams. We arealso promoting a number of other facilities in asimilar manner. The financial package I haveannounced today should facilitate furtherimprovements which will make SuncorpStadium more attractive to Olympic organisers.

As I indicated previously, the StateGovernment has never been backward insupporting sport in this State. For the benefitof the House, I can outline examples of othermajor sporting projects which, this year, havebenefited from the State Government'scommitment to sport: the Queensland Statehockey centre, $4.8m; the State athleticsfacility, QE II stadium, $1.5m; the Fit for LifeCentre, Townsville, $440,000; theRockhampton Hockey Association Limitedsynthetic hockey field, $350,000; the RomaTown Council multipurpose indoor sportsfacility, $500,000; the Maryborough CityCouncil outdoor pool, $363,000; and theCentral Queensland University indoor sportscentre, $1m.

Whilst Porky Morgan was a reluctantperformer on ABC TV last night—and he wasput in a difficult position—he did make acouple of points that I thought were a bitprecious. For example, he referred to nomoney being spent on hockey. We arespending $4.8m at Colmslie on the new Statehockey centre.

Mr W. K. Goss: Isn't that where thehockey used to be?

Mr BURNS: Mr Premier, I was just goingto make that point. Hockey used to be locatedat the QE II stadium. It was played in themiddle of the area where the athletics trackwas located. With the athletics track having tobe placed in this position and the Governmentforced into the position of having to spend$1.5m because of the move to that stadiumby the Broncos, we have had to spend theextra $4.8m on the hockey field. So I thoughtthat he was a bit precious last night inattacking the Government for not spendingmoney on hockey. In fact, if one adds up thefigures, about $6.3m has been spent onrearranging facilities at the CommonwealthGames facility, which was built with FederalGovernment, State Government and councilmoney some years ago.

Contrary to some reports, the QueenslandGovernment has not spent $30m on theSuncorp Stadium. The Government hasprovided the trust with a $5m grant and two


loans totalling $14m, and both the loans haveto be repaid by the trust. Further funding wasprovided by the trust, a catering firm andSuncorp itself.


Workers' CompensationHon. W. M. EDMOND (Mount Coot-

tha—Minister for Employment and Trainingand Minister Assisting the Premier on PublicService Matters) (10.10 a.m.), by leave: I riseto inform the House of the status ofnegotiations over proposed reforms toQueensland's workers' compensation system.Just under six weeks ago, I outlined tohonourable members the anticipated financialstatus of the Workers Compensation Fund asat 30 June and a range of proposals toaddress the estimated unfunded liability andits major causes. I said I was working todevelop a reform package which delivered fairand just compensation to injured workers andtheir families and provided a sustainablesolution to the fund's problems. Since thattime research has continued into the fund'sproblems, its causes and potential solutions. Ihave also been involved in intensivenegotiations with the major stakeholders andother interested parties. After six weeks ofhard work on all sides, a framework has nowbeen negotiated. The details of the frameworkhave yet to be determined after furthercostings and consultations with thestakeholders.

For the information of the House, I willoutline the major elements of the frameworkas it now stands: increased statutory benefits;a choice for workers with less serious injuriesbetween improved statutory benefits andcommon law action; increased premiums, witha further surcharge for five years; measures toimprove workplace health and safety; andimproved administration, including a review ofthe management of workers' compensationclaims. In detail, the proposed increase instatutory benefits involves improved lump sumbenefits based on a new table of injuries, witha 35 per cent increase to $100,000 inmaximum statutory compensation. Themaximum death benefit to dependentspouses and children would also increase to$180,000, and an extra lump sum of$100,000 would be available for serious spinalcord and brain injuries.

The proposed changes to common lawinvolve an irrevocable choice by the injuredworker between pursuing a common lawaction and taking an improved statutory lumpsum entitlement where the statutory lump sum

is less than 20 per cent of the new maximumstatutory compensation of $100,000. Theworker and the Workers Compensation Boardwould be responsible for their own legal costsin cases at the lower end of the scale. Allcurrent common law entitlements would bemaintained. Any changes would apply only tonew injuries occurring on or after the day thelegislation takes effect.

Premiums are proposed to increase, witha surcharge to be applied for five years. Theactual increase is yet to be determined, but Ican provide a commitment to employers thatthe average premium rate will remain withinthe competitive range. The negotiatedframework will include significant measures toimprove workplace health and safety. Areduction in the social and economic cost ofworkplace disease and injury is fundamental tothis reform agenda. As a former healthprofessional, I remain convinced thatprevention is better than cure.

Improved administration of workers'compensation and workplace health andsafety was an element of the originalproposals and a step supported bystakeholders. Other administrative measuresagreed to at this point include: anindependent review of the board'smanagement of common law claims and itsrehabilitation practices and services; andimproved premium collection and workplacehealth and safety, particularly in the buildingand construction industry.

My goal remains as it was six weeks ago,that is, to provide injured workers and theirfamilies with fair compensation and to ensurethe long-term viability of the WorkersCompensation Fund, so that injured workerswill continue to have access to compensationin the future. I anticipate returning to thisHouse at its session starting 31 October with afinalised package of reforms to achieve thatgoal. For the information of honourablemembers, I seek leave to table the materialdistributed to the media yesterday.

Leave granted.


Public Trust Office

Hon. M. R. WOODGATE(Kurwongbah—Minister for Family andCommunity Services and Minister Assisting thePremier on the Status of Women)(10.15 a.m.), by leave: Members would beaware that the Public Trust Office wastransferred to the new Family and CommunityServices portfolio at the same time as I


became the responsible Minister. As with allareas of my department, I have beenfamiliarising myself with the operations of thePublic Trust Office. During that time I havebecome aware of a number of mattersregarding the operations of the Public TrustOffice which I believe need improvement.These matters relate to some of the systemsand procedures in place in the Public TrustOffice, management issues and the provisionof services to clients. These matters havebeen referred to the Auditor-General. I aminformed that the Auditor-General has decidedto conduct an audit of the Public Trust Office,commencing immediately. The Auditor-General's Office will conduct its inquiries asquickly as possible and examine a number ofsystems and management matters to ensurethere is full compliance with State andCommonwealth laws.

The Public Trustee, Mr Kevin Martin, willbe granted leave on full pay during the courseof the audit. Mr Martin is supportive of thisaudit process, but believes that it would be inthe best interests of the Public Trust Office totake leave during this period to maintain theabsolute integrity of this statutory position. Anacting Public Trustee will be appointed today.Mr Martin is a person of great experience andintegrity. I would not like to lose hisexperience. During this period of formal leave,arrangements will be put in place for Mr Martinto work with the Law Reform Commission onprojects relating to uniform succession law forAustralia and substituted decision making. Asthe Minister responsible for the Public TrustOffice, it is my primary concern that it providesthe best possible services to its clients.

The Public Trust Office is a uniqueorganisation within Government which has theresponsibility for its clients' welfare and, inparticular, their financial welfare. It is vitallyimportant that the integrity of the Public TrustOffice be paramount in its relationship withclients and that clients have full confidence inthe Public Trust Office's management of theiraffairs. The Goss Government is placingincreasing emphasis on client servicestandards, and I will apply these standards toall areas of my portfolio. I would like to assurestaff of the Public Trust Office that there willalways be a role for the Public Trustee inQueensland. Shortly my Director-General willbe writing to Public Trust Office staff to explainthe audit process and assure them that therewill be a continuing role for the Public TrustOffice. The responsibilities of the Public TrustOffice and its services to clients will continueas usual while the audit is proceeding.

I would also like to assure clients of thePublic Trust Office that their affairs willcontinue to be managed professionally duringthe audit process and they can expect a highlevel of service from Public Trust Office staff. Iencourage any clients who have concerns inthis regard to contact my office. As I saidbefore, my primary objective is to ensure thatthe interests of clients of the Public TrustOffice are paramount. They are entitled toservice of the highest standard, and I will bedoing everything possible to ensure that this isthe case.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE OFPUBLIC ACCOUNTS

ReportMr HOLLIS (Redcliffe) (10.20 a.m.):

Pursuant to section 33(1) of the ParliamentaryCommittees Act of 1995, I table the annualreport of the Parliamentary Committee ofPublic Accounts for 1994-95, and I move thatthe report be printed.

Ordered to be printed.Mr HOLLIS: This report provides the

Parliament with details of the activities of thecommittee of the Forty-seventh Parliamentduring the past financial year. Members willsee that the committee has had a productiveyear that has seen a number of issuesinvestigated and an increase in recognitionfrom the public sector generally of the profileand responsibilities of the committee. Thecommittee has been pleased to see many ofthe recommendations made in committeereports being adopted by Government, and itwill continue its work of providing effectiveparliamentary scrutiny of the financialmanagement of the public sector during the1995-96 financial year.

In conclusion, I take this opportunity tothank the members of the committee of theForty-seventh Parliament—Mr Tony Elliott, MrBill D'Arcy, Mr Gary Fenlon, Mr Allan Grice, MrJim Pearce and Mr Santo Santoro—for theirsupport and hard work. On behalf of thecommittee, I acknowledge the work of theresearch director, Ms Louise Hepworth, andthe executive secretary, Ms Sandy Rowse. Icommend the report to the House.

SCRUTINY OF LEGISLATIONCOMMITTEE

Report

Mr J. H. SULLIVAN (Caboolture)(10.22 a.m.): I lay upon the table of the Housethe Scrutiny of Legislation Committee's Alert


Digest No. 1 of 1995, and move that it beprinted.

Ordered to be printed.

Mr J. H. SULLIVAN: TheParliamentary Committees Act 1995established the Scrutiny of LegislationCommittee with responsibility to consider,among other things, the application offundamental legislative principles to particularBills by examining all Bills. Queensland is thefourth Australian jurisdiction, after theCommonwealth, the Australian CapitalTerritory and Victoria, to provide its citizenswith this important mechanism to safeguardindividual rights and liberties.

The committee is clearly obliged to alertMinisters and the House to any provision inproposed legislation it believes to be in breachof the fundamental legislative principles setout in the Legislative Standards Act 1992. Forthe sake of uniformity with committees in otherjurisdictions performing a scrutiny of Billsfunction, the committee will produce and tablean Alert Digest. Digests will be tabled on theTuesday morning of each sitting week,ensuring that any comments the committeemay have in respect of any Bill available fordebate during that week are available toMinisters and the House prior to theresumption of the second-reading debate.

The production of the first issue of theAlert Digest has been a memorableexperience, and I thank the members of thecommittee—Mr Ted Malone, Mr StephenBredhauer, Mrs Elizabeth Cunningham, MrNeil Roberts, the Honourable Dean Wells andMr Luke Woolmer—for their application to thework of the committee. Finally, I pay specialtribute to the committee's staff—Ms LouisaPink, Ms Karen Sampford, Ms Megan Collinsand Mrs Lisa Shuttleworth—for their selflessdedication to ensuring that the Digest met allof the committee's requirements.

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Workers' Compensation

Mr BORBIDGE (10.24 a.m.): I ask thePremier: what will be the increase in workers'compensation premiums as a result of thereform package announced last night?

Mr W. K. GOSS: The Minister and theGovernment hope to be in a position to adviseof the final level of premiums within a week orso. We believe that, subject to the costingsthat are being run at the moment and whichhave been run over the course of the pastcouple of weeks, we should be able to achieve

a premium increase which will enablepremiums to still be very competitive withthose in every other Australian State. Thepremium should still be below the nationalaverage. It will probably be the second-lowestrate in the country. The increase, although itwill not be insubstantial, when it is looked at inthat context is one that will still provideemployers in this State with the mostcompetitive environment of any State when itcomes to the cost of employing staff, both inrespect of workers' compensation premiumsand other costs, such as payroll tax, for whichthe climate in Queensland is preferable.

The other point that I make in answer tothe question from the Leader of theOpposition in relation to the premium is thatwe are seriously considering a proposal put tous by employers, namely, that there be anincrease in the underlying rate and that, inaddition to that, to deal with the recentlyidentified problems there be a surcharge,which would be reviewed or sunsetted after aperiod. The period preferred by employers isfive years. The Government is seriouslyconsidering that proposal.

Subject to consideration of the latestround of consultations and proposals by theboard, which I think met yesterday and I amsure will meet again, we will receive somerecommendations from the board which will beput to stakeholders. However, as I say, theMinister is hopeful of being able to clarifythose matters in the next week or so. Theframework will be introduced to Parliament andpassed before the end of this year.


Mr BORBIDGE: In directing a furtherquestion to the Premier, I refer to his claimsthat he received actuarial advice in respect ofhis Government's plans to reform workers'compensation following his Government'sdisastrous mismanagement of the scheme,and I ask: how did his Cabinet arrive at majorchanges to the scheme without considerationof the costs to Queensland employers, whichhe stated last night and again this morningwere not yet available?

Mr W. K. GOSS: The Leader of theOpposition does not seem to know how thescheme works and does not seem toappreciate that the framework and-——

Mr Borbidge: Twenty per cent, 30 percent, 40 per cent—what's the increase?

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Leader ofthe Opposition has asked his question and thePremier is answering it.


Mr W. K. GOSS: The Leader of theOpposition will know with precision very soon.

Mr Connor: Just about?

Mr W. K. GOSS: I have toldhonourable members already that we will go tosomewhere in a range that will put us belowthe national average but not at the lowest,probably at the second lowest.

Mr Santoro interjected.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I warn themember for Clayfield under Standing Order123A.

Mr W. K. GOSS: If honourablemembers opposite know anything about therates in the other States—and membersopposite have about 180 toes between them;but if that does not work—they could use acalculator to work it out. That calculation wouldgive members opposite the range. However, itdepends on the final costings which are beingdone on a number of elements of thepackage—from the level at which the costsindemnity rule is abolished and so on.

In relation to the point made by theLeader of the Opposition in his question—andwhich he repeats from time to time—I takeissue with his reference to mismanagement ofthe scheme. The Leader of the Oppositionhas never once been able to particularise orgive any detail of mismanagement. The factsof life are that, irrespective of who is inGovernment, there has to be a response tothe increase in common law claims and thecosts of processing them. I make thispoint——

Mr Johnson: You stole the money.

Mr W. K. GOSS: The level ofsophistication of members opposite isconsistent; I give honourable membersopposite credit for that.

In relation to this scheme, let me maketwo points in wrapping up. Firstly, this is aninsurance scheme for employers. That simplymeans that, as with any insurance scheme inthe world, when claims and payouts go up, thepremiums go up. That is how every insurancescheme in the world works, and that is howthis one works as well. Lastly, the scarletpimpernel of policy opposite—we look here,we look there, but we can never find hispolicy—does not have a policy position onanything, including this issue. Unions, lawyersand employer organisations have all beenputting forward their submissions. The Leaderof the Opposition has been all complaint andall opportunism, but no policy.

I was interested to hear the member forClayfield claim on radio this morning that theGovernment had given employers the flick orhad told employers to go jump. That was aninteresting point for the member to make. Theonly glimpse of a policy that we have seenfrom the Opposition was last Thursday, whenthe Leader of the Opposition dumped themain thing that employer organisationswanted in the resolution of this dispute. Theemployer organisations wanted first andforemost the removal or reduction of commonlaw rights. I do not know whether theOpposition was consulted about its policy, butit took the position last Thursday of dumpingemployers in relation to common law, and weare making sure that employers know about it.I can inform the House that the reaction that Ihave received already is very encouraging.

There has been no policy, no frameworkand no suggestions from the Opposition. ThisGovernment has got in there, done the hardwork and is solving the problem.

Queensland Investment CorporationMr LIVINGSTONE: I refer the

Treasurer to the annual report of theQueensland Investment Corporation, and Iask: can he inform the House whether the QICis successfully fulfilling its role as the State'sinvestment manager and whether it providesany further benefits to the taxpayers ofQueensland?

Mr De LACY: That is a good question,in the sense that in Queensland we have anumber of publicly owned or Government-owned financial institutions which areperforming to the benefit of all taxpayers inQueensland. I draw the attention of membersto the fact that the Queensland InvestmentCorporation manages about $11.5 billion ofpublic funds—mostly public sectorsuperannuation funds, but a range of otherGovernment and semi-Government cashassets such as the Workers CompensationFund and the Nominal Defendant Fund. In thelast financial year, the QIC achieved a returnon investment of 10 per cent exactly. For thebenefit of honourable members, I point outthat on an $11.5 billion fund that representsmore than $1 billion made during the year.

To put that into context, the averagereturn for similar pooled funds—and I refer toprivate sector funds—was 7.4 per cent. So thefunds managed by the QIC outperformed theprivate sector funds by 2.6 per cent, or almost$300m. Because the QIC has so wellmanaged public sector cash assets, the publicsector is up to $300m better off. To put that


further into context—last financial year was adifficult one for achieving investment returns.Honourable members would be aware that thebond market was in chaos for half of the year,the equity market was not much better, andproperty values have not been escalating atany great rate during the last 12 months. Soto achieve a return of 10 per cent is anoutstanding performance.

Over the last five years, the QIC hasachieved a return that is better than theindustry average. If that proves one thing, it isthat a Government-owned institution can stilldeliver on bottom-line performance eventhough it is Government owned—if it isproperly structured and properly managed.The QIC was the first Government entity to becorporatised, against howls of protest from theOpposition, which did not want it to becorporatised. In fact, the Liberal Partysuggested that we should give all those fundsout to the private sector. Had we done that,we would have been $300m worse off in thisfinancial year.

Dr Watson: That's the average—anabsolute nonsense comparison.

Mr De LACY: The average of similarpooled funds was 7.4 per cent; so weoutperformed them by 2.6 per cent. I wouldbet that the member cannot find a singlepooled fund that outperformed the QIC in1994-95. The private sector is being done overby the public sector, and it will continue to bedone over.

Workers' Compensation Premiums

Mrs SHELDON: I refer the Treasurer tothe unknown increase in workers'compensation premiums to fund the Premier'sbackflip to the union bosses, and I ask: giventhat from 1 July Government departmentshave been paying workers' compensationpremiums, will departments pay the unknownincrease? Has it been budgeted for? Howmany teachers, nurses and police will losetheir jobs as a result of this levy increase?

Mr De LACY: The Government sector isnow paying premiums up front, but at thisstage it is not paying those premiums into theWorkers Compensation Fund. It will be four orfive years before those contributions are paidinto the Workers Compensation Fund,because we need to obtain actuarialinformation about the level of claims in thepublic sector. So it has no effect on theWorkers Compensation Fund.

The comments by the Deputy Leader ofthe Coalition are typical of the comments that

she has made and continues to make. Thepublic sector is quite capable of meeting itsworkers' compensation premiums. Obviously, itwill pay increased premiums—consistent withthe types of premiums being paid by theprivate sector. I give the member anassurance that, because our Budget is undercontrol, there is no suggestion of teachers ornurses or anybody else losing their jobs as aconsequence.

All of this is a bit rich coming frommembers opposite, who have implied thatthey will take measures such as abolishingstamp duty. They were going to do that. Infact, last week the Leader of the Oppositionsuggested that the coalition would pay out ofconsolidated revenue all of the underfundedpart of the Workers CompensationFund—$116m!

Mr Gibbs: Did you know that Mr Santorowent to the union movement and tried to cut adeal?

Mr De LACY: Mr Santoro has beentrying to cut a deal by saying, "Yes, we willfund it out of consolidated revenue." I wonderhow many nurses and teachers would bethrown to the wolves if the Opposition startedto fund shortfalls in the WorkersCompensation Fund from the ConsolidatedFund. I have never heard such a ridiculoussuggestion from anyone! Only this Oppositionwould suggest that taxpayers generally oughtto be subsidising the Workers CompensationFund.

Mr Hamill: Mrs Sheldon probably thinksthe Government should pay, not the taxpayer.

Mr De LACY: I suppose that was thelogic behind it: the Government should pay,not the taxpayers.

Prince Charles Hospital

Mr T. B. SULLIVAN: I direct aquestion to the Minister for Health. Thetransplant unit at the Prince Charles Hospitalalready offers a world-class service for hearttransplants. The Minister has recentlyannounced that the hospital, as Queensland'spremier cardio-thoracic facility, will becomeonly the third hospital in Australia to providelung transplants. I ask: how will Queenslandersbenefit from the provision of lung transplantsat the Prince Charles Hospital?

Mr BEATTIE: The honourable memberfor Chermside has had a longstanding interestin this subject, and I thank him for his support.The Prince Charles Hospital is indeed the thirdhospital in Australia to perform lungtransplants. Lung transplants have been


available in Australia only since 1990 and untilnow have been performed only at the StVincent's Hospital in Sydney and the AlfredHospital in Melbourne.

This is a significant development forQueensland public health services, becausethe Prince Charles Hospital is now part of anelite band of tertiary hospitals in the countryoffering heart and lung transplants. The newunit will cost about $1.4m a year to run and willperform a projected number of 20 transplantsa year. The nationally funded centre programwill provide 50 per cent of the funding for thefirst year, and the State Government willprovide full funding for the service from thenon. I expect the service to generate revenuefrom treating interstate patients. So in additionto our own people, the hospital will be able totreat people from northern New South Walesand the Northern Territory, as well as patientsfrom South Australia and Western Australia.

With the number of lung transplants beingundertaken in Australia on the rise—from 17 in1990 to 79 in 1994—ordinary Queenslanderswould certainly benefit from a State-basedtransplant unit. With each operation costingabout $88,000, the added cost of having totravel interstate to get a transplant operationcan often be too hard to even contemplate forsome patients. Under the old system, patientshaving to travel to Sydney and Melbournewould have to travel weeks in advance. Thatwould cause enormous pressure on thefamilies. Having the transplant unit at PrinceCharles Hospital means that those patientswould be closer to their families. PrinceCharles Hospital has a world-class survivalrecord in relation to heart transplants. Theworld standard for survival of patients afterthree years is about 75 per cent. The record atPrince Charles Hospital is 10 per cent to 15per cent above that standard.

In June the National Health TechnologyAssessment Committee recommended thatthe Prince Charles Hospital be enhanced toprovide lung transplants in addition to itsexisting heart transplantations. Since then theGovernment has moved swiftly to ensure thatfunding was made available for that importantservice. The major beneficiaries of the servicewill be Queenslanders with end-statepulmonary disease, where the respiratorysystem has collapsed and the medicaltreatment is no longer effective or sufficient.This category includes some people with cysticfibrosis who have reached adulthood and forwhom medical treatment is no longer effectiveand a lung transplant is deemed to be theonly viable treatment. To support this newprogram it is absolutely crucial for Queensland

to maintain a high rate of organ donation. Icall on all people who intend to donate theirorgans to ensure that it is noted on theirdriver's licences and that their next of kin andfamily are aware of their willingness to donate.

The introduction of this service at thePrince Charles Hospital recognises theexpertise and dedication of the staff at thehospital and the state-of-the-art technologyavailable at the hospital. The establishment ofthe new program at the Prince CharlesHospital will bring major benefits toQueensland. I acknowledge the significantcontribution of Dr Keith McNeil and hiscolleagues who are world renowned in theheart and lung transplant field.

In conclusion, I make two other points.The Cystic Fibrosis Association, which islocated in Rainbow House in the electorate ofthe honourable member for Chermside, hasbeen very supportive of the StateGovernment's initiative. Indeed, I mention thesupport of both Wayne Swan and Gary Johns,who approached the Federal Government andthe Federal Health Minister, CarmenLawrence, to ensure that the unit was giventhe support it deserves.

Workers Compensation Board

Mr SANTORO: I ask the Premier: will heconfirm that the workers' compensationpackage agreed to with the unions last Fridayhad not been costed to determine its actuarialsoundness, let alone its cost to employers andthat it was only after—and I repeat "after"—thedeal was struck that the WorkersCompensation Board was asked to beginconsideration of the actuarial elements of thecostings?

Mr W. K. GOSS: That is absolutenonsense. The proposal that was put tounions on Friday by myself and the Ministercentred around a number of elements, but themain element was the element known as theirrevocable choice element, or the money orthe box. That mechanism had been discussedby the Minister with a number of the unionsover the course of the last week and had alsobeen discussed by the Minister with employerorganisations over the course of the previousweek.

I met with the MTIA on the sameafternoon and canvassed the proposal withthat organisation. The framework that was putto the unions last Friday was not final. It wasindicated to them that there would be morework done over the course of the weekend interms of refining the framework and that it


would be put to all stakeholders, includingemployers and lawyers, at the same time onMonday. Immediately after the Minister hadbriefed Cabinet on Monday and secured itssupport, it was then faxed to all of thosestakeholders—employers, unions andlawyers—at exactly the same time.

In relation to the costing of the proposal,the Government's advisers have, throughoutthis consultation process, continually beendoing costings on various elements of variouspackages that have been put forward atvarious times, including the original optionswhich the Minister developed and put to thestakeholders. Since that time varioussuggestions have been made by all of thestakeholders—some of them small, some ofthem major—and the Government has costedeach of these as it has gone along, but a finalactuarial costing cannot be undertaken untilthere is a final package.

The Government has a high degree ofconfidence in the proposal. It has actuarialadvice to the effect that the sort of broadpackage that the Government isconsidering——

Mr Santoro: Why can't you tell us aboutthe premiums?

Mr W. K. GOSS: The honourablemember should let me finish. The Governmenthas not yet finished the proposal, but if thehonourable member would just learn to bepatient——

Mr Santoro: So the payouts you candetermine, but you can't determine thepremiums.

Mr W. K. GOSS: Let me assure themember for Clayfield that prematureinterjection is a very frustrating experience.The honourable member should just wait andbe patient.

Mr Santoro interjected.

Mr W. K. GOSS: I would think thatsomebody who had risen to the dizzy heightsof Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and thenfallen back—rejected—would have developedsome patience.

Mr Santoro: How much?

Mr W. K. GOSS: I said before that theGovernment would have the information withina week. I suspect that within days theGovernment will be able to give thehonourable member the figure of the increaseand I have already given the honourablemember the range. If the honourable memberjust gets those 180 toes working he will beable to work out the range pretty closely.

Mr Santoro: About 50 per cent forcertain industries. That is what it is going to be.About 35 per cent across-the-board. Do youdeny that?

Mr W. K. GOSS: Let me make twopoints in relation to that. The average increasewill be nothing like 50 per cent. But let memake the second point: once a move is madeaway from doing anything substantial inrelation to common law, which the Leader ofthe Opposition did last Thursday—whether ornot he consulted with the member forClayfield—the only substantial thing that is leftis a premium increase. So the Opposition'spolicy, whether articulated or not, is about asclose to the Government's as one can get.

Health Facilities, RockhamptonElectorate

Mr SCHWARTEN: In asking a questionof the Minister for Health, I thank him for hisvisit to health facilities in my electorate lastweek, and I ask: could he advise what heintends to do to address the problems henoted during his inspection of those facilities?

Mr BEATTIE: I want to put on recordmy appreciation for the support for my visitfrom the member for Rockhampton and alsothe member for Fitzroy. After years of neglectby the National Party, the Rockhampton areawill receive a major injection of funds from theGoss Government's Capital Works Program. Atotal of $43.47m has been approved forcapital works in Rockhampton. Masterplanning began a few weeks ago for the $25mupgrade of the Rockhampton Base Hospital.The Brisbane-based firm, Mitchell DEM hasbeen appointed to undertake the work. Themaster planning process will help to determinewhat services are required now and in thefuture and then identify what needs to be builtfor the planned services.

While I was in Rockhampton talking to thehospital staff there I made it clear that, in thatmaster planning exercise, they would all beinvolved and have their say in the futureplanning of the hospital. The main focus of theupgrading will be a new accident emergencysection, intensive care and coronary care unitsand special provision for aeromedical services.

Rockhampton Hospital will receive $25m,as I said; Rockhampton Psychiatric Unit,$4.7m; Rockhampton Community HealthCentre, $5.2m; and Eventide Rockhampton,$8.5m.

Just digressing, I might say that Iinspected Eventide in Rockhampton with themember for Rockhampton and quite clearly it


is a nursing home that needs an enormousamount of attention, as the honourablemember knows. It is a serious indictment onthe National Party, which had some plans todo work there but pulled them out some yearsago simply to provide a similar facility in anelectorate in north Queensland.

I might just mention some other issues offunding. The Emerald Hospital will receive$8.5m; Gladstone, $4.5m——

Mr Johnson interjected.

Mr BEATTIE: Is the honourablemember saying that he does not want themoney? Get out of it!

Woorabinda is to receive $4.6m.Some of the other issues raised with me

related to specialist services in the area. Thelack of specialists in public hospitals is indeeda Statewide problem. Rockhampton BaseHospital is recruiting specialists where gaps inservices exist. Where we have been unable torecruit full-time specialists some visiting clinicshave been organised. I intend to focus on thismatter and spend a great deal of effort inresolving it.

The $1.3m capital equipmentreplacement package, which is in addition tothe Capital Works Program for theRockhampton Base Hospital, will address theissue of lack of suitable patient ventilators atthe hospital. This equipment has beenordered and should be received in the nextfew weeks, and I will make sure that thathappens.

The subject of communications within thehospital was also raised with me. The $25mredevelopment package will address this.Funding will help improve communicationssystems throughout the hospital, and willparticularly improve the paging system so thatdoctors can go outside the hospital and still bepaged. The $25m capital works project willaddress issues of a morgue as well as grievingfacilities for relatives and families at thehospital. This issue was raised with me bystaff.

Doctors, health workers and others will beinvolved in the consultation phase for the$25m redevelopment of the RockhamptonBase Hospital. Consultations will be carried outwith all involved to ensure that funding is usedwhere it is most needed. While I was theresome of the doctors raised with me a 10 pointplan from the local medical association. Iindicated that I would look at their plan. Itwould need to be implemented over a periodof time, but I will look at it. However, it will taketime. We are going to give Rockhampton,

Gladstone and the remainder of centralQueensland the high standard health servicesthey deserve.


Mrs McCAULEY: I refer the Minister forLocal Government to the planned increases inworkers' compensation premiums and noterecent reports that indicate that localauthorities are facing substantial rises of atleast 25 per cent, despite their merit bonusrecords, and I ask: what is the approximatetotal extra cost imposed on local governmentby such increases and what is the averageincrease per council?

Mr MACKENROTH: It would dependon the size of the council, I guess. I do nothave that information, nor could I be expectedto have it here. What a stupid question.

Queensland Health Regionalisation

Mr PEARCE: I direct a question to theMinister for Health. I read with interest thecomments of the Mayor of Roma last weekregarding the benefits of regionalisation whenhe said that he hoped the Government wouldnot abolish the regionalised health system. Iask: can the Minister advise us of the future ofregionalisation in Queensland Health?

Mr BEATTIE: I thank the honourablemember for Fitzroy for his question, because Ialso read the article in the Courier-Mail withsome interest, although the comments of theMayor of Roma, Barry Braithwaite, did notsurprise me.

Mr Borbidge interjected. Mr BEATTIE: The Leader of the

Opposition deserted the bush, and he knowsit. I will tell this House what the people in thebush are saying about the Leader of theOpposition, the honourable member forToowoomba South and other honourablemembers opposite. They all think thatmembers opposite have given them away.Honourable members opposite can sit in theirseats with a smug smile, but the people of thebush know that members opposite are takingjobs out of the bush.

Coming back to the question, only twoweeks ago I was in Roma as part of my 100days of consultation and had a breakfastmeeting with Councillor Braithwaite and theMayor of Paroo Shire, Darby Land. Naturally,the subject of the regionalisation of the healthsystem was raised. I encouraged both mayorsto give me a full and frank account of theirviews on the subject. They both praised


regionalisation, and told me that they and theirrespective regional areas would be devastatedif Queensland Health reverted to the oldcentralised system entrenched by the previousNational Party Government and promised bythe Opposition during the election campaign.

Mr Elder: Mr Horan's policy!

Mr BEATTIE: Indeed. CouncillorBraithwaite and the Mayor of Paroo Shire wereconvinced that regionalisation——

Mr Horan interjected.

Mr BEATTIE: When was the memberopposite out there last? He has not been outthere. The people said that they have neverseen him. Councillor Braithwaite and theMayor of Paroo Shire were convinced thatregionalisation provided a more efficient andaccessible health system for rural families, butthey were highly concerned about thenegative economic impact posed by theOpposition's centralised proposal.

I was told a very similar story by the Mayorof Emerald, Paul Bell, last week. In fact,virtually all rural organisations supportedretaining a decentralised health system. It isnot just the mayors who are saying it. I havereceived letters and submissions from theRoma and District Chamber of Commerce andthe United Graziers Association ofQueensland, each urging me to ensure thatthe system of regionalisation is retained.

Mr Elder: In other words, they weren'tendorsing Mr Horan.

Mr BEATTIE: No, they were notendorsing Mr Horan at all. For the benefit ofhonourable members opposite, I will repeatthat. Those letters were from the Roma andDistrict Chamber of Commerce and theMaranoa division of the United GraziersAssociation—hardly dyed in the wool Laborsupporters. Their views were not based on aparty political stance. Labor and conservativecommunity leaders both took the samestance, and that was pro-regionalisation. Infact, the further one moves into National Partyheartland, the greater the support forregionalisation of the health system.

Mr Livingstone: They're out of touch.

Mr BEATTIE: They are indeed out oftouch; they will not even visit the area. Icannot give a hard and fast answer as to whatform the health system will take following myreview. I have an open mind on the subject.There are obvious weaknesses with thecurrent system as well as strengths, and oncethese are identified I will be able to makesome definite decisions. I can assure allhonourable members that whatever actions I

take as Minister, they will be directed atimproving health service delivery. I will not bediverted from that objective. One thing iscertain: I will not take the Opposition's line, ananti-rural view which bashes the bush.

I conclude by referring to a letter Ireceived from a nurse, which is directly relatedto the question. This is what the nurse had tosay about regionalisation and the formersystem operated by the National Party—

"Under the old days there was anantiquated manual typewriter, and noteven an answering machine until late1988. Each nurse had a phone, but therewas only one line. They had vehicles, butthere was no air-conditioning or car perksof any kind in an environment wherenurses had to put up with 75 degreescelsius."

The National Party would not even air-condition their cars. The letter continues—

"Staff were not even able to addresslocal community service groups abouttheir roles without their talks beingperused and approved by the centraloffice staff. Consequently, the incentive toconduct activities was diminished."

Due to the centralised bureaucracy under theNational Party, there was a significant timedelay in receiving feedback from supervisors.For example, it could take up to six weeks forleave to be approved, and the payment oftravel expenses could take even longer. Whathappened under regionalisation——

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Minister isstarting to debate the question.

Mr BEATTIE: Just briefly, Mr Speaker,the nurse says very clearly that regionalisationenables them to operate more efficiently andthey know where they stand, which was notthe position under the National PartyGovernment.


Mr CONNOR: In directing a question tothe Minister for Business, Industry andRegional Development, I refer to a typicalsmall business currently paying $2,500 a yearin workers' compensation levies, and I ask:under the decision made by Cabinetyesterday, how much will this business paynext year in workers' compensation levies?

Mr HAYWARD: I do not know howmuch clearer the position could have beenmade this morning, but it was certainly madevery clear that the new rates will becompetitive with every other State in Australia.


In simple terms, that is what will occur. Aprocess will be put into place to ensure that inthe future the system is able to become fullyfunded. What has been happening is that theLeader of the Opposition has simply proposedthat any shortfall in the funding should befound out of consolidated revenue or out ofwhat he described as profits of corporatisedentities. What an absolute nonsense that is.That would effectively transfer the cost of aninsurance scheme to the general population.However, our focus will ensure that the ratesthat employers pay will be competitive withevery other State in Australia.

Alternative Energy SourcesMr WELFORD: I direct a question to the

Minister for Minerals and Energy. Earlier thisyear, the Minister made a policyannouncement on energy efficiency andalternative energy which included a system ofrebates for people who bought or installedenergy efficient appliances such as solar hotwater systems. I ask: can the Minister tell theHouse whether this policy has received publicsupport, and the level of interest that is beingshown in the scheme?

Mr McGRADY: I thank the honourablemember for the question, and pay tribute tothe amount of work he did while he waschairman of the Alternative Energy Taskforce.I do not think members of this Houseunderstand the amount of work which he andhis committee accomplished. When thePremier and I announced this policy back inFebruary this year, I said that I believed thatthis policy would capture the imagination of allQueenslanders. In the first three months ofthe operation of this scheme, over 3,300Queenslanders have applied for varioushousehold rebates, be they for solar hot watersystems, energy efficient light bulbs or indeedAAA rated shower nozzles. Over 10,000people have made inquiries through ouroffices.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The time forquestions has now expired.

MATTERS OF PUBLIC INTEREST


Mr BORBIDGE (Surfers Paradise—Leader of the Opposition) (11 a.m.): What asorry and dangerous substitute for a Premierand a Government the people of Queenslandnow have under the moribund leadership ofthe member for Logan and the AustralianLabor Party! For the past two months we havebeen witness to an extraordinary campaign by

the member for Logan to get out from underthe clear culpability of him and hisGovernment for the destruction of our once-proud and sound workers' compensationscheme by blaming lawyers for an allegedlyunpredictable, single-year blow-out in commonlaw claims, which in turn led to unfundedliabilities of some $118m. That figure is now$150m and growing by some $10m to $12mper month.

We were told that the solution would betough: workers' access to common law rightswould be restricted. However, the caucusshowed its muscle. The member for Bulimbaand the member for Woodridge threw downthe gauntlet—in the case of the member forWoodridge for the second time since theelection—promising the member for Logan histhird major drubbing since the July election atthe hands of his once-loyal mates. The unionmovement also flexed. It warned the memberfor Logan of an industrial campaignunmatched since the SEQEB dispute if hepersisted with plans to restrict common lawaccess. As soon as those warning shots werefired, we saw the commencement of the thirdmajor backflip by the member for Logan in asmany months.

The first backflip: suddenly it was not thelawyers at all—goodness me, no! The plan toreduce common law access to a whole-of-person impairment threshold of 20 per cent to25 per cent then became an option—just anoption. By last night, on the 7.30 Report,history had been rewritten by the member forLogan to the extent that it was always—always!—"an option of last resort". He hadbetter tell that to his Minister, because she didnot seem to know. For two months she hadbeen telling anybody who would listen that thecut to common law access and the increase inpremiums went hand in hand—the horse andcarriage of the proposal. Then the Premierdropped it and then dropped theMinister—totally and absolutely. That wasdone all for the sake of a secret deal that washammered out last Friday with the ACTUQ, theAWU and the Labor Party president in order tosave the bacon of the member for Logan.Where were the other stakeholders? Wherewere the business representatives who, we aretold by implication, will now be confronted withpremium increases averaging probably 35 percent? In some industries, that figure will be 45per cent and may be as high as 50 per cent.Where were the people who will have to paythe bills? Were they in the room? Were theypresent? Were they consulted? The memberfor Logan should read the Young report.Where was the consultation? Where was the


Workers Compensation Board? Mostimportantly, how much is it all going to cost?

Government members did not have aclue on Friday about the costings—and todayin the Parliament we have seen that they stilldo not have a clue. They do not know whatthe increased statutory benefits are going tocost. They do not know how much they aregoing to have to charge employers. It has allbeen done on a wing and a prayer. Howtypical all that is of the cavalier way in whichthis Premier has treated the workers'compensation scheme ever since he came tooffice: with absolutely no respect, no care, andno management.

When the member for Logan came tooffice in 1989, Queensland's workers'compensation scheme was indisputably thebest-run scheme in the country by a very longway. Less than six years later, the member forLogan and his Government have reduced it toa cot case—back to the ruck with the schemesthat his old Labor mates interstate ruined fromone end of Australia to the other during theeighties. What a disgraceful achievement!

However, I do agree with one of themember for Logan's backflips in recent days:the blow-out in common law claims was notthe fault of the lawyers at all. It was his fault; itwas the fault of the member for Logan. Heand his Government started wrecking thescheme the first year they were in office. In1990 the Premier came up with a sure way ofstarting the job: this Premier and hisGovernment cut premiums and increasedstatutory benefits at the same time! EvenJohn Cain on a good day could have told himwhat that was a recipe for and where thatwould take the fund over time. Of course, theinevitable happened. Inside three years, themember for Logan and his Government tookthe soundest workers' compensation schemein the country and turned a $58m underwritingsurplus into a $62m deficit. That was a $120mnegative turnaround in three years. What a U-turn! What an amazing achievement by themember for Logan, who masquerades as asound economic manager!

However, far, far worse than that stupidityis the fact that the member for Logan heardthe warnings about the common law—theoverall—threats to the scheme and then heand his Government ignored them. ThePremier wanted to hear evidence ofmismanagement on the part of hisGovernment. In February of 1992 the boardtold the Government—as the member forLogan was aware—in simple, clear, absolutelyunambiguous language that, if this

Government did not act quickly to stem theincrease in common law claims andcosts—and I will quote directly from thatreport—"the problems associated withcommon law will be exacerbated and moredrastic remedial action will be required." And itall came to pass.

The Premier was quite right—it was notsecond time around through the fault of thelawyers; it was not through the fault of theworkers; it was not through the fault of theemployers. It was through the Premier'sneglect, incompetence and typical dithering.So the workers' compensation schemesteadily fell to a position of great vulnerability—not to a single bad year result, but to just onemore single bad year result, which is exactlywhere he had placed it. What a desperate anddeceitful effort this Premier has made sincethe disaster was revealed to convince thepeople of Queensland that, in the meantime,he had actually done something to avoid theinevitable. If one actually believed what themember for Logan said in this place andoutside of it, one would think that that membersweated on the arrival of the Actuary's reporteach year in order to leap into action. Therecord—not the Premier's increasinglydisbelieved rhetoric—establishes beyond ashadow of a doubt that the member for Loganand the current Attorney-General did next toabsolutely nothing—squat!

They did do one thing. In August of 1994they introduced into Parliament a draftexposure Bill. Almost 18 months after it wasintroduced, the Personal Injuries ProceedingsBill remains exactly and typically just that—adraft exposure Bill. But it is too late for Billsnow—draft exposure or otherwise. It is way toolate. What was in December 1989 the mostsound workers' compensation scheme in thecountry is, as we approach December 1995, acot case to rival any of the Labor workers'compensation cot cases anywhere inAustralia.

Realistically, what can we now lookforward to? We presume that we can lookforward to some costings—eventually—whenthe member for Logan works out what thedeal to save him another embarrassment incaucus and another drubbing at the hands ofthe workers will cost the State's employers andworkers in lost jobs and jobs that will nownever be created because of the cost of hisfailure. But can we ever look forward to asound, fully funded workers' compensationscheme again? I very much doubt it. Toomuch damage has been done. The deliberatecampaign that was presided over by themember for Logan to ignore the warnings


about the fund has meant not only a $150munfunded liability growing at about $12m amonth but also erosion of other key bottomlines, including making a nonsense of themerit bonus scheme and a reduction in thescheme's free cash reserves to zero—to nil!There is nothing left.

If we are ever to see Queensland'sworkers' compensation scheme returned to itsformer sound state, one thing is absolutelycertain: it will not be while the Labor Party is inpower; it will not be while a person asirresponsible, as deceitful, as downrightincompetent, as neglectful and as self-servingas the member for Logan is Premier of thisState. We saw an ad-hoc gimmick to stop themarch on Wednesday in order to save thePremier's bacon in caucus, and to hell with theemployers of this State who will now have topick up the tab. The workers will see furtherrestrictions placed on their actions through thecourts.

National Carers Week

Mr SCHWARTEN (Rockhampton)(11.10 a.m.): I rise on this occasion to remindthe House that last week was National CarersWeek. This is the one week of the year thatfocuses on the lives of people who give up somuch of their time and energy in providingoften round-the-clock care, usually for a familymember who has some sort of disability. Lastweek, it was my privilege to meet with anumber of Rockhampton carers and I was alsoable to find out some of their concerns.

I know something of disability supportissues myself, having watched my own motherand father provide care for my youngestbrother Mark who, fortunately, has nowovercome some of the worst featuresassociated with paraplegia. With this in mind, Imake it a point to observe Carers Week eachyear and I commend next year's events to allhonourable members.

For the information of the House, I wouldlike to provide members with some insight intothe lives of several of my constituents—peoplewho are giving up a major part of their ownlives so that somebody else who has adisability may enjoy at least some quality oflife. I know that most of us in this place sharethe experience of parenthood. I know I get alot of joy from this aspect of life, but I wonderhow much joy any one of us would get if,horror of horrors, what happened to two of myconstituents and their son when he was agedeight months happened to us. KnowingMichele, Bob and Laurence Cringle as I do, I

feel confident that they will not mind me usingtheir names in this place in order to put a faceto traumas that I am dead-set certain arebeing repeated time and again in mostcommunities throughout this great State ofours.

Like most kids, Laurence was bornperfectly normal. However, it seems that therewas something about the genetic make-up ofthis little fellow that caused him to becomethat one in one hundred thousand to have anadverse reaction to the triple antigenvaccination. Laurence suffered brain damageas a result of the vaccination and thisunfortunate occurrence turned the lives of hisparents upside down almost overnight.Looking after the boy was to become a full-time occupation, particularly for his mother.Some 17 years on, he still has no speech andhe has certain physical and perhaps evenintellectual frailties. But through the dedicatedefforts of his parents, he has a high quality oflife. Each weekday he attends theRockhampton Special School and thisprovides his parents, particularly his mother,with some respite from their caring role.

Given that Laurence has fairly highsupport needs, I think we can all understandhow Mrs Cringle is absolutely mortified at whatlooks like happening when the lad turns 18and, therefore, must leave school. As a carer,Michele Cringle has had little enough time todevelop a social life for herself, except thatshe has been able to go on playing the pianoat various musical productions in theRockhampton community. Indeed, she playedat my wedding. But what is going to happenonce Laurence has to stay home all day,every day, because he has nowhere to go?The odds are that Michele Cringle's career atthe piano will go the same way as theimportant clerical position that she held in thethen Queensland Railways Department. Ofcourse, that is assuming nothing changes inthe meantime. However, I for one amconfident that hope is in the offing.

I believe the Honourable the Premier andthe Honourable the Minister for Family andCommunity Services will have more to sayabout the Government's post-school optionspolicy later in the piece. However, suffice it tosay that this Government is committed tospending some $13.5m over the next severalyears in providing folk such as the Cringleswith further relief from their burden of care.Hopefully by the time they reach retirementage in 20 or so years' time, there will be allmanner of options available to them and otherpeople in similar circumstances that, currently,are not available.


A moment or two ago, I mentioned theHonourable the Premier. I think he will agreewith me when I say that the next person I amabout to name merits the university awardingher an honorary doctorate in social welfare inrecognition of her 48 years as a carer. MrsJoyce McClurg's eldest son, John, was bornwith multiple disabilities, some of themphysical and some of them intellectual. As amatter of fact, the doctors of the day predictedhe would never walk. I can tell honourablemembers that it was only through the fiercewills of mother and son that the childeventually did gain a fairly high degree ofmobility.

Joyce McClurg speaks of the very specialbond between her and her eldest son, andlikens it to an invisible umbilical cord. Havingbattled since the days when there were nospastic centres or any other services, onewould think that, by now, Mrs McClurg wouldhave some measure of security to her life inrelation to John's future care. Sadly, that is notthe case at all and now, in her twilight years,this grand lady is most apprehensive as towhat is going to happen to John once she haspassed on to the next life. I have a hunchthat, in time, Mrs McClurg's new-found friend,the honourable member for Logan, will beable to help her sort out some of thosepressing concerns. But in the meantime I thinkit behoves all of us as members of Parliamentto find out more about the real needs of realpeople.

Mrs Alma Edwards is a real person who,like Mrs McClurg, is now past retirement age.Yet there is not much retirement for MrsEdwards since her husband, Alan, contractedAlzheimer's disease several years ago.Imagine the grief and sorrow that came toconfront this lady! Happily married since theywere in their early twenties, she has alreadyhad to say goodbye to the man she knew andloved and now awaits the second occasion tosay goodbye when one of them passes away.In the meantime, Mrs Edwards as a carer haschosen, no doubt out of a great sense ofloyalty, to keep Alan home for as long as shecan. I am happy to say that some help isavailable in the form of respite care at theNorth Rockhampton Nursing Centre and itwould be remiss of me not to tell the Houseabout the very high level of dedicated care thestaff at that centre is providing.

Certain members of this place seemobsessed with concentrating on the morenegative aspects of Queensland Health, but Iremind the House that there are also verymany good stories to tell about QueenslandHealth, and the North Rockhampton Nursing

Centre is one of them. But it makes mewonder how bad things have to get before MrsEdwards' cry of "enough" will be heard. Herhusband's dementia impinges upon everyaspect of her own life. From what Iunderstand, he is quite a handful to manage.All I can say is that people like the Edwardsare the true battlers and I think all of us shoulddo whatever we can for them.

Another carer I want to mention is MrJohn Poole. He has been a carer for morethan 37 years. One of the things thatdistinguishes him is the fact that he marriedsomeone who already had a disability. Hiswife, Freda, was among that generation whowere struck down with polio. What also makesMr Poole a very special case is that hehimself, although able of body and mind, hasleukemia and because of it is laid pretty lowfrom time to time. Fortunately, Mr Poole is builtof stern stuff and he is able to battle on inorder to see that he and Freda have somequality in their lives.

The point that I am trying to make with allof this is that, out there in the Queenslandcommunity, there must be tens of thousandsof people who are in similar circumstances tothose whom I have named today. Daily, somuch of the carer's own life is given up inproviding at-home care for somebody else.Their efforts certainly merit recognition and Iwant to place on record today that I amprepared to speak up for the people who aresaving the community huge costs in healthcare and social welfare.

Before I conclude these remarks, I wantto touch upon briefly an additional strugglethat these carers I have named, andnumerous of their colleagues, are enduring. Itmay well be that I will be raising this issueagain in the House, but suffice it to say I thinkthe Government needs to do a bit offinetuning with the funds it spends currently oncarers' welfare. The Honourable the Ministerfor Health will be able to confirm thatnumerous carers in Rockhampton and otherplaces in central Queensland have expressedto him their concern that hardly any of thosemoneys end up going towards their welfare.There is an organisation in Queensland, theQueensland Council of Carers Inc., that drawsnearly $1m a year from the Home andCommunity Care Program for this purpose but,as far as a growing number of carers up myway are concerned, much of that money isbeing spent on providing the comforts of life toan elite in the management.

Way back in 1989-90 when theGovernment first decided to fund the QCC, I


have no doubt whatsoever that the intentionwas never to see a fat bureaucracy emerge toposture in the name of carers but, in reality,provide nothing for the carers past an endlessstream of pamphlets and paperwork. That isthe type of complaint that the Honourable theMinister is receiving. So I think it is time for theGovernment to look into the QueenslandCouncil of Carers and perhaps give carerssome more options as to how Governmentmoneys that are allocated to them are spent.

For the information of honourablemembers, I point out that this extraordinarystep of petitioning the Minister to dosomething was taken only as a last resort. MrPoole has provided me as his local memberwith documentary evidence to show wherecarers have held meetings, passed resolutionsand written to the management of theirorganisation asking, and later insisting, thatthe managers come to central Queenslandand discuss the members' concerns. So far,those communications have been ignored andnobody from the management of the QCChas come to the carers of Rockhampton andcentral Queensland since last year.

Time expired.


Mrs SHELDON (Caloundra—Leader ofthe Liberal Party) (11.20 a.m.): What adisgrace, and what a commentary on theneglect and incompetence of this increasinglylame-duck Labor Government, that themember for Cairns, the Treasurer, can nolonger continue to piggy-back on theinheritance of successive Liberal Treasurers ofthis great State. No longer can he state that allour public liability operations are fully funded.What an historic tragedy it is for this State thatthis Government has single-handedlydestroyed the fully funded status of theworkers' compensation scheme. ThisGovernment has torn down the trilogy ofsound economic management that wasestablished by coalition Governments andmuch heralded by the current QueenslandTreasurer. These are the consequences ofLabor mismanagement.

Mr Johnson interjected.

Mrs SHELDON: I think the member isperfectly right. Those consequences are notunknown to the people of Victoria, SouthAustralia or Western Australia and now, asforecast, they are becoming well known inQueensland, too. What damage has beendone to Queensland's national reputationthrough the destruction of that status and the

fund by the lame-ducks opposite? Inparticular, what a great responsibility theTreasurer has failed to meet and to match.

As the coalition leader has said, the manwho by right carries the greater degree ofresponsibility for the reduced status of ourworkers' compensation scheme is obviouslythe member for Logan, the Premier. Under theguilty party of Premier Goss, the hard-earnedlegacy of an effective and viable workers'compensation scheme has been lost. We areback to the pack. We are no better off thanothers who survived the excesses of Labor inthe 1980s. However, hot on the heels of themember for Logan, in terms of ultimateresponsibility, is the Treasurer. It is he whowas—or at least should have been—bestequipped to understand the economic threatposed to the State of Queensland by Labor'smistreatment of the workers' compensationscheme. He should have known theimportance of the inheritance the Governmentwas steadily squandering through six years ofpoor decision making—on the rare occasionson which decisions were actually taken.

As the coalition leader has indicated, theevidence of neglect and incompetence inrelation to the workers' compensation schemewrought by this Government is such a broadissue that the member for Cairns dealt withonly some of the most obviously damning ofthe evidence. I will deal with the equallyimportant and transparent attempts by theGoss Government to milk workers'compensation in this State. Under the guiltyparty in Queensland, the compensation fundis just another hollow log and, as aconsequence, its reserves have been reducedto zero. These actions have played a majorrole in the weakening of the scheme to itscurrent debilitated state, along with the chronicignorance of the more widely recognisedproblems, which help sheet the blame hometo where it really lays.

First, it must be clearly understood thatthe position of the workers' compensationscheme at 30 June was not, as theGovernment has claimed, unfunded liabilitiesin relation to claims and the merit bonusscheme of $118m. It was in fact much higherat $175m. The only way the Governmentreduced that liability to the still utterlydisgraceful figure of $118m was to employevery last cent of cash held by the board incash reserves. With the use of that money—some $56m—the scheme is now effectivelybroke. Every Queenslander should understandwhat that means. There is now no protectionfor the scheme from another single bad yearresult.


The situation is far worse than theTreasurer would have had us believe on 7September. Not only do we now have a verysignificant unfunded liability but we also havea scheme which is effectively broke andtherefore effectively defenceless. That is anobvious source of the considerable concernexpressed by employers in relation to thescale of the increases in premiums they nowface. In order to support a deal secretlybrokered between the Premier, the disaffectedmembers of his caucus and the unions,employers were quite specifically excluded.

Any genuine effort to restore the schemeto the sound footing that it enjoyed for manydecades will involve a very significant effort torestore cash reserves. Given the approach ofthis Government, which is to make workersand employers pay for its incompetence andneglect rather than accept responsibility itself,increases in premiums must now be weightedseverely to achieve those reserves.Honourable members should understand themassive scale of this task.

In 1991 Trowbridge Consultingrecommended that the free cash reserves ofthe workers' compensation scheme be kept ata minimum of $80m and ultimately should beincreased to between $350m and $450m toguard the fund against a single bad yearresult. At least somebody was thinking andreading the signs, but it was not theGovernment. The Government's grand planwas the mutually exclusive policy ondecreased premiums and increased benefitsat the beginning of the recession in late 1990.No wonder we are in trouble—the money tobuild the reserves just was not there.

There is yet more evidence of neglect. Asthe evidence mounts up, the culpability of thePremier and the acquiescence of theTreasurer become plain for all to see. Whatworkers' compensation reserves there wereunder Labor—and they were largelyinherited—had to be pirated along the way tomaintain the merit bonus system foremployers at anything like historical levels.That is because the cost of meeting thePremier's increased statutory benefits, and thetremendous increase in common law claimsthe Government had decided to ignore, meantthat there was simply insufficient money leftover from premium income to provide thosemerit bonuses, even at the reduced rate of 40per cent—down from 50 per cent under Labor.So much for merit. That in turn meant that justwhen the reserves were needed—as thehedge against that one bad year that soconcerned the actuaries, if not theGovernment—they had been hopelessly

eroded and were too small finally to do muchother than dent the unfunded liability andreduce it from $175m to $118m before beingtotally exhausted.

We are talking about a LaborGovernment acting in the grubby Labortradition of Brian Burke, John Bannon andJohn Cain. The Labor traditions of PremierGoss and Treasurer De Lacy have nothing todo with traditional Labor values such as thoseof Ben Chifley and Doc Evatt. There is no lighton the hill in Queensland. In Queensland,Labor traditions are the traditions of JoanKirner and Peter Dowding. They are straightout of WA Inc. They are the questionableLabor traditions of the 1980s. In Victoria theywere called the guilty party, and inQueensland today the guilty party of Goss andDe Lacy is still in power.

Not only are Queensland employers goingto have to pay for the Government's neglectand incompetence in failing to act on thewarnings on common law in a timelyfashion—which would have meant actionabout three and a half years ago—but theyare also going to have to pay for itsincompetence and neglect in letting reservesdeplete to the extent that they are nowabsolutely nil! Clearly, if the scheme is ever tobe even a shadow of its former self, thosereserves have to be replaced. Under theGovernment formula, the only people who aregoing to foot the bill for that are theemployers. I stand by the coalition's estimatethat that increase is going to be, one way oranother, upwards of 40 per cent, if not directlythen certainly by the time a further certainreduction in the no-claims bonuses is takeninto account. The impact could be evengreater, and it is going to hit employers for sixat precisely the wrong time.

As employers have warned theGovernment—as recently as the past fewdays—the economic indicators in Queenslandare nowhere near as rosy as the Treasurerwould have us believe, and we have just seenQueensland's unemployment rate move a fullpercentage point ahead of the nationalaverage to 9.5 per cent. The Governmentcould not have picked a worse time to giveemployers—particularly those in the small-business sector—another kick. An increase inworkers' compensation premiums on the scalethat the Government is clearly going to haveto impose, even with its revised timetable ofgetting the scheme back into the black in fiveyears, is going to be disastrous foremployment in this State and is certain to shutthe doors of many small businesses.


Who is to blame? Why is it that it is theemployers alone who are going to have tocarry the entire burden? It was not theemployers who created this problem; it wasthe Government. It was the guilty party ofWayne Goss and Keith De Lacy. Where is theGovernment's contribution to pay for its ownincompetence and neglect? As usual, it isnowhere to be seen—despite the fact that notonly has the Government been chronicallyincompetent in managing the scheme but alsoit has been robbing it blind to boot.

Since Labor came to office, the amountthat it has pirated from the scheme to prop upconsolidated revenue well exceeds $100m. Inparticular, over the period between 1989-90and 1993-94, it has put some $44m into theDivision of Workplace Health and Safetywhich, given the deteriorating claims record ofthe scheme, looks like money ill-spent indeed.On top of that $44m, the Government hasalso sucked out $17.4m for a corporateservices charge and another $37.4m to propup its mismanagement of the public healthsystem. Incompetence feeding incompetence!

Time expired.

Television Classifications, Children'sViewing

Mr BRISKEY (Cleveland) (11.30 a.m.):Harvard University researchers say that in just40 years television has not only stripped awaymuch of our essentially gregarious nature butalso demolished the social fabric and commoninterest that has held communities together forcenturies. What I wish to speak about today isa matter of extreme importance, that is, theresponsibility that parents have to theirchildren.

Parents cannot and should not simplyallow children to watch whatever televisionprograms they want to. Children are receivingmessages all the time from television, somegood and many bad. They are learning not torespect their elders. Children are learning thatto be normal they should own this or thatcommodity. They feel like they are not normalwhen their family does not own a large brickhome in the suburbs with all the modernconveniences. Children feel alienated whenthey do not have the financial means topurchase all the commodities they see ontelevision shows that they believe will makethem the same as all those beautiful peopleon television.

Although television has opened our eyesand minds to a larger world outside our ownand provided us with entertainment in our

living rooms, it has also been destructive. Oneof the major problems with television is thatmany parents use it as a baby-sitter. By tellingchildren to go and watch television, parentsget their children out of their hair for a while.This is not a bad thing if parents firstly checkwhat it is that their children are watching.Unfortunately, many do not, believing that atcertain hours of the day television programswill be on that are suitable for their children towatch.

For instance, at 6 p.m. on a weeknightparents believe that their children will not bewatching naked teenagers on a motel bedtalking about how they want to make love toeach other again after just doing so.Unfortunately, this is exactly what I witnessedon a teenagers' television show in thattimeslot. Even more so, parents believe, andshould be able to believe, that Saturdaymorning cartoon shows should be suitableviewing for their children. Unfortunately, this isalso not the case. Earlier this year, at 8.30a.m. on Saturday mornings, Channel 10showed a cartoon called Ren and Stimpy. Thisprogram is rated G, and with such a ratingparents should be able to expect that it issuitable for their children to watch, especiallyon a Saturday morning when children areusually watching television by themselves. Thisprogram has adult themes and is, in myopinion, not suitable for children's viewing. Asa parent, I ensured that my children did notwatch that program.

In addition, I wrote to the AustralianBroadcasting Authority asking that theprogram be investigated with a view to havingit reclassified to a more appropriate rating. Ialso contacted Channel 10 asking that itreclassify the program and that it be shown ina more appropriate timeslot. It was my hopethat Channel 10 would take appropriate actionand put the program on after 8.30 at night. Iwas pleased when, soon after my letter toChannel 10, the program was removed fromits 8.30 Saturday morning timeslot. However,to my utter disgust, I have discovered that theprogram is on once again at 8 a.m. onSaturdays.

However, Channel 10 maintained that itis, in broadcasting this program, complyingwith relevant laws, program standards andindustry codes, including the CommercialTelevision Industry Code of Practice, whichhas been endorsed by the AustralianBroadcasting Authority. Channel 10 alsobelieves that the Ren and Stimpy series issuitable for children and is suitable for itsSaturday morning time of broadcast. IfChannel 10 really believes that Ren and


Stimpy is suitable television for children, itshould sit down and relook at this cartoonseries; it is blatantly not suitable for children.

The Commercial Television Industry Codeof Practice requires that material be classifiedand broadcast in the appropriate time zone.Section 2 of the code provides—

"This section requires material to beclassified appropriately, and broadcastonly in suitable classification zones. Itapplies to all programs and to all nonprogram matter, such as commercials,program promotions, community serviceannouncements and stationidentifications . . ."

In particular, section 2.10 of the code providesin relation to the G classification—

"Material classified 'G' must notcontain any matter likely to be unsuitablefor children to watch without thesupervision of a parent."

When Ren and Stimpy was investigated bythe Australian Broadcasting Authority, Channel10's submission referred to the—

". . . hallmarks of the animation series: thenovelty of the major characters; theabsurdity of the storylines; the use ofclassical music as a background; thequality of the animation and the boldnessof the use of colour."

Many cartoons have novel major characters,absurd storylines, use bold colour and qualityanimation, and some even have classicalmusic as a background. These attributes donot make them good shows for children towatch. Over the years, many R-rated cartoonshave had novel major characters, absurdstorylines and have used bold colour andquality animation. Some have even usedclassical music as a background. However,they were most certainly not suitable forchildren to watch.

Channel 10 further stated in itssubmission—

". . . the content of 'Ren and Stimpy'series involves fantasy, farce and many ofthe elements of traditional cartoonhumour, all of which we believe aresuitable and accepted by child viewers."

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that the cartoonseries does involve fantasy, farce and manyelements of traditional cartoon humour.However, it involves many adult themes andwhole episodes which revolve around breakingwind, licking and vomiting. Are these subjectsand the underlying sexual messages thatchildren are receiving when watching this

cartoon series suitable for them? I and manyother parents say, "No".

The code of practice states that Gclassification programs are designed to besuitable for viewing by children without thesupervision of an adult. G classificationprograms can be shown at any time. TheAustralian Broadcasting Authority's reportstates—

"The 'G' classification criteria set outin the Code of Practice contain a numberof provisions which prescribe the nature ofthe material able to be shown in the 'G'category. The criteria include theelements of violence, sex and nudity,language, drugs and suicide."

The Australian Broadcasting Authority goes onto say in this report that it—

". . . considered that the exaggeratedstyle of humour presented in 'Ren andStimpy' did not exceed the 'G'classification."

I believe that the Australian BroadcastingAuthority has got it wrong. There is sex andnudity in this cartoon series, and it should berated with a higher classification. If theAustralian Broadcasting Authority believes thatthis series is suitable for showing on televisionat any time, those involved in making such adecision are not reflecting society's wishes orvalues. Children should be protected fromtelevision shows such as Ren and Stimpy.

The Australian Broadcasting Authoritysays that it—

". . . acknowledges the concernsexpressed by the complainants regardingthe suitability of the content and themescontained in the program, particularly withrespect to the program's references tobodily functions."

It states further that—

". . . children's playground humour isnotorious for references to such bodilyfunctions."

So what? Children's playground humourshould be kept in the playground. It does nothave to be screened on television. Screeningshows such as Ren and Stimpy in children'sviewing times sends a message to childrenthat this type of humour and the totallyunacceptable activities that the human andanimal characters engage in in this show areokay.

In its conclusion, the AustralianBroadcasting Authority states—

"The ABA considers that theclassification of the 'Ren and Stimpy'


program was in accordance with theprovisions of the Commercial TelevisionIndustry Code of Practice."

If that is its conclusion, I say that it is time tochange the Commercial Television IndustryCode of Practice. I say that it is time to getnew representatives on the AustralianBroadcasting Authority and it is time to putpressure on television networks to think moreabout their role in society, especially theirinfluence on young children. The AustralianBroadcasting Authority's report on theclassification of Ren and Stimpy leavesparents with only one option, that is, to beextremely vigilant about what their childrenwatch on television.

As I said at the outset, television canopen and has opened our eyes to the world. Ithas performed an excellent job as an educatoron a whole range of subjects, but it has alsobeen responsible for lowering values in ourcommunity. Parents need to look more closelyat what children are watching on television,and the networks and the AustralianBroadcasting Authority need to look atthemselves and take a more responsibleattitude. Our children's future depends on it.


Mr SANTORO (Clayfield) (11.41 a.m.): Itis clear that the incompetence, the neglectand the mismanagement that has marked thisGovernment's stewardship of the workers'compensation scheme for the past six yearscontinues today, will continue tomorrow andwill last for as long as this Government clingsto office. For all our sakes, I hope that that isnot long. Yesterday the Premierconsummated a deal, secretly negotiated withthe unions, the members of the caucus andthe factions, which next year will seeQueensland employers pay probably well inexcess of $100m more than they did last yearin workers' compensation premiums. That is adecision in which those employers hadprecious little say.

I make that rough estimate advisedly.When the Government imposed a 13.5 percent increase in premiums in July 1993, therewas an increase in premium income—andtherefore in premium costs to employers—ofover $100m. Given that the current estimatesof the likely increase in premiums starts ataround 20 per cent on a much higherpremium base, then even discounting forslower employment growth—which is now acertainty for Queensland this year—theincreased cost of employment in this State thisfinancial year will probably be well in excess of

that arbitrary figure of $100m. If the increasein the premium rate is as high as we in thecoalition believe it may well be—of the order ofan effective increase much closer to 40 percent—when one takes into account anincreased rate, accompanied by acontinuation of the attack on the merit bonusscheme, then the cost to employers couldeasily be much higher.

Mr Veivers: And the Premier wouldn'tanswer this morning.

Mr SANTORO: I take that interjection.The Premier would not answer that questionbecause he cannot do so. I will discuss thereasons for that in a moment.

Essentially the most offensive thing aboutmaking such guesstimates is that anybody inthis State at this stage of the decision-makingprocess on such an important topic should bereduced to guesstimates. But that is where weall are—in Government as well as inOpposition or in business or in the unions. Itreally verges on policy insanity that aGovernment could make such a huge decisionwith such far-reaching consequences havingeffectively dealt with only one side of theargument, and only from anideological/industrial viewpoint.

The whole thing is sheer madness. But Isuppose desperate men and desperatewomen do desperate things, and there is nodoubting the degree of desperation that hasbeen driving the Government's handling of thisissue ever since it was finally forced—and Istress "forced"—to go public in August with thedisgraceful state of the fund. It has beenpointed out by earlier speakers from thecoalition that the Government's entire record inhandling the workers' compensation issue hasbeen dismal right from its first year in office.The extraordinary, mutually exclusive decisionof 1990 to increase benefits whilesimultaneously reducing premiums was, to putit bluntly, idiocy. The Government can do oneor the other, but it cannot do both. It cannotdo both simultaneously and not expect thelines on the graph to cross. Add the recessionthat we had to have—forced upon us by LaborGovernments—which was so clearly apparentby late 1990 when the decision on benefitswas taken, and the lines ultimately crossedvery quickly, just as the Government musthave known they would. When one then takesinto account the subsequent but clearlyassociated total destruction of the freereserves and the steady deterioration in themerit bonus arrangements while common lawgot out of hand and the Government didnothing—except introduce what the Leader of


the Opposition has appropriately parodied its"draft exposure Bill"—then there is no mysteryat all as to how the scheme has fallen on suchextraordinarily bad times. Incompetence,neglect and mismanagement are the reasonsfor the disaster—not the legal profession,which has been blamed by the Premier andhis Government.

I repeat that background to the currentcrisis in shorthand form, outlined in greaterdetail by earlier speakers, only to reinforce theregrettable, the lamentable and theunforgivable fact that the disaster so clearlycontinues. By the way it has gone about thisdeal, the Government has established asclearly as it possibly could that it has learnednothing; and the inescapable conclusion isthat it is clearly not capable of learning from itspast mistakes in relation to the fund, even withthe 15 July shock treatment that it received.The $100m-plus extra impost on businessimposed by the Premier yesterday simply tosave his own skin in the caucus and from theunion movement without due reference to thepeople who will have to pay absolutely andtotally confirms that. So does the equallyextraordinary fact that he made his deal withthe unions, effectively at the meetings onFriday, without the slightest idea of the cost tothe system of the increases in statutorybenefits or, by definition, the level of increasein premiums that will be needed to fund thoseincreases. I wonder whether the Premierthought through the consequences foranybody but himself—for whom I am sure heis truly relieved.

My wager today is that, inside six months,the workers of this State will be as mad withthe Premier as all employers must now be,because the very high probability is that hehas just condemned perhaps as many asthousands of Queenslanders tounemployment through a combination of jobsthat will be lost directly as a result of thisdecision and because of the jobs that will nowsimply never see the light of day in this State.If anybody considers that threat to bemischievous or scaremongering, I suggest thatthey talk to some employers on the topic, as Iand other coalition members have been doingover the past few months. Let me dissuadesome people from the view that workers'compensation premiums are a minor cost foremployers that could not possibly have majorrepercussions. I will cite some examples ofhow employers are viewing this decision.These are examples with which theGovernment ought to be familiar, as they arecase studies provided to the Government. I willquote directly from submissions to the Metal

Trades Industry Association, one of whichstates—

"Currently we pay approximately$230,000 in premiums—30% more wouldincrease this by approximately $70,000 to$300,000. We are under intense pressurefrom competition both at home and fromoverseas to maintain, never mind expand,our business and create more jobs forQueenslanders. Our customers are simplynot prepared to pay more for ourproducts. Therefore, cost increasescannot just be passed on to theconsumer. Any increase would hurt thisbusiness, but an increase of anywherenear the size being suggested woulddefinitely result in staff reductions andredundancies."

Another submission states— "We are a small subcontractor to the

building industry. Our margins are very lowand prices cannot be raised. We competeagainst backyarders who don't payworkers compensation, employingsubcontractors. Last year our premiumswere over $10,000 for seven employees.That was more than we made in profit lastyear! A 30% increase, or an extra $3,000plus we cannot afford. We will be forcedto lay off employees and use subcontractlabour to compete."

I have here another example from anotherindustry—the meat industry. I will not namethe meatworks, but it is an important exportabattoir not far from Brisbane, employingalmost 300 people. Its assessed premium lastyear was over three quarters of a milliondollars. Based on a 20 per cent increase inpremium—which would appear a conservativeguesstimate—as well as employers paying thefirst five days of benefits, the estimate is for anincreased workers' compensation cost of$180,000. One does not need to know muchabout the current state of the beef industry inQueensland to recognise what an increase incosts on that scale will do to thecompetitiveness of our meat industry whenthey are spread right across our meatworks.

Government members should not try topretend that this decision "by the Premier, forthe Premier" will not cost jobs. It will cost plentyof jobs. I return to one of the recurring themesof Opposition comments on this whole affair:the workers did not create the disaster in theworkers' compensation scheme. While for ashort period some of the union leaders mightthink that they have had a victory, they willhave the opportunity down the track to thinkagain. Employers did not create the problem.


Only those people who have not bothered tostudy the record can now possibly believeanything but that the Government—thoseopposite—are the ones who have created thisdisaster. As the Leader of the Opposition andthe Deputy Leader of the Coalition have bothasked: where is the Government's recognitionof its role and its acceptance of theconsequence of that role? Where is its kick-into solve the problem that it has created? Asthose two members have indicated, it isnowhere to be seen.

This episode illustrates clearly severalprinciples upon which this Governmentoperates. Firstly, there is the abdication ofministerial responsibility. We have heard totalsilence from the Attorney-General as thescheme over which he presided—and inrelation to which he boasted about hiswonderful stewardship—has entered a state oftotal collapse. The Attorney-General gave thehospital pass to the hapless Minister forEmployment, the member for Mount Coot-tha,and today she is squirming while he sitsback—the leader of the original attack on thecommon law rights of Queenslanders which heand the Government had to abandon in aneffort to avoid the march on Parliament Houseby thousands and perhaps tens of thousandsof unionists. We have seen secret deals withselected stakeholders and a total cave-in toone of those stakeholders—the unions. Wehave seen the introduction to this Parliamentof an uncosted and actuarially unsoundalternative which will further bankrupt theeconomy of Queensland. This Governmenthas kept the Workers Compensation Board inthe dark, as John Thompson stated on the7.30 Report when he debated the issue withme recently. So the Government has kept notonly all members of Parliament and allQueenslanders in the dark but it has also keptthe Workers Compensation Board in the dark.We have seen the destruction of a onceproud, efficient and effective workers'compensation system, which when presidedover by non-Labor Governments servedQueensland's employers and employees well.That is the legacy of Wayne Goss and theLabor Party. This Government is no longerreferred to as "the Goss Labor Government",because all Labor Party members know thatMr Goss has done them in.

Youth Employment

Mr NUTTALL (Sandgate) (11.50 a.m.):This morning I wish to focus on the issue ofyouth employment. It is an appropriate time tobe speaking about youth employment given

that many students in Year 12 are coming tothe end of their school lives. Those youngpeople, who will be coming on to the labourmarket in 1996, basically have——

Mr Veivers: They don't have anywhereto go.

Mr NUTTALL: Basically those studentshave four choices. Firstly, they can undertakefurther education at university. Queenslandhas fought long and hard for additional placesat its universities to be offered for thosestudents leaving Year 12. Secondly, thoseYear 12 students who choose not to attenduniversity have the opportunity of undertakinga course at a TAFE college. The Governmenthas managed, with funding from theCommonwealth Government, to create anadditional 4,200 full and part-time positions atTAFE colleges. The third option today foryoung school leavers is to enter the workforce, which is often quite difficult. As Australiahad full employment when most members inthis Chamber finished school, they had theopportunity of choosing what sort of work theywent into. Most members were offered two orthree, or maybe four, jobs.

The fourth, and I suppose the most tragic,choice that faces young people—and really itis not a choice—is unemployment. That issueneeds to be addressed. There is no easyanswer to unemployment. However, I firmlybelieve that the community should not sit backand say that 5 per cent unemployment shouldbe the target for the turn of the century. Myview is that nothing short of full employment issatisfactory. Each Government, of whateverpersuasion and at whatever tier, shouldincrease its efforts in terms of creatingemployment opportunities for people and toensure that everything possible is done tolower the unemployment rate in Australia.

Youth unemployment is probably one ofthe largest community problems faced bysociety. The problem is not any greater in anyone area, whether an individual is living in thecountry, in regional areas or in themetropolitan cities throughout Australia. Youthunemployment is a major concern, and Iintend to address later in my speech some ofthe ways in which this Government is trying tofix the problem.

The difficulty is that we as a society havecome to expect much more of our youngpeople. The expectation is that young peoplewill move on to tertiary education aftercompleting their secondary education, whetherthat be at a university or at a TAFE college.The difficulty is that there are a number ofyoung people who simply are left behind


because they do not achieve the requiredpoints or marks. They do not get to the cut-offpoint and therefore they are left out. Whatbecomes of those students? What becomesof those young people in our society who arevery skilful with their hands but who from anacademic point of view are not necessarilygreat achievers. Where do they come intoplay? How do we as a society look after thoseyoung people?

My view is that much greater emphasisneeds to be placed on apprenticeships andtraineeships. I do not believe for one momentthat enough has been done. WhileGovernments have introduced certainprograms, they have not done enough interms of increasing the number ofapprenticeships and traineeships throughoutthis country. It is not up to Governments aloneto increase the number of apprenticeships andtraineeships, nor is it up to private enterprise toincrease their number. It has to be a jointeffort. Sometimes we have to look at the hardeconomics of that proposal and say, "How dowe do that?" I can understand an employersaying, "It is extremely difficult for me in asmall plumbing business to put on anapprentice when I lose that person for nearly18 to 20 weeks of the year through trainingand holidays." Basically employers lose theirfirst, second, third and fourth year apprenticesfor a quarter of the year.

The Government has tried to address thatissue in a number of ways. One way has beenwith the prevocational courses that youngpeople can now undertake at TAFE collegeswhich require apprentices to attend TAFE for afull 12-month period. They undertake theorywork as part of their apprenticeship, but alsogain practical experience. When they finishthat training, they move straight into thesecond year of their apprenticeship and theemployer has the opportunity of maintainingthat apprentice in the workplace for the fullthree years. That is a very good scheme, onethat should be enhanced to encouragestudents to undertake that sort of training andwork.

One difficulty is that some employers arenot always in a position to be able to providetheir apprentices with the broad range of workthat their skill enhancement requires. Thegroup apprenticeship schemes that are now inplace throughout the State are playing a vitaland important role in providing that broadrange of work. From my research I discoveredthat Queensland has 22 group apprenticeshipschemes. They are located throughout themajor regional areas, including Mount Isa,

Mackay, Toowoomba, Hervey Bay, Roma,Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Gladstone andBrisbane. They are spread far and wide. Thegroup apprenticeship schemes are aimed atencouraging young people to broaden theirapprenticeship skills and their understandingof the apprenticeship and traineeship in thetrade in which they are involved.

My research has revealed that mostapprenticeships are undertaken in theconstruction industries. In the past theconstruction industry has always beencharacterised by cycles of boom and bust,which is unfortunate. Young apprentices needto be assured that they will not be caught upin that boom-bust cycle.

At present, Queensland has 5,721 first-year apprentices, 7,060 second-yearapprentices, 5,752 third-year apprentices, and5,101 fourth and final-year apprentices. As at30 June, Queensland had 3,231 traineeships.That is a glowing record of the number ofapprenticeships in Queensland. However, nohonourable member would deny that moreshould be done, and I would be the first oneto say that more needs to be done to employmore apprentices. Employer organisationshave a major role to play in employing moreapprentices. Today I call on those employerorganisations to lift their efforts to increase thenumber of apprentices throughout this Stateto help Queensland's young people obtainmeaningful employment through a tradeapprenticeship.

I encourage employers to offerapprenticeships not only to young men butalso to employ young women. Of the totalnumber of apprenticeships available now, onlyabout 4 per cent are taken up by youngwomen. I think we can do a lot better thanthat. Some of the reports I have read indicatethat young women in apprenticeships do a farbetter job than some of the young men. Weneed to tap into that resource much more. Iam asking employer groups to have a seriouslook at what they can do about that.

Time expired.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The time allottedfor Matters of Public Interest has now expired.

DISTINGUISHED VISITOR

His Excellency Mr Fessehaie Abraham

Mr SPEAKER: I note the presence inthe Speaker's Gallery of His Excellency MrFessehaie Abraham, Ambassador of the Stateof Eritrea.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!


ADDRESS IN REPLYThird Allotted Day

Debate resumed from 15 September (seep. 360).

Mr SPEAKER: Order! This is themember's first speech and it should belistened to with the normal courtesies reservedfor such an inaugural speech.

Mr HARPER (Mount Ommaney) (12.03p.m.): It gives me great pleasure to stand heretoday as the newly elected member for MountOmmaney. On behalf of the people of theelectorate of Mount Ommaney, I convey toHer Excellency their best wishes and confirmtheir loyalty and my own to the Crown. I offerto you, Mr Speaker, my personalcongratulations on your re-election to the mostimportant and honoured office of Speaker ofthis Parliament.

I record here my appreciation to thepeople of Mount Ommaney for theirconfidence in electing me as theirrepresentative in the Queensland Parliament. Ithank the many members of the public whogave me encouragement and support overthe past many months during the campaign. Igive my commitment to all of the people of theMount Ommaney electorate that I will strive todo the best of my ability in representing themin this Parliament and our electorate ingeneral.

I look forward to consulting widely with thepeople of my electorate to learn of their manyneeds, problems and the ideas they putforward, and to working for them. This will allowme to represent the interests and aspirationsof all of my constituents. In doing so, I will beguided by the need to recognise the rights ofindividuals, the role of strong families andcommunity support, the legitimacy of privateenterprise and honest profit, and the enduringvalue of the legal, parliamentary and Christiantraditions which continue to serve our nationand this State so well. These are ideals whichmy party firmly believes in.

I also want to thank most sincerely themany friends and supporters who worked sohard for my campaign and for the Liberal Partyin Mount Ommaney. There are too many toname here, but I felt most humbled by andgrateful for the number of people who cameforward to help. I would especially like tothank, in a way representative of all of thatteam, the Krauses; the Griffiths, who are in thegallery today; the McBrydes; the O'Fearnas;and Councillor Christine Watson and BillWatson. In addition, I offer a special thanks tothe member for Moggill, Dr David Watson,

whose help and advice was always readilygiven and much appreciated by me.

I was fortunate to have help from themembers for Clayfield, Nerang, Crows Nestand Indooroopilly, as well as the Federalmember for Ryan, John Moore. I also want tothank most sincerely Grant Muller and histeam of young people, who were tremendousand who showed the spirit and hard work thatthe young people of today put into theirbeliefs. I also thank the central campaignpeople.

It is a pleasure to place on record mythanks to the coalition leaders for theirsupport. The members for Surfers Paradiseand Caloundra visited the Mount Ommaneyelectorate on several occasions to support mycampaign, and they were always warmlyreceived by the people.

I am very pleased to sit in the sameHouse as my brother Neville did. I thank ourparents, the late Neville and Hazel Harper, forthe strong family upbringing they gave me andfor encouraging me to make my way in life.Our father was active in politics, and I am surethat our parents would have been well pleasedif they knew that both of their sons enteredthis Parliament.

To my wife, Rhonda, who is in the gallerytoday, and my three beautiful daughtersJacinta, Hayley and Deanne, I owe anenormous thank you. They stood by me,encouraged and helped me on the long roadto winning the seat of Mount Ommaney. Icould not ask for a more loving family, and Ihappily share my experiences with them. I willcontinue to draw support from them during mytime here.

It is my experience as a family man thatleads me in part to want to work to enhancethe values of our society. We need toencourage cooperation and support in ourcommunity, putting back some of those old-fashioned values, backing those manyindividuals and organisations that work so hardto help others and to improve our world. I amwell aware of the needs of young people andthe challenges facing them today. We shouldturn our minds especially to that issue. Weowe them support and encouragement, alongwith a bright future, and I look forward to beingable to contribute in some way to this.

I am honoured to follow previous Liberalmembers in what was formerly the seat ofSherwood, now Mount Ommaney—DavidDunworth, Angus Innes and the late JohnHerbert. The seat of Mount Ommaney ismade up of the fine suburbs of Oxley,Corinda, part of Sherwood and Seventeen


Mile Rocks, areas representing the olderresidential suburbs; along with the newerresidential areas of Jindalee, MountOmmaney, Jamboree Heights, Middle Park,Westlake, Riverhills and Sinnamon Park.

The electorate draws its name from thesuburb of Mount Ommaney. That name hasits own history. The name "Ommaney" wasgiven to the hill or mountain in the mid-1880sin memory of one James Ommaney, who waskilled while riding his horse there shortly aftercoming out from England. He was to take overthe land from his uncle.

The whole area, in fact, has a long historyclosely connected to that of Brisbane. Thishistory goes back to the last century when itwas part of the pathway to the west, both byriver and by land. One can reflect on the factthat John Oxley rowed up the Brisbane Riverin 1823, naming Canoe Creek, which wasrenamed and is now called Oxley Creek. It is,of course, the Brisbane River and Oxley Creekwhich now form a major part of the boundaryof the Mount Ommaney electorate.

Following Oxley's expedition, it was notlong before pioneers settled in the area. Theland was well farmed in those early days,including the growing of sugarcane—whichhas long gone from the area—and wheat andthe grazing of cattle. It is interesting to notethat this city electorate of Mount Ommaneystill boasts an operating dairy farm, the closestto the Brisbane GPO. This is on land ownedby the Sinnamon family—people whopioneered the Seventeen Mile Rocks area inthe 1860s. They built the first church andschool there. These buildings are still standingand in use today. It was the wish of the late SirHercules Sinnamon that that operating farmwould stay forever for the young people ofBrisbane to see. One would hope that thatwould come about.

Last Saturday, with you, Mr Palaszczuk, Iattended the 125th anniversary of the OxleyState School. You once taught at that school.I reflected on that day on some of thememorabilia on display and on what thingswould have been like in that area 125 yearsago. There are not a lot of schools in our Statethat can boast 125 years of continuousteaching.

It can be said that the pioneering spiritlives on in the people of Mount Ommaney, aswas witnessed during the 1974 floods. Despitemuch of the electorate going under water, theresidents later fought back, re-establishingtheir lives and their homes.

One finds a rich blend of backgroundsamongst the people of Mount Ommaney, with

residents coming from nearly every country ofthe world. I believe that this gives our localcommunity a great strength. I look forward toworking with those many peoples, both toensure the ongoing preservation of theirtraditions and cultures and to create a bettersociety in Australia through a richer and morediverse culture. A strong sense of communityexists in the electorate, with people readilyidentifying with the area. This is made easierby the fact that the electorate is bounded bythe Brisbane River, Oxley Creek and majorroads. It is unique in Brisbane in that it is easyto say, "That is the Mount Ommaneyelectorate," or "That is that area."

A large number of communityorganisations are active and doing good workwithin the Mount Ommaney electorate. Thereare too many to name, and to do so wouldmean omitting some. However, they includegroups which are concerned with people fromthe young to the seniors, schools, churches,sport and security for our homes and theenvironment. They also include the RSL, theCWA and self-help based groups. I want tohelp enhance this community spirit and lookforward to working with and for the manygroups and individuals. I will continue to workfor facilities in Mount Ommaney that willbenefit the people and serve as a focal pointfor local activities and programs. Theelectorate is fortunate to have a number offacilities for our elderly to live in, and I willcontinue to support their needs. These includeboth private and church-run facilities, all ofwhich are of the highest standard. It is great tosee that people in their later years have thosefacilities available to them.

Another sector of interest to me is theenvironment, both of the Mount Ommaneyelectorate and Queensland in general. Whenwe can, my family and I enjoy our nationalparks and natural open areas. I will worktowards sensible preservation of thoseresources. On that score on the local scene, Iwill give three examples of environmentalissues within Mount Ommaney. Firstly, weneed to work towards cleaning up theBrisbane River, which runs the length of thewestern side of the electorate, so that manypeople can enjoy its water and banks forrecreation and relaxation. As I drive over theCentenary Bridge, I cannot help thinking of theoriginal inhabitants who fished and swam inthat river right up until the last century. It is apity that that magnificent waterway does notoffer the very same attraction—with safety—forresidents today.

Secondly, I refer to another waterway inmy electorate, that is, Oxley Creek. Various


tests have shown that the waters of thatwonderful resource are not fit for exposure topeople, yet Oxley Creek has facilities that areready for our community to enjoy. It isessential that we change this state of affairsso that families and individuals may partake ofthe recreation opportunities it offers, especiallycanoeing and swimming. I look forward tocontinuing to support the groups that areworking towards that.

The third example involves one of the golfclubs in my electorate which draws water froma small creek called No Name Creek. That clubhas a problem, because poor quality waterfrom that creek is killing the grass at the golfclub. In common with the communitygenerally, I believe that this is not goodenough in this day and age.

I shall outline briefly my background andrefer firstly to my working background. Incommon with some other members of thisHouse, I have a working background in theelectricity industry. While working in thatindustry, I studied at night to obtain my degreeand went on to be involved in the control ofthe budgeting for that industry and, amongother things, the computer developments and,interestingly, award restructuring. Given thesize and importance of that industry, we needto ensure its wellbeing. One aspect thatshould always be given attention is staffmorale, not only the morale of the consumersof that industry but also of the people whowork in it and their safety. I will continue totake a very serious interest in that industry andlook forward to commenting on it from time totime.

The other matter that I will discuss inregard to my background is my communityinvolvement over the years. I enjoy workingwith people, and over the years that has ledme to be involved with school P & Cs,establishing and working with the welfarecentre, young people's programs, child care,crisis housing and youth shelters—to namesome. My experience over those years hastaught me that we must always take intoaccount the effects of actions of society on ourpeople and the real needs of those peopleand ensure that they are looked after. I lookforward to being involved with that in thefuture.

I turn now to some of the needs of theMount Ommaney electorate in regard toGovernment services. As I campaigned andtalked to many people over the nearly 12months of my election campaign, theyconveyed their concerns to me. I believe thatwe must hear their words and take action

accordingly. One of the needs within MountOmmaney is that of a community centre orcentres. That needs to be addressed so thatpeople have somewhere to gather and meetin groups and have the facilities to providebacking for the needy. I look forward toworking with the community to ensure thatMount Ommaney is well served in that regard.

Another issue of concern is employment,especially for young people. According to thestatistics for Mount Ommaney, the under-25age group makes up 40 per cent of thepopulation. We must offer to those youngpeople especially a hope for employment.That is something that we must all payattention to and put our efforts towards.

The Centenary area within the MountOmmaney electorate certainly needs itspromised police station. Also, theOxley/Corinda/Sherwood area and itsresidents need assurance of continued policecoverage. I look forward to working with themember for Indooroopilly to ensure that that isthe case with the Sherwood Police Station. Ibelieve that we should address the aspect ofsafety in our homes and businesses. As Itravelled around the electorate before theelection people told me—and they continue totell me—that safety is of concern to them.They are worried about their safety in theirhomes. Business people throughout theelectorate tell me of their troubles with beingharassed during business hours and theirbusinesses being broken into once they areclosed. They are not happy with that state ofaffairs.

Only recently there were two clearexamples of a sad trend within our society.During school hours, young people broke intoone of the two high schools within myelectorate, physically held some of theteachers and attacked certain students of thatschool and their teachers. That is just notgood enough within our modern-day world.When considering safety and law and order, Ibelieve that we must never forget the rights ofvictims. Those are some of the concerns thatpeople have expressed to me.

Another issue of concern to the MountOmmaney electorate is the fact that there arefive prisons right next door or nearby. Peopleaccept that this is the state of affairs andrealise that prisons have to be builtsomewhere; however, they need assurancethat safety and security at those prisons will bemaintained at a maximum at all times so thatthey can be guaranteed that there will not beany break-outs. Only this morning at around5.30, I heard the State police helicopter flying


overhead for nearly two hours. They weresearching for a young lady who is missing; buteach time that police helicopter hoversoverhead, some of the residents, includingme, wonder whether it is another prison break-out at Wacol.

We are very fortunate to have goodschools in the Mount Ommaney electorate.They include a modern special school that hasfine facilities for the young people who attendit. We also have the unique Oxley SecondaryCollege, which is not only a high school forteenagers progressing through to Year 12 butalso a secondary college to which people of allages can return if they want to continue theirhigh school and other education. However, theschools in the area need further resources.There is a crying need for a high school withinthe Centenary suburbs. At the moment,several hundred Centenary youngstersattending high schools are bussed out eachmorning and bussed back in the afternoon.They attend the surrounding five State highschools and various private schools. Althoughthose other high schools provide goodeducation and facilities, it is not satisfactory tothe children or the parents in the Centenaryarea that students have to be bussed out toschools in this way every day. The area alsohas a growing concern about class sizes,which continue to be over the quotas of 25and 30, and the stress on teachers. As I movearound the schools in my electorate, thoseconcerns are raised.

The electorate has a lack of public healthfacilities and a definite need, for instancewithin the Centenary area, for an ambulancestation. The people need ready access tohospitals. They have to make long trips toeither the Royal Brisbane, the PA or the QE II.I know that a lot of them will be pleased thatthe QE II is to be reopened fully. However, weneed to address this issue and make it easy,especially for the elderly or those who do nothave their own transport, to reach thosehospitals with ease.

I turn to a very sensitive and importantmatter about which a lot of people have cometo see me and written to me, that is, theoverall needs of handicapped people. We seethe problems with the proposed closures ofthe Challinor Centre and the Basil StaffordCentre and the use of halfway homes, whichflow through to the special schools. We needto give sensitive and very seriousconsideration to this matter. I have heard frompeople who represent the families, whorepresent teachers and who representneighbours of some of the halfway homes. Ithink we need to ensure that the overall

programs have the correct and necessaryresources put into them to ensure that allfacets of our community are well catered for asa result of well-intentioned, but sometimesmisguided, changes.

Small-business operators within thearea—and there are a large number—keeptelling me that they are bound by Governmentrequirements and burdened by paperwork. Ibelieve that we as a Parliament need toaddress this problem and free up regulationsso that small-business operators can get onwith their job of providing the necessaryemployment to the many people in our State.

I turn now to a topic that has not receivedvery much or due attention, that is, thetransport requirements of the MountOmmaney electorate. The people of theMount Ommaney electorate basically havetwo major roads out of which they can escapetowards the city—the Centenary Highway thatis linked to the Western Freeway and OxleyRoad, upon which people can travel throughIndooroopilly, eventually onto Milton Road andinto the city. Already, those highways androads are blocked severely. In the morning, itis nothing to spend three-quarters of an hourto travel three or four kilometres. We know thatthere has been a massive explosion ofdevelopment south of Ipswich Road and thattens of thousands of houses are expected tobe built in that area over the next decade ortwo, bringing so many more people onto thoseroads travelling to town, especially duringworking days. Immediate consideration needsto be given to what effect that developmentwill have not only on those people but also onthe residents of Mount Ommaney who arelocked into travelling on those two majorroads.

Another matter that we need to address isthe provision of more easily accessible publictransport, especially the railways. We are luckyto have a railway line that runs through theelectorate, although it is located on theeastern side. However, I believe that we needto provide secure parking areas to encouragepeople to leave their cars off the road andtravel by fast train to the city.

I would like to say that I support theLiberal Party beliefs, which recognise the rightsand freedoms of individuals and their ability tomake choices with respect to their own liveswhile respecting the rights of their fellowcitizens. Today, those rights and freedoms areunder pressure but, in my time in this place, Iintend to address them and push for them.Finally, I again assure the people of MountOmmaney of my commitment to working for


them. I thank the honourable memberspresent for their attention.

Mr PEARCE (Fitzroy) (12.26 p.m.): Insupporting the motion for the adoption of theAddress in Reply, firstly I would like to thankthe people of the Fitzroy electorate for theirendorsement of the way in which I do my workas a local member by re-electing me to thisplace. I express my appreciation also to thecommunity development officers, the healthworkers, educators, emergency serviceworkers and local councillors in all thecommunities in my electorate for the excellentsupport that they have given me over the lastthree years. I look forward to working withthem again during this term.

I extend my appreciation also to themembers of the Labor Party branches in theelectorate, who are not only loyal supportersbut also good friends. They have done atremendous amount of work for me as thelocal member. Without the dedication and thehard work of my electorate officer, SarahBarnbaum, my job would be much moredifficult. I am quite proud to say that she isrecognised as one of the most efficientelectorate officers in Queensland. I know thatshe is worthy of that recognition. To my wifeDiane and three sons, who have been a towerof strength, I thank you for your loyal support.

I look forward to my third term as amember of Parliament and to representing thepeople of Fitzroy for a second term. As manypeople in this House would know, the Fitzroyelectorate is the eighth largest in Queenslandand covers an area of more than 33,000square kilometres. There are 16 coalmines inthe electorate, supported by the coal towns ofDysart, Middlemount, Tieri and Blackwater.Rockhampton is the beef capital of Australiaand much of the beef produced in the regioncomes from within the Fitzroy electorate andthe electorates that border it. There are alsoextensive grain-growing areas within theelectorate, and together with various smallmining operations, small-crop production,timber and aquaculture, they add to thediversity of what is a wealth-producing area.

Over the term of this Parliament, I intendto pursue a number of issues important to thepeople of Fitzroy and the central Queenslandregion. By working as the link between thecommunity and Government, we can build onthe many achievements of the Government atboth the State and local levels.

No doubt a wide range of issues in theFitzroy electorate would share a number ofsimilarities with issues affecting other ruralelectorates. Although it may be only briefly, I

would like to pay some attention to thedrought and to health and coal industryrelated issues. Before referring to thoseimportant matters, firstly I would like to touchon an issue of which all members in this placeshould take notice. One of thedisappointments of the last election was theway in which young people turned their backson major parties. Support for minor parties andIndependents from young voters was strongas those candidates were seen as localidentities who were able to relate to localconcerns rather than merely extensions of amajor party. The major parties were seen asbig, centralised, alienating and run byambitious young men in suits. That goes for allof us. We have to be fair dinkum about that.Those comments are not my words; they havecome directly from young people to whom Ihave spoken.

Young people have told me thatGovernments must learn to sit down with themin the schools, in the streets and in theentertainment venues and talk face to facewith them about their concerns. We cannotcontinue to just consult with youth groups andbelieve that they will always offer a truerepresentation of youth today. There is muchmore to it than that. Young people wantrecognition for who they are, not whom weexpect them to be. They want to be spokenwith, not talked down to. They do not want tobe blamed for the ills of society, and weshould not assume that young people are theproblem. As leaders, we need to get youngpeople involved in assisting the Governmentto identify and address the problems that theyare confronted with on a daily basis. We haveto listen to them and not treat them as fools.The fools, I believe, are those in society whorefuse to respect and acknowledge our youthas the country's strength and future leaders. Ifwe give our young generation theopportunities, they will deliver.

I encourage more determined focus onthe needs of our elderly by Government atlocal, State and Federal levels. I am sure thatthe average citizen does not understand justhow many elderly residents are confined totheir homes through illness, disability, financialcircumstances or simply old age. Since beingendorsed as a Labor candidate in 1988 and inmy time as a sitting member, I know from doorknocking that there are large numbers of sickand lonely elderly people who require somelove and care to improve their quality of life. Iacknowledge the dedicated work of the BlueNurses, Meals on Wheels, local church groupsand carers, but I feel there is a need to domore. Members can look at it this way: we all


get old. Therefore, it is up to us to put in placethe services and support for the elderly oftoday that we would expect as the elderly oftomorrow.

I turn now to the problem of the droughtin central Queensland. As of 30 September1995, 40 shires, parts of five other shires anda further 1,009 individual properties in 26 othershires were officially drought declared inQueensland. This represents 35 per cent ofthe State by area or 19,000 primaryproduction enterprises. In central Queensland,patchy rain has brought some relief toproperties in my electorate, but theDawson/Callide area has received nothing tospeak of. Yesterday, there was some rain tothe north of my electorate and in the region ofCharters Towers, which has been welcomedby producers in that area.

I am proud that the Goss Governmentremains committed to assisting drought-affected rural producers. To date in 1995-96,some $646,000 has been expended on theprocessing of 925 trade subsidiaryapplications. This brings the total of droughtexpenditure from July 1991 to date to morethan $38m.

There has to be recognition by everybodyin this place that the drought situation remainscritical. In particular, I appeal to the media tokeep the drought up-front as an issue. Withoutthe media, drought-stricken families will simplywilt away and fade into dust. In fact, on behalfof drought-affected communities in this State Ishould thank the media for the way in which ithas kept the people of Queensland informedabout the drought, its impact on rural familiesand the communities in which they live andwork. There is no doubt that media coveragehas motivated organisations and individuals todevelop initiatives to help out their countrycousins. I thank the media for its support andurge it to continue with that recognition of thedrought and its continuance. The StateGovernment, as I said, has worked closely withrural producers, and will continue to do so, tohelp them through this drought as long as it iswith us.

I turn to the issue of health, which isimportant not just to the people of myelectorate but to all people in ruralQueensland. I acknowledge that there is muchthat can be done to improve health services.We all know that, and I believe that theGovernment is doing what it can to improvethose services. New hospitals are being builtand hospital expansions are under way, andthat will continue.

In Rockhampton, a new psychiatric unit isnow under construction. That $5m project willgive Rockhampton a 28-bed unit which willcombine inpatient facilities with a communityoutreach centre. This new facility will replacethe present 10-bed unit, which was describedby Brian Burdekin in his report as substandard.It will help to set the standard for the rest ofthe State. I am pleased to say that it is abouttwo to three weeks ahead of schedule. I amlooking forward to its completion.

I will be lobbying the Health Minister forimproved mental health services in Emerald tomeet the growing demand for a central andwest Queensland service, as there is growingconcern that the current service is totallyinadequate to meet the needs of the centralQueensland region. Many residents feel that apermanent mental health unit needs to beestablished at the Emerald Hospital to caterfor the region's growing population, which is inexcess of some 47,000 people. Currently thenearest mental health facility is Rockhampton,which is many hours away from patients andcarers. The inadequacy of the current servicehas placed added pressures on local doctorsand other support agencies, alreadyoverloaded and often not trained in theprovision of mental health services. Patientsneed to be able to access mental healthprofessionals on a regular basis and should beentitled to receive the same quality of care asis available in metropolitan areas. Forexample, administration and regulation ofmedication, behavioural therapy and supportfor families, and especially carers, should beavailable. It is recognised that there is aproblem in that community and the HealthMinister is committed to improving those typesof services in rural Queensland. I congratulatehim on the approach that he has taken todate. I know that he will continue thatapproach and his intention to get it right.

Rockhampton's Eventide centre is to beredeveloped at a cost of more than $8m. Themember for Rockhampton and I will closelymonitor the progress of this project. We bothwant to see the current facility replaced asquickly as possible, so that the elderlyresidents can have a decent place in which tospend their final days.

In my electorate, the Mount MorganHospital has been allocated $455,000 forhealth and safety improvements. I aminformed that Q-Build in Rockhampton hasreceived authorisation to proceed with thiswork and that preliminary investigation workshave been completed. Although I spent manymonths lobbying Queensland Health for thosefunds, the announcement was made in the


lead-up to the election. One could say it waswell timed. However, because of that I believeit is important for the Government, and for meas the local member, to get on with the job.

Since the election, I have also beenlobbying Queensland Health for funds toreplace the Mount Morgan Hospital's hot watersystem, which is now pushing almost 30 yearsof age. There was also an announcement thata new health facility is to be built atWoorabinda at a cost of about $4.6m. I cantell the House that the people of Woorabindaare delighted that, after many years oflobbying, they are to get this facility. Mostimportantly—and this is the thing that I likeand respect about the Minister—healthprofessionals and the local community are tobe involved in the planning process. I can tellthe Minister that that is welcomed inWoorabinda.

During this term I will continue to work withthe staff of the Dysart, Mount Morgan andBlackwater Hospitals, with regional healthworkers and with the local community toidentify and put in place the health servicesthat the community feels are most needed tomeet local demands. The Government isconcerned with improving health services forthose communities, not downgrading them assome people within the community wouldhave us believe. I know how importanthospitals are to rural towns and there is noway that, as the local member, I will allow anyof the hospitals in my electorate to bedowngraded.

Many members know of the importance Iplace on coal mine safety. During this term Iwill vigorously pursue the matter of increasedfunding for the Mines Rescue Brigade. TheMoura mine explosion reinforced mycommitment to delivering resources to betterequip and train the State's Mine RescueBrigade.

Firstly, I would like to see a complete auditof mine rescue equipment throughout theState and funding provided to update andreplace equipment vital to the efficientoperation of the rescue brigade. To myknowledge, there has never been an in-depthaudit carried out of the mines rescue service inQueensland. To be genuine about ourcommitment to the Mines Rescue Brigade, wemust ask ourselves the following questions:what is the standard of mine rescueequipment in Queensland? Are we keepingpace with new and improved equipment?What is the age and condition of vehicles? Aremine rescue stations adequately manned? Isthere a need for another mine rescue station

in central Queensland because of the growingnumber of underground mines? Is theQueensland Mines Rescue Brigade equippedwith the latest gas monitoring technology?What is the status of current trainingopportunities for Mines Rescue Brigademembers? Those are simple but importantquestions that must be answered if we are tohave an effective and efficient Mines RescueBrigade.

The Mines Rescue Brigade should betrained in the use of gas monitoringequipment installed in underground mines. Itis no good having the equipment there if thepeople who have to perform the rescueoperations are not capable of using thatequipment. Those people need to develop thecomputer skills to be able to understand andwork with the latest gas monitoring technology.I hope to get a better idea of this by visitingNew South Wales mines rescue brigadestations in the near future to inspect facilitiesand equipment and to look at the latesttechnology that is being used in New SouthWales. With respect to health and safety inthe coal industry, I believe that the StateGovernment has an obligation to all coalindustry workers to ensure the higheststandards of health and safety in a dangerousand demanding industry. I make no apologiesto coal producers in this State when I say thatI am yet to be convinced that proposed newmining legislation will enhance health andsafety conditions for mine workers.

Some coal producers have a responsibleattitude to health and safety, but there arealso a few cowboys. Attitudes vary from minesite to mine site. Coal producers are good atrhetoric but not so good with respect to thedelivery of an ongoing commitment to healthand safety. Through legislation, theGovernment should encourage minimumstandards of health and safety in coalmines.At individual mine sites, if workers andemployers can improve on the minimumstandard, the legislation should be flexibleenough to encourage the implementation ofsuch improvements. However, there should beno flexibility whatsoever to allow a trenddownward from the minimum standard.

I am opposed to what many people seetaking place, that is, the deregulation of healthand safety in the coal industry in Queensland.I refer to a system under which individualmines are allowed to determine their ownworkplace health and safety standards. Thevery nature of the coalmining environmentdoes not allow for that freedom. Personally, Ido not have sufficient faith in the coalproducers to believe that they will remain


totally focused on health and safety, giventhat export demands influence the price ofcoal and the dollars available for producers tomaintain health and safety standards.

Understandably, coal producers mustmaintain the production of coal from theirmines. However, my experience in the industryleads me to believe that far too often the pushfor coal production is given priority over thesafety of workers. As a Government, wecannot stand back and allow an attitude todevelop whereby coal producers determineproduction to be more important than thewellbeing of the work force. In addition toproviding appropriate legislation, theGovernment must ensure that the MinesInspectorate is properly resourced. That isimportant. It is also important that inspectorsfrom the Mines Inspectorate have hands-onexperience in dealing with workers in open-cutor underground mines. To be precise,inspectors must have at-the-coalfaceexperience. Coalminers do not want beancounters monitoring the safety requirements oftheir workplace.

As everybody would know, coal isQueensland's single biggest export earner,and saleable production of coal is expected tobe more than 100 million tonnes by the year2000. I believe sincerely that there would notbe one citizen in Queensland who would notsupport the case for a strong MinesInspectorate and a properly resourced andhighly trained Mines Rescue Brigade. Forsome time, there has been a need to fillvacant inspectorate positions in centralQueensland. I understand that those positionshave been advertised and should be filledsoon. There is no excuse for the time it hastaken to fill those positions. Although I couldsay much more on this issue, my comments tothis point should be taken as an expression ofmy genuine and sincere interest in andcommitment to doing everything in my powerto improve the health and safety of workers inQueensland coalmines.

I turn now to the Police Service. The issueof policing in the Fitzroy electorate is of majorconcern, and it is one that I will continue topursue with the Police Service. I amdisappointed that, when the StateGovernment is increasing police numbersacross the State, police stations within myelectorate are set to lose three police officers.Human Resources Management within thePolice Service has come up with a formulaunder which two police officers will be takenaway from Mount Morgan and one fromDuaringa, on the Capricorn Highway. Clearly,the public fail to respect the policy of the

Police Service in justifying the downsizing ofpolice stations when they constantly hear inthe media that more police are being recruitedinto the Police Service.

Obviously, there are many legitimatereasons, such as population growth andincreasing crime rates, behind the way inwhich the Police Service distributes its officersthroughout the State. For example, theRockhampton district has 208 police officers;and although some stations are beingdownsized, the overall strength of the districtwill remain the same. Police officers are beingrelocated to the places where they are mostneeded. Although I can understand thatpolicy, it is very hard for the public to do so. Itis unreasonable to expect the people ofMount Morgan and Duaringa in myelectorate—or people in any other electorate—to accept the loss of police officers becausetheir local population has not increasedsignificantly or because their towns have a lowcrime rate. Mount Morgan is an excellentexample; its population has remained static,and its crime rate is minimal in comparisonwith that of many other centres. What is thereason for that? Why does it have such a lowcrime rate? It is because of good policing:cops doing their job and being respected bythe local community. By downsizing policestations, the impact of good policing is lost asofficers have less time to spend on the beatand the highways. As a result, the communitysuffers increased crime rates and morefrequent motor vehicle accidents, with loss oflife and injuries which cost Queenslandersmillions of dollars.

The Duaringa Police Station, located westof Rockhampton, has been downsized by oneofficer—from three to two officers. AlthoughDuaringa may have a small population, thepolice district covers some 5,632 squarekilometres. As I said, Duaringa is on theCapricorn Highway, which currently carries1,785 vehicles per day. With continued growthin the coalfields, highway traffic on that roadwill only increase. This prediction is supportedby Department of Transport figures whichshow that there has been an annual grossrate of increase in traffic flow of 3 per cent.There will be an increase in the volume oftraffic on that road. Records show that thepolice at Duaringa are doing an excellent jobin keeping that road safe. The last fatalaccident on that stretch of road that the policewere required to attend occurred in April lastyear. I think the honourable member forGregory would support the comment that, notmany years ago, three or four accidents permonth happened on that stretch of road.


However, months can now go by without therebeing an accident that the police are requiredto attend. That record speaks volumes for thejob that the police are doing.

At the end of the day—human naturebeing what it is—once motorists becomeaware that the police are not actively patrollingthe roads, there will be more accidents. Thescenario is that the police are doing their joband they are doing it in the manner which we,as taxpayers, expect them to; that is, they arekeeping the crime rate down and making ourhighways safer places for drivers. Their rewardis a reduction in police numbers, increasedworkloads and frustration as they wonder whatis expected of them. To add to the frustration,when an officer from a country station seeks togo on leave, is sick or required to be in court,the numbers at that station are reduced:officers are not replaced during such times. Ido not know what the answers are. However,one suggestion that I would like to put forwardis that we could have a funded pool of reliefofficers to help fill positions when policeofficers are sick or on leave. At this stage, thevarious regions certainly do not have theresources to do that. If we could at leastachieve that, people would see policenumbers maintained at that local level.

Another issue concerning police is theneed to supply administrative assistants inthose stations which currently do not havesuch a service. For more than four years, Ihave been asking for a part-timeadministrative assistant for the town of Tieri.Residents continually lobby me about theissue. The local officer will not talk to me aboutit; he is one of those loyal cops who respecttheir position. He is certainly well liked in thecommunity and puts in long working hours,both during the day and at night. He has wonthe respect of the local residents and achieveda low crime rate. That officer—in a town of2,000 people—is expected to provide anactive police presence in the local community.For example, he is expected to patrol roads inaddition to carrying out a large number ofdepartmental tasks, such as the issue ofdrivers' licences. In my opinion, if that currentofficer leaves, two replacement officers wouldbe needed to do the same amount of work;that is how committed that officer is.

Seriously, it is about time that this matterwas addressed. Queenslanders cannot affordto lose good, hardworking police officers oversuch issues as a few hours of administrativeassistance. I appeal to the region's hierarchyto get fair dinkum about this issue and dosomething about what I believe is anunacceptable position. With respect to Mount

Morgan and Duaringa—as a matter or urgencyI urge the Police Service to reconsider thedecision to downgrade those stations byreducing the number of full-time positionsthere.

Members of Parliament who representrural electorates serve many communities, andthe issues and needs vary from community tocommunity depending on locality, population,industries and so on. Therefore, it would beimpossible for me to talk about everycommunity within my electorate and identifyissues of importance to the people who livethere. However, I think it is more acceptablefor me to mention briefly some of the issuesthat affect the broader community and theprojects that will be of benefit to it. Forexample, it is important for the land-holderswho use Ridgelands Road to the north ofRockhampton to know that I will continue tolobby for the upgrading of that road. Inadopting a progressive approach to theupgrading of that road—or, in fact, any otherroad—we are more likely in the long term toachieve a network of sealed roads linkingcommunities and high-production areas withthe main roads and regional centres.

Further widening of the Capricorn Highwaybetween the southern roundabout and theGracemere turn-off is necessary to cater forincreasing traffic volumes as the town ofGracemere grows. A new roundabout inGracemere will improve traffic safety at theintersection of Laurie Street, the Old CapricornHighway and O'Shanesy Street between theGracemere State School and the local hotel.The need to widen Gavial Road, south ofGracemere, is supported by the Fitzroy ShireCouncil. I have already asked QueenslandTransport to investigate that particular sectionof road.

I am supporting the Duaringa ShireCouncil in its efforts to improve public accessand infrastructure to the BlackdownTablelands. Work will commence early in thenew year to reconstruct and bitumen seal thefinal 13-kilometre section into Woorabinda,giving that community for the first time an all-weather link to the Capricorn Highway andRockhampton. The coalfields and in particularthe area north and west of Middlemount willsoon have a two-lane bitumen sealed road toRockhampton and the south. Work is currentlyprogressing on a $5m project on the roadknown as the Dingo-Mount Flora Road that willsee the final 27 kilometres of single-lanebitumen widened to two lanes between theMackenzie River State School and theMiddlemount turn-off. I will be talking toQueensland Transport officers about


upgrading this road to the north ofMiddlemount. There are many kilometres ofsingle-lane road there, and I know that thepeople in the area would like to see thedouble-lane road go all the way through fromthe Capricorn Highway to the Peak DownsHighway.

All members would agree that good roadsare important for the economy of the centralQueensland region. Queensland Transportrecognises that fact and is most cooperative inprioritising road maintenance and upgradeprojects.

Another issue of major concern to me isthe water supply problems which currently existin the town of Mount Morgan as a direct resultof the drought. Much has been said in themedia recently about the open-cut mine andthe possible treatment of cyanide-contaminated water from the mine for use bythe local community. The people of MountMorgan are well aware of my position on thatmatter. I do not have the time to go into thedetails of it during this debate. However, I amsure that the time will come when that issueand other matters relating to Mount Morganwill be raised in this place.

My real concern at this time is theongoing availability of water for the town. I wasadvised on Friday by Councillor JohnHempseed that Water Resources hadidentified four sites where there could bepossible underground resources of water. Infact, Depco, a drilling company, has todaycommenced the drilling of two bores seekingout additional sources of water. The cost isabout $1,000 per bore hole uncapped. Theidentified source is within 200 metres ofexisting pipelines and within 500 metres ofpower supply lines. That is important as far ascosts are concerned.

There is some hope that enough watercan be located to supplement existingresources for a few more weeks. If this fails,council and Government are facing a hugetask in transporting water to the town fromRockhampton or Gracemere by road. Railtransportation of water during times of droughthas been simply ruled out since the NationalParty Government ripped up the railway lineand pulled down bridges. Transporting onemegalitre of water a day to the town of MountMorgan will cost the taxpayers of this Stateapproximately $7,700 or around $240,000 amonth.

Mount Morgan Shire has advertised forexpressions of interest in carting the water. Iunderstand that to date there have been noresponses to those advertisements, which

means that there is a real problem should thewater supply run dry tomorrow. Yesterday, Icontacted the Federal member for Capricornia,Marjorie Henzell, asking that she speak withthe Federal Minister for Defence, SenatorRobert Ray, regarding the availability of Armytankers to cart water if required. The Armyresponds to bush fires and flood disasters,and I am hoping that it will be able to come tothe rescue of Mount Morgan residents.

Another problem that must be addressedis the cost of carting water to the town. With asmall rate base, Mount Morgan ratepayers willbe unable to meet the cost of getting water tothe town and getting it into the system. I haveraised this matter with the Premier, theTreasurer and the Minister for PrimaryIndustries as I believe that the issue must beresolved before the need arises.

In recent years, the town of Gracemerehas seen rapid growth. There is great potentialfor significant growth in this area. Such futuredevelopment will bring with it pressures forinfrastructure to meet the demands andexpectations of the local community. I amcurrently working with the community for theestablishment of a high school. A lot of work isbeing done in that regard. In the future, I planto call a public meeting to discuss communityfeeling on the need for a recreation centre.The area has a very young population. Weshould try to put in place infrastructure to meetfuture needs rather than waiting until problemsare experienced in the town and then trying toaddress them. The local swimming pool, whichis currently 25 metres, needs to be upgradedto an Olympic-size pool.

I return again to the town of MountMorgan. It is recognised for its uniquenessand its history. It has much to offer the tourismsector, but achieving the dreams of so manyin preserving the historical values of the townand its people will require a significant financialinvestment. I would like to see a precinctidentified and refurbished so as to retain forthe future the town's appearance at the timewhen it was a booming goldmining town.There has already been some discussionregarding that personal vision of mine, but amore serious approach needs to be taken.

Time expired. Sitting suspended from 12.56 to

2.30 p.m.

Mr PERRETT (Barambah) (2.30 p.m.):In rising to join in this debate on the motion forthe adoption of the Address in Reply, I pledgemy loyalty and that of the citizens ofBarambah to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.In doing so, I express the hope that she will


reign as Queen of Australia for many years tocome. I also express my loyalty to the office ofGovernor of Queensland and sincerely hopethat office will be maintained for many years tocome under the present constitutionalarrangements. This country and this Statehave far more pressing problems than theLabor-inspired debate about undoing theconstitutional basis for our democracy.

The Governor's Address to this Parliamentlast month marked the formal start of Labor'sthird term in office. I place it on record nowthat I regard this third Labor Goss Governmentas a Government without mandate. It mayhave a legal right to govern, based on the factthat, for the time being, it holds a majority ofthe seats in this Assembly, but it has no moralright to govern, since it was rejected by asubstantial majority of Queenslanders. ThePremier and his party have turned the lastthree State elections into referendums aboutWayne Goss. Several weeks ago, it was thirdtime unlucky. The people of Queenslandvoted in the Premier's personal popularity poll,and they gave Wayne Goss the thumbs down.It is little wonder then that Labor Partymembers are desperately casting about for away to rid themselves of their failed leader. It islittle wonder that Labor members ofParliament have suddenly found the courageto stand up to the man who has tried to runQueensland as some sort of private preservefor himself and his trendy supporters.

The electors of Barambah took a full partin the rejection of the Labor Goss Governmentand all it has stood for during the past almostsix years. I was personally gratified at theincreased vote I received throughout theelectorate. The citizens in my electorate haveclearly rejected the Labor Party's policies andits personality cult at every election in livingmemory—generally in increased numbers. Iassure the people of my electorate that I willcontinue to serve them to the best of myability. I also assure them once again that themessage on my letterhead, that is, "Workingfor the People", represents my firm belief as tothe role of a member of this House. Allhonourable members should remember thatthey are elected as the delegates of theirelectorates. In this House, all honourablemembers should conscientiously represent allthe people of their electorates and thisState—not simply the electors who voted forthem or those organisations which endorsedthem. I am proud that no faction tells me howI must vote, either in this House or in partyforums. I am proud that my party, the NationalParty, does not attempt to bully its membersof Parliament.

As shadow Minister for Primary Industries,I am proud to serve the wider constituency ofthe food, fibre and timber industries. I takeseriously the task of promoting the legitimateinterests of all those who grow, process andconsume the great primary products whichform the backbone of this State's economy.Virtually every primary production sector hasbeen in trouble in recent years. In most casesdrought has played a pivotal role. In othercases it has corrupted world commoditymarkets, and in every case, LaborGovernments—either from Canberra orBrisbane—have imposed policies with little orno regard for the welfare of the primary sector.Interest rates, trade policies, internationalagreements on green issues and theimplications of the national competition policyare all issues that spring to mind.

At no time has the need been greater fora very special kind of Primary IndustriesMinister in Queensland. Producers, processorsand consumers all need a Minister for PrimaryIndustries with a clear commitment to boostingprimary production, cutting the costs ofproduction and ensuring the highest quality ofraw and processed products available toconsumers. The primary industries sectorneeds a full-time Minister for PrimaryIndustries—one who will devote all hisenergies to the wellbeing of the food, fibre andtimber industries and their customers.

Producers are looking for a strong Ministerprepared to take the fight to Canberra on theso-called Hilmer reforms and the importation ofsubsidised pork and chicken meat. ThisGovernment's Minister for Primary Industriesdoes not meet those requirements. On hisrecord since taking over the portfolio, he isunlikely ever to meet those requirements. Inaddition to being Minister for PrimaryIndustries, he is Minister for Racing—aportfolio so important that a Minister couldusefully give it full-time attention. The Ministeris also the president of the Australian LaborParty in Queensland. It is just about a full-timejob keeping the factional blood-letting undercontrol. As all honourable members wouldknow, the Minister has been a failure in thatposition.

The Minister has already set the patternof his stewardship of the Department ofPrimary Industries, and that pattern is one ofneglect. He has stood up important groupswith a vital interest in his portfolio, and he hassent some very discouraging messages. Oneof those messages goes to producers and thedepartment as an act of omission. TheMinister has failed both groups badly by hisfailure to put a stop to his predecessor's crazy


plan to dismantle one of the most vitalelements in basic research into livestockmatters in this State. Producers will beabsolutely dismayed to learn that this LaborGovernment is set to close down the AnimalHusbandry research farm at Rocklea inBrisbane at the End of This year. Recently, thedepartment's staff found out that theGovernment was set on this course, and theyhave objected strongly. As usual, theirconcerns have been ignored, as theGovernment wishes to acquire the proceeds ofland sales at Rocklea. I would like to reviewthe body of documentation available on theproposed sale, but that will have to wait foranother time. It is clear that the decision to sellthe Rocklea land was made before theso-called experts' review and the appointmentof consultants. The reviews were nothing butwindow-dressing designed to justify a decisionalready made. The Opposition totally opposesthat sale and questions the wisdom of thedecision. The Opposition adopts this stand onthe basis of the invaluable contribution thatthe research farm has made to Queensland'sprimary industry over the past 40 years, oftenin conjunction with the Animal ResearchInstitute, whose own future must now be inquestion.

I do not wish this to be a eulogy forRocklea, but I want to spend a few minutesoutlining the achievements of the researchfarm and the role it has played in maintainingand improving sustainable animal production. Ihope that my remarks will alert producers andtheir representatives to the foolish plan tohobble research and development and toendanger the markets and the very future ofthis State's cattle industry. I also hope that thescientific community will take note and join inan effort to save the facility from the spoilers. Iwant to show Government members the follyof destroying that facility in order to gain arelatively small amount of money from its sale.To make it worse—that money will probably gostraight to Treasury rather than be allocated tosome other Primary Industries function.

I present the facts to Parliament, as theyare unlikely to be revealed by the present DPIadministration. The changes that this LaborGovernment has made in the past six yearsmean that the department's administrationneither knows nor has the background tounderstand very much about the research anddevelopment which was such a feature of thatformerly great department. The people makingthe decisions at DPI these days are a far cryfrom those of old. These days, nobody with ananimal biology background gets a look-inwhen the big decisions are made. The movers

and shakers are engineers, managers andenvironmentalists. To be fair to the Minister, Ishould point out that the DPI managementmight not have told him about the Rockleaclosure, which has been plotted since beforehe took on that portfolio.

The research and developmentundertaken at Rocklea over 40 years coveredmany fields, mainly in relation to beef cattlebut, to a lesser extent, sheep, goats andhorses. It is important that people arereminded of some of those great projects andthe benefits that they brought to the livestockindustries and this State's economy. Thesubject of supplementary feeding is veryimportant in relation to animal industries, andthe Animal Husbandry Research Farm hasplayed a major role in researching this subject.Grazing stock in northern Australia, andespecially in Queensland, experience severenutritional deficiencies of nitrogen, energy andminerals. This applies particularly in relation tothe need for phosphorous, sodium and copperat different times of the year. As an example,a number of native pastures and someintroduced tropical pastures were shown to below in sodium, that is, salt, with a resultantlowering of animal production. The animalhusbandry research farm developed practicaltechniques, which are now used worldwide, forcollecting saliva samples to detect sodiumstatus. Further research work isolated theeffects of phosphorous deficiency in cattle—acondition often masked by associated nitrogenand energy deficiency.

In the late 1950s, research work wasundertaken at Rocklea to define the causes oflow copper status and to examine thedifferences in effects between sheep andcattle. In normal years, beef exports runsecond only to sugar in bringing trade dollarsto Queensland, but this State would be sellinglittle beef to the world markets if not for thefeedlot industry, which owes so much topioneering research work at Rocklea. Thefarming community has been involved—particularly Darling Downs lot-feeders—sincethe early 1960s in investigating all aspects ofthe industry. Initial studies at Rockleacompared the use of various high-grain dietswith methods of feeding, including the use ofvarious feed additives. Attention was paid tothe composition of carcasses, including yellowfat, in a project with the Animal ResearchInstitute at Yeerongpilly. With increasingenvironmental concerns in the community,studies at Rocklea developed acceptablecodes of practice and mechanisms for the lotfeeding industry with respect to manure andodours.


South-east and southern Queenslandrepresent the major part of the industrydevoted to the intensive finishing of cattle—and always will—because of proximity to feedsupplies, slaughter and processing facilities,and export infrastructure. Lot feeding is amajor part of the economy of the region. Itmakes good sense to maintain a top-classresearch and testing facility in the sameregion, which means that the AnimalHusbandry Research Farm should remain inexistence, where it is, in close proximity to theAnimal Research Institute.

There have been suggestions from withinthe Government that the facility could bemoved from Rocklea onto supposedly cheaperland well away from Brisbane. That suggestionis laughable. It is laughable because thepeople responsible simply do not understandthe value of having the farm as a testingfacility just about next door to the majorresearch centres of the University ofQueensland, the CSIRO laboratories at LongPocket and the Animal Research Institute.Those bodies contain a large number ofscientists and technicians doing valuablelivestock research, which is enhanced—and insome cases, made possible—by the closeproximity of the research farm.

Before the Government abandons theAnimal Husbandry Research Farm, I wish toquote from an article in the journal titled Agri-Holland, which ran a feature story on a similaroperation in the Netherlands. The words in thearticle are those of the Deputy Director of theLelystad Research Station in that country.After explaining that the research station formsa link between fundamental scientific researchand practice, he said—

"We translate the specialisedknowledge generated by fundamentalresearch into practical terms. Veryoften . . . you will see the most splendidscientific publications, but these are ofvery little practical use to the locallivestock farmers in their daily work. Ouraim is to cover that gap, and enablethose farmers to make use of thoseresearch findings at short notice."

Then he said this—and this Governmentshould take it to heart—

"In Holland, we pride ourselves inhaving a unique system in which practicalresearch builds on the results generatedby fundamental scientific research."

The research farm at Rocklea is the onlysite close to the research bodies where theeffects of research and treatments can beproperly assessed in controlled conditions. To

break that nexus would do untold harm to thequality of the research being done at thesethree institutions. Relocation is not an optionunless the research bodies are moved as well.

We all know of the terrible cost to thisState of the current drought, and the terribleproblems it has caused in the past. It is notgoing too far to say that the cost, in terms ofmoney and of the number of animalssuffering, would have been far higher withoutthe pioneering work of the research farm atRocklea. The farm has established anddisseminated information on the best andmost cost-effective methods of feeding stock.Products tested include bush hay, sorghumsilage, and grain and molasses fed with orwithout various sources of protein. In line withproducer practices, emphasis was placed onthe survival feeding of pregnant and lactatingstock, and the early weaning of calves. Thefeeding practices adopted by industry in thecurrent drought are based on research carriedout at Rocklea.

All members will be aware of the fragilenature of our export markets for beef and theimportance of maintaining our reputation for aclean and green product. We all remember afew recent scares when identification ofchemical residues in export shipmentsdevastated our markets in the United Statesand Japan. I wonder whether honourablemembers are aware of the significant roleplayed by Rocklea, in conjunction with theAnimal Research Institute, on this issue.Working together, as they must, they haveidentified the rate of accumulation of residuesin tissue, and the rate of depletion. They havealso identified the most effective managementstrategies to achieve a run down to acceptablelevels—something that is absolutely vital if weare to avoid problems in the future.

We should also be mindful of the fact thatthe pesticide laboratory at the AnimalResearch Institute is the world leader inresidue technology. The laboratory simply willnot be able to maintain that position withoutthe nearby testing facilities of the researchfarm. To put it simply, if the research farmgoes, then the work done on residues by theAnimal Research Institute will be severelyinhibited. If that happens, our export beefindustry will be placed in grave danger.

I want to say something about one of thegreat preoccupations of modern society—ahealthy diet. Much is said about the role ofsaturated fats and the need for us all to eatleaner meat. The industry needs the ability toproduce, process and measure by variousmeans carcasses of varying composition. That


work is time consuming, labour intensive andrequires field and laboratory facilities working inclose collaboration. The research farm atRocklea has been a vital link in this work.Studies there have included the chemicalcomposition of whole bodies and selected cutsand the development of prediction equationsfor yield of saleable meat in collaboration withthe Australian Meat and LivestockCorporation.

The introduction of tropical grasses intonorthern Australia during the past 50 yearshas provided a major boost to the beefindustry through increased growth rates andreduced age at turn-off. There can be nodoubt that these introduced pasture specieshave been a major factor in our ability tocompete on the very unlevel playing field ofworld trade. There has, however, been adownside, and once again the AnimalHusbandry Research Farm at Rocklea wasable to come to the rescue. Horses grazingpure stands of many of these grassesdevelop a condition known as "bighead"—something no doubt familiar tomembers opposite. The reason for thisphenomenon was not known until extensiveresearch at the Rocklea farm showed that,unlike cattle, horses cannot absorb from thesepastures the mineral calcium, which is boundup as calcium oxalate. Scientists developedpractical supplementation regimes for horseson these pastures to prevent the conditionoccurring. These results have now beenadopted world wide. It is yet another exampleof the world-leading capabilities of the Rockleafarm and, indeed, the old research-orientedDPI.

To most people with a knowledge of cattlebreeding, artificial insemination is an everydaypractice, but that was not always the case.Research carried out over many years atRocklea, in conjunction with other centresthroughout the world, provided the basis forthe development of the now standardcommercial process. Tremendous geneticadvances over the past few decades,particularly in the dairy industry, can beattributed to this single operation.

To make genetic progress in any animalindustry it is necessary to identify superioranimals for use as replacement sires. Onemechanism by which this can be achieved isto invite producers of bulls to contributeanimals for comparative testing at a centralfacility. During the 1970s, at Rocklea, bullsfrom many sources were compared andstratified with the top bulls then beingtransferred to the DPI's artificial breedingcentre at Wacol. Semen from these animals

was then made available to the industry forherd improvement. My first associations withthe Animal Husbandry Research Farm camewhen bulls from my property went into thatprogram, so I know at first hand some of thevaluable work done there.

Although Rocklea was not established forwork on disease control, there have beenoccasions when it has been used to goodeffect. Some members would know that theDPI has a facility at Wacol to specificallyinvestigate tick fever in cattle. On occasions,requirements to maintain large groups ofgrazing cattle in a tick-free area adjacent tolaboratory facilities cannot be met at Wacol.Rocklea has been used for this purpose,especially for investigations into vaccine failureand breakdown in host production. A furtherarea of investigation has been that ofPompe's disease in Brahman cattle, thegenetic mainstay of the tropical cattle industry.Many of those projects at Rocklea have beenlong-term ones involving serial sampling of thesame animals. Of course, that has involvedconsiderable input of staff and resources.

Owing to a number of factors, over theyears Rocklea has been able to provide thegrazing industry with the information it needed.Sufficient land is available to maintain largenumbers of cattle. An infrastructure of groupyards, individual stalls, drafting yards, feedmills and storage exists that would be verycostly to replace in the future. The facilitiesinclude: 40 individual stalls; 12 cattle pens; 24yards, which can each hold up to 10 head ofcattle; and grazing for 200 to 300 head,depending on conditions. All the yards andpens are built in steel and have concretefloors. Much of the fodder is grown on site,and there is plenty of feed storage undercover. Adequate silo capacity and feedpreparation facilities can cope with the varietyof feeding regimes necessary on a researchfarm of that nature. It is an ideal facility thatwould be just about impossible to replace.

Last but, of course, not least—asignificant portion of the work could not havebeen contemplated except for the proximity ofthe DPI's Animal Research Institute atYeerongpilly. Its experienced scientific andtechnical staff and specialised laboratorycapacity on call have been crucial. Noinstitution in Australia can match the diversityof problems the nexus of Rocklea andYeerongpilly has solved. Is all this to go? Isthe grazing industry and the future of our richbeef export industry to be betrayed for 30pieces of silver? I wonder what excuses theGovernment and the DPI hierarchy——


Mr Littleproud interjected. Mr PERRETT: Certainly it is very

serious. It is going to do the beef industry ofAustralia a great disservice.

I wonder what excuses the Governmentand the DPI hierarchy make for this curiousdecision to dismantle such important researchcapacity. Do they say that all the problemshave been solved and the future will not bringothers as fundamental and as daunting? Theanswer to that is simple and should beblindingly obvious: new problems always cropup, threatening amongst other things ouroverseas markets with chemical residues. Wemust retain a capacity to use our existingtechnology to define and resolve newproblems such as those that will inevitablyarise from the future use of chemicals not yeteven invented. Do the wasters propose thatwe dismantle that complex because theprivate sector will fill the gap? The answer tothat is that the private sector will address onlythose issues it perceives as commercialwinners. The public sector has alwaysconducted the pilot studies and been verygood at doing so. Only then does the privatesector get involved; despite market demand, itwill not touch anything that is not a financialwinner. I cannot blame the private sector forthat; I simply state it as fact.

Does the Government propose that wedraw only on overseas or interstate data tosolve our local problems? The easy answer tothat proposal is that Queensland's agricultureand animal husbandry are subtropical totropical. There are no countries in this climaticregion with research bases for us to draw on.In fact, Queensland is the world's leader intropical agricultural research and is used as asource of information by other tropicalcountries. Another reply might be that the workcan be done elsewhere in the State usingexisting facilities. That would be a possibility ifexperienced field staff and adjacentmultidisciplinary laboratory staff were available.To my knowledge, this combination does notexist elsewhere in Queensland.

What about the point that savings have tobe made in DPI, and this is one way of doingthat without losing too many votes? Thatseems to be the only answer, and it is one thebeef industry and the rural community at largesimply will not accept. They would soon ensurethat city people knew exactly what theconsequences would be. In short, theconsequences could be put this way: wewould endanger our export markets and themillions of dollars that beef export tradecurrently brings into Queensland each year.

The Government's own economic review tellsthe story, so Government members cannotfeign ignorance of the value of our beefexports.

Beef producers are not the only oneswhose incomes would collapse if our exportmarkets were lost or even seriously eroded.The meatworkers whom Labor pretends torepresent would find themselves out of work inhuge numbers. So would many other peoplein the industries that depend on beef exports,such as transport, insurance and banking.Without the export trade, the beef industrywould be far from viable, and that would meangreat disruption in domestic supplies of beef.Consumers in the city would suffer directlyfrom that.

I have detailed the valuable scientific workthe animal husbandry research farm has doneand continues to do in the interest of theState's primary industries. I have mentionedjust a few highlights of that work, and just afew of the consequences of dismantling thefacility. The Government is being very short-sighted in its mania to destroy research anddevelopment in the DPI. The plan to disposeof the facility is very short-sighted for anotherreason. I doubt that too many members onthe other side of the House have been told ofthe stillborn plan to use some of the facilitiesat Rocklea to provide an educationalexperience for primary and secondary schoolstudents from the metropolitan area. I am surethat all members would agree that it isimportant that children identify milk as comingfrom a cow rather than from a bottle or carton.It is important that they know that breadcomes from wheat rather than from a plasticbag, and that eggs come from hens ratherthan from a carton.

Mr Hamill: What about goats—milk fromgoats?

Mr PERRETT: Coming from agoat—the Minister should really know aboutthat.

A survey conducted in Brisbane schoolsby the Graingrowers Association showed thatchildren in the city had a poor understandingof these things. The DPI surveyed 50 Brisbaneschools; 82 per cent of them endorsed anagricultural education centre at the Rockleafarm, and two-thirds said that such a facilitywould be useful for in-service training of schoolstaff. It is good to see the Minister forEducation in the House. I am sure that heunderstands what I am talking about. As earlyas 1990, steps were taken to establish anagricultural education centre at Rocklea. Thiswould complement the existing research role


of the DPI facility. Following discussions withthe Director-General of Education it wasagreed that this be a joint initiative betweenDPI and the metropolitan west regions of theDepartment of Education. The primaryobjective was to increase students' awarenessof the important contribution that rural industrymakes to their lives and the State's economy.They were to be shown the ways in which ahealthy and environmentally responsibleagricultural sector can be maintained and theopportunities for careers in science to achievethis. The project proceeded to the stage atwhich classrooms, a computer room, alaboratory, a covered eating area and toiletswere constructed. An additional building wasrenovated to incorporate a Landcare displayroom, reception area and staff amenitiesroom. A new bitumen access road wasconstructed from Sherwood Road. The totalcost of this development, which theGovernment wants to throw away, was$500,000. Although the facilities have been inplace and available for use, they have neverbeen used by schools. The project wasabandoned early last year. What will be thecost to the nation of allowing our futuregenerations to grow up with a TV-basedknowledge of agriculture? The Directors-General of both Education and PrimaryIndustries have stated that agriculturaleducation is a peripheral activity of theirrespective departments, not a core activity.Who then has the responsibility for educatingfuture generations in relation to agriculture?

I call on the Government to abandon itsplan to close the Animal Husbandry ResearchFarm at Rocklea and to dispose of the landand facilities. I call on it not to break up thevital partnership of the farm with the AnimalResearch Institute. I call on it to maintain theessential work being done there in the interestof our livestock industries and the people whodepend on them both directly and indirectly fortheir livelihoods. I call on the producer groupsof this State to put up their hands in defenceof that vital work. If they fail in this, they failtheir members very badly.

Producers and their representative bodieshave a lot to think about these days—withdrought, adverse trading conditions and thelike. The last thing that they need to have toworry about is the closure of the AnimalHusbandry Research Farm and the loss of thevaluable work that goes on there. I assurethem that this is an issue they need to take upfor the future of their industry and their ownlivelihoods. We simply cannot afford to standby and watch that facility trashed for a handfulof dollars. It is worth fighting for, and we must

fight for it. Once it is gone, the land coveredwith houses or factory buildings and the skilledstaff dispersed, it will be too late to startworrying. The time to act is now.

Mrs ROSE (Currumbin) (3 p.m.): It is withpleasure that I rise to speak to the motion forthe adoption of the Address in Reply, and it iswith a deep sense of pride that I do so as themember for Currumbin in my second term.

The Currumbin electorate is located onthe southern end of the Gold Coast, borderingNew South Wales. Although the electorate isnamed Currumbin, which is an Aboriginalname for a species of pine tree, it covers theareas of Rainbow Bay, Coolangatta, Kirra,Bilinga, Tugun, Currumbin, Currumbin Waters,Elanora, part of Palm Beach and theTallebudgera and Currumbin Valleys. TheCurrumbin electorate is surrounded by diverseand contrasting natural assets, not least ofwhich are the most beautiful beaches in thecountry enjoyed by tens of thousands ofvisitors and locals each year. The electoratealso boasts two excellent surfing beaches, atGreenmount and Kirra, which attract board-riders from around the world. Mere kilometresaway to the west is the peace and tranquillityof our natural environment in vast mountains,rainforests and valleys. Only 13 kilometresinland from the beach is a crystal-clear, naturalrock pool set in bushland in the upper reachesof Currumbin Creek. A little further inland fromthe rock pool is the spectacular Mount CougalNational Park, which preserves large areas ofopen forest and rainforest that cloak therugged twin peaks of Mount Cougal. Thosetwo diverse natural environments are part ofour southern Gold Coast lifestyle and we needto ensure their protection for the future.

One of the ways we can do this is bydeclaring areas conservation parks. SouthernGold Coasters welcomed the announcementof the Tomewin Conservation Park, which isjust south of Tallebudgera on a steep slopeoverlooking Currumbin Valley. That 45-hectareproperty was purchased from a privatelandowner and it conserves wet sclerophylland warm subtropical forest with anunderstorey of ferns and rainforest plants.What is more, assessments have alreadyidentified eight vulnerable and five rare plantspecies in the park.

There are over 140 conservation parks inQueensland, which means we have a muchbetter scope for protecting significantconservation values of sites. The recentannouncement by the Goss Government ofthe $140m Coastal Protection Plan wasapplauded by the southern Gold Coast


community. We are reminded daily when welook north along the coast of the direconsequences of uncontrolled, haphazarddevelopment. This Government will not standby and let southern Gold Coast beaches orthe other hundreds of Queensland beachesgo the same way as some of our beaches onthe Gold Coast, which have suffered at thehands of irresponsible local governmentdevelopment approvals. The new CoastalManagement and Protection Bill, which will beintroduced into Parliament shortly, will providefor the protection, conservation, rehabilitationand management of our coastline.

Southern Gold Coasters know howserious this Government is about maintainingour unique coastal environment as they willnever forget that it was the determination ofthe Queensland Government that secured along-term solution to the problem of sandsiltation at the mouth of the Tweed River andthe resultant loss of sand to southern GoldCoast beaches. The Queensland Governmentpursued an agreement with the New SouthWales Government and, on 31 March 1994,following long periods of negotiation theQueensland and New South Wales Premierssigned a Heads of Agreement for the TweedRiver Entrance Sand Bypassing Project. Theproject consists of two interrelatedcomponents: the dredging and nourishmentcomponent and the permanent sandbypassing system. Stage 1 involves the initialdredging and nourishment component of theproject, which is the dredging of the TweedBar and entrance area and the supply ofapproximately 1.76 million cubic metres ofsand to southern Gold Coast beaches. Thatstage is nearing completion.

The second component, or Stage 2, isthe permanent sand bypass system, which willensure that the improvement to the beachesachieved by the initial supply of sand ismaintained in perpetuity. The project hasgenerated a high level of public interest andan information centre set up at Point Dangerfor the duration of the project has been visitedby thousands of locals and visitors. Thecentre's display includes explanatory materialand scale models of the project.

However, there has been a furtherconcern that the groynes at Kirra Beach intheir existing form impede the natural flow ofsand. It is for this reason that, at the end oflast week, the Beach Protection Authorityprovided approval to the Gold Coast CityCouncil for the shortening of the groynes atMiles Street and Kirra Point. The BPA and thecouncil are now finalising the technical detailsof the modifications and, when completed, we

will be monitoring closely the effects of theadjustments on sand flows.

Law and order continues to be ofparamount importance to the southern GoldCoast community. The top priority in fightingcrime is to increase police numbers, increasepolice patrols and targeted police beats, andwork towards a more permanent policepresence within our southern Gold Coastcommunity. Together with this is the need toget tough on crime through tougher laws. Thenew Criminal Code has increased drasticallythe sentences for crimes against the personand property. The southern Gold Coast has itshot spots—areas that have been subjected tounacceptable juvenile behaviour or a highlevel of breaking and entering. TheCoolangatta police have responded byreturning foot patrols to the streets of PalmBeach, Elanora, Tugun and Coolangatta. Thepolice say that the response from the businesscommunity has been very encouraging as thepolice officers take the time to go in and talk tothe business community about any concernsthat they may have, and the police presenceon the street is a deterrent to would-beoffenders. Car patrols have been increased asa result of the police rostering system broughton line in recent months, and there is nodoubt this additional visibility of police has hadan effect on the level of criminal activity.

However, there is a need for anotherpolice station. Southern Gold Coasterswelcomed the commitment made by theGovernment in the Police Service's blueprintfor policing over the next 10 years for a new,additional police station to be located on thesouthern end of the coast. An amount of $3mhas been earmarked for the new station in thefirst five years of the strategy and an additional$200,000 has been committed to upgradingthe Coolangatta watch-house.

One of the major achievements for thesouthern Gold Coast is a new communityhealth centre, incorporating a dental clinic,which will be established at Palm Beach. Thesouthern Gold Coast is growing rapidly andhealth infrastructure needs to keep up withthat growth. The decision to establish thecommunity health centre and dental clinic atPalm Beach is a recognition by thisGovernment that southern Gold Coastersshould have access to a wide range of healthservices. The new service will includecommunity health, family and children'shealth, youth health, women's health, agedcare, including the Seniors Healthy EatingProject, oral health and health promotion. Inaddition to those services and the dental clinic,there will be podiatry, home care, psychology,


speech pathology, occupational therapy,physiotherapy and social work services. In fact,some of those services have begun alreadywith the benefits flowing to those most atneed. The estimated cost of the project is$3.9m.

The announcement by the TransportMinister that work would be fast-tracked on thefour-laning of the Pacific Highway betweenReedy Creek and Tugun was good news forsouthern Gold Coasters. Already, that sectionof road is carrying more than 34,000 vehiclesper day, and that figure is expected toincrease to more than 50,000 by the year2000. The duplication of this section ofhighway will mean that the Pacific Highway willbe four lanes from Brisbane to the borderwhich, of course, will bring significanteconomic, safety and convenience gains forresidents and businesses on the southern endof the coast.

An amount of $4.67m has beenearmarked for the project, which will be carriedout in two stages. Work on Stage 1 has begunalready, with a new bridge over TallebudgeraCreek under construction. Stage 2 will involvethe building of bridges over Currumbin Creek,Palm Beach Avenue, Guineas Creek Roadand Currumbin Creek Road, and it will alsoinvolve the four-lane divided highway standardroad. That project will relieve the heavycongestion experienced currently on thisstretch of highway and reduce the risk ofaccidents by separating two-way, undividedPacific Highway flows into separatecarriageways.

This Government's long-term publictransport plan for south-east Queensland hasidentified future public transport infrastructureneeds for the fast growing southern GoldCoast region. The creation of the South EastQueensland Transport Authority from withinQueensland Transport resources will makethat authority responsible for coordinating allthe public transport options for our region.Some of the proposals to be put to thetransport authority will be the extension of theGold Coast rail link from Robina toCoolangatta and light rail or busway options tolink Southport and Coolangatta. Theseservices would be a major boost to families onthe southern Gold Coast, as well as ourinternational and domestic visitors. Asmembers would be aware, Coolangatta Airportis located in the Currumbin electorate and anefficient light-rail link to Southport would haveenormous social and economic benefits to theGold Coast region.

Part of the South East QueenslandTransport Authority's agenda would be to

implement public transport options with a viewto doubling the use of public transport insouth-east Queensland, which would not onlyease the pressure on our roads but would alsolead to significantly reduced greenhouse gasemissions. At present, motor vehicles areresponsible for 45 per cent of air pollution insouth-east Queensland and 34 per cent ofgreenhouse gas emissions.

One of the biggest challenges facing theGovernment is the provision of qualityeducation in all schools, while it also has todeal with the pressures of increasing studentnumbers. Schools on the southern Gold Coasthave experienced consistently high increasesin enrolments over the past five years. TheGovernment has responded by providingmillions of dollars for additional buildings andfacilities for our schools. Some of those newfacilities include a new home economics blockat Palm Beach/Currumbin High School, theextension of the administration block andcovered area amenities at the Elanora StateSchool, a new music block for the CurrumbinState School and a manual arts machine shopat the Elanora State High School

An example of the growth of our schoolsis the Tallebudgera State School, which hasgrown from having only one teacher 15 yearsago to now having 17 teachers and anenrolment of around 330 students. This schoolhas required extensive additional facilities,including a general learning block, a coveredassembly area and a canteen, and lastSunday I had the pleasure of officially openingthe new school oval. As a school such asTallebudgera grows, it needs facilities of thiskind to both enhance the quality of educationand to encourage a broader range of sportingand recreational activities.

I have always found our schoolcommunities to have active P & Cs and thestrong support of the local wider community. Itis important that parents and other membersof the local community are involved in the lifeof a school, because it is only with this type ofsupport and encouragement that a school willthrive. They are also likely to develop a betterunderstanding of the educational process andthe ways they can support it.

Students today are faced with manydifficult choices about their careers and allaspects of their lives in a constantly changingsociety. We have a mix of students insecondary school who have very diverseneeds and we need to provide them with arange of pathways to enable them to draw ontheir strengths—pathways to further academiccareers and pathways in the vocational area.


Retention rates are much higher today thanthey were 10 years ago and we need tocontinue to ensure that the resources areavailable for our students, teaching andadministrative staff to provide an enhancedand enlightened learning environment. Weneed to foster social and community valuesthrough our education system, and that iswhat this Government is endeavouring to dobecause we recognise our schools to be a vitalpart of our local community.

Programs for the more senior members ofour community are of paramount importanceon the southern Gold Coast, with 29 per centof the Currumbin electorate being aged 60years and over. The health of older people is asignificant issue for Queensland when we lookto the future, because Queensland'spopulation, like that of the rest of the world, isageing. This is a result of people's increasinglife span. The ageing of the population willimpact on the way in which health services arestructured and delivered.

A common misconception is that growingolder means becoming frail and dependent orlosing some of our mental faculties. It is a factthat the decade when we experience thegreatest physical decline is between 30 and40 years. Growing older does not mean losingindependence. The vast majority of olderpeople live at home and the challenge for thehealth system is to assist and enable theincreasing population of older people tomaintain their health and independence.

Health is not simply the absence ofdisease or infirmity. Health is influenced by theenvironment we live in, as well as our physical,social, emotional and mental wellbeing.Community development is a vital element ofprimary health care. It is about empoweringcommunities to take charge of their healthand, most importantly, is based on the needsidentified by people themselves. This is wherethe 60 and Better Program, an initiative of theQueensland Department of Health, has beenof enormous benefit to the southern GoldCoast.

The 60 and Better Program wasdeveloped in recognition of the need to pro-actively address health issues related to thegeneral ageing of the population. Thisprogram has been operating on the southernGold Coast for the past year. In fact, Iattended the first birthday celebrations only acouple of weeks ago and participated in theline dancing that was one of the activities. Theprogram has been an overwhelming success,with over 1,200 participants a month taking

part in various activities. As well as linedancing, those activities include tai chi, gentleexercises, public speaking, meditation andrelaxation, walks, talks on health and socialissues, and a variety of other activities withsocial, physical and educational content. Iwould like to thank and acknowledge the hardwork and dedication of the southern GoldCoast 60 and Better Program SteeringCommittee under the chair, Ray Ruck, and theprogram's coordinator, Anita Brennan, whoseenergies and commitment have contributed tothe success of the program.

The Home Assist and Home Secureprograms have also been very successful onthe southern Gold Coast. These programshelp to improve home maintenance, safetyand security for older people and those withdisabilities, primarily through the provision of awide range of support services, informationand advice. As they grow older, many peoplefind it increasingly difficult, both financially andphysically, to repair and maintain the securityand appearance of their homes and gardens.These programs address that need andprovide assistance to people in improving thesecurity and maintenance of their homes.

The Home Assist Program providesinformation and advice about homemaintenance, renovations and how to employtradespeople, and gives direct assistance withhouse and garden maintenance and repair.The Home Secure Program providesinformation and advice about making thehome environment more secure anddeveloping personal protective behaviour. Itprovides an assessment to determine thesecurity status of the home and the need forand likely cost of modifications or installation ofsecurity hardware. It also provides direct helpwith basic security measures.

The success of programs like 60 andBetter, Home Assist and Home Secure isdependent upon the hard work of communityorganisations such as the Palm Beach andCurrumbin Lions Club and St Vincent de Paul.Many volunteers from organisations such asthese donate hundreds of hours of their timeto organising the implementation of theprograms and they keep them running. I thankthem most sincerely and acknowledge theirhard work, energy and dedication to ourcommunity. On the southern Gold Coast weare fortunate to have very pro-activeorganisations, groups and individuals in ourcommunity. I am pleased to have theopportunity of continuing to work with them inthe interests of all who live on the southernGold Coast.


Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (MrPalaszczuk): Order! Honourable members, asthis is the first contribution to the proceedingsof the House by the honourable member forRedlands, I request that all honourablemembers afford him all the courtesies of theHouse.

Mr HEGARTY (Redlands) (3.21 p.m.): Itis indeed an honour for me to stand heretoday as the newly elected member for theelectorate of Redlands. My first duty is toexpress on my behalf and that of myelectorate my loyalty to Her Majesty theQueen and her representative in Queensland,Her Excellency the Governor. I extend mycongratulations to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, onyour appointment as Chairman ofCommittees. Mr Deputy Speaker, I ask you topass on my congratulations to the Speaker onhis being elected to that high office. I amconfident that both of you will carry out yourduties with impartiality and distinction.

I am the third National Party member torepresent this seat since its formation in 1972.Both of my predecessors ably represented theelectorate in their capacity as members andMinisters of the Crown. I offer my sincerethanks to the electors of Redlands for theconfidence and trust they placed in me. Iassure electors that I am here to represent allof them regardless of their political beliefs, andthat I will be a strong voice on their behalf. Incommon with, I expect, most members of thisHouse, I enjoyed the support andencouragement of my family leading up to the15 July State election, as I have since. I placeon record my thanks to my mother, Phyllis,who has always offered me love andencouragement; my children, Tanya andJason, for their understanding; and, most ofall, my wife, Joan, who has had to shoulderthe responsibility of the home as well as amore demanding public lifestyle.

In addition, I place on record my sincerethanks to my campaign committee, whoworked tirelessly to assist my being elected. Ithank the many volunteers who gave up theirvaluable time to support and assist me. Thecampaign committee consisted of NationalParty members as well as Liberal Partymembers. The success of the campaign istestimony to the unity of the conservativeparties in Queensland, and especially inRedlands. Included in the list of those whoassisted me, I acknowledge my parliamentarycolleagues, both National and Liberal, whocampaigned for me as well.

My seat has been labelled as one of thetollway seats—the contributing factor that

caused my election to this House. Althoughthe tollway played a major part in the recent15 July State election, it was more of aflagship that highlighted the Labor Party'sshortcomings in many other areas, such ashealth, law and order, education andtransport, areas in respect of which peopleexpect and are entitled to a standard ofservice.

My childhood years were spent on theRedcliffe peninsula, where I attended the DeLa Salle College, Scarborough. During thefifties and sixties, that area afforded a qualityof life that only a small community offers. Inotice a similarity to that earlier time in parts ofmy electorate today. After leaving school, Ispent several years in the regular Army, anexperience that I believe helped develop mysense of duty and awareness of our need tohonour and protect this country of ours, itsinstitutions and values. Over many years, Iretained my links with the military. Untilrecently, I served as an Army Reserve officer.Following my regular Army service, I spentabout a year in the Queensland PoliceService. That, too, was an informative andinteresting experience. However,circumstances drew me to a life in privateenterprise, in which I have spent the last 25years as a self-employed insuranceconsultant.

I am a strong believer in the family unit asthe basis of society. In recent years,Government intervention, although with thebest intentions to help families, has in myopinion caused many of the problems facedby today's youth. I do not believe that afaceless bureaucracy can replace theguidance and support that parents canprovide.

Redlands is one of the largest near-cityelectorates, totalling 209 square kilometres inarea and containing 24,500 voters. It has twovery diverse communities of interest, namely,the southern part of the Shire of Redland,consisting of the suburbs of Thornlands,Redland Bay, Victoria Point, Mount Cottonand Carbrook, plus the bay islands ofCoochiemudlo, Macleay, Lamb, Russell andKarragarra. The eastern part of Logan Cityincludes the suburbs of Cornubia, Shailer Parkand parts of Loganholme and Daisy Hill.Within these boundaries, it has fast-growingresidential areas, such as Thornlands, VictoriaPoint and Shailer Park. However, the farmingand primary industry producers in Redland Bayand Mount Cotton are slowly disappearing.

Honourable members will be interested toknow that part of the Redlands electorate has


a long association with the State's earlycolonial history. In 1799, an expedition led byMatthew Flinders landed a party onCoochiemudlo Island and reported that southof the island the water contracted into a largeriver, which in fact was Redland Bay. In 1867,the first settlers landed on the Russell group ofislands and operated the first salt works in thearea. Russell Island also grew early winterbananas, tomatoes and cucumbers, whichwere taken by boat up the Brisbane River tothe markets. Chinese who jumped ship andlived on the banks of upper Tingalpa Creekwere the first to plant fruit, and it is still a fruit-growing area. On the Shailer property, that ofan original pioneering family, there is presentlyan international scientific research projectunder way on disease-free pawpaws.

Mount Cotton is the centre of the largestkoala habitat in Australia. This includes theoriginal Venman Environmental Park andFauna Sanctuary gazetted in 1972, a gift froma far-sighted bushman, Jack Venman, tofuture generations of Australians. Some of thetrees in Venman reserve were there whenCaptain Cook sailed down the coast. Uniqueto the Moreton region are the large eucalypttrees in the Mount Cotton/Cornubia areas,preserved through careful management, withthe result that beautiful timber still exists in thisregion. Sleepers for the first railway lines toIpswich were cut from timber from west MountCotton and loaded onto steamers on theLogan River. Interestingly, a flying boat servicealso operated out of Redland Bay around thetime of World War II. It used the bay in front ofthe Redland Bay Hotel as a landing area.Crash boats used to patrol before a landing tocheck for debris, and the people using theservice were ferried to the flying boat bylaunch.

Industry in the Redlands electorate ispredominantly in the primary production area.In fact, 35 per cent of industry in Redlands iscentred on the poultry industry. I call on theState Government to oppose any move by theFederal Government under the terms of GATTto allow cooked chicken meat into the country.Although the Australian Quarantine andInspection Service considers it an acceptablerisk to import these products, which come fromcountries with Newcastle disease, the avianequivalent of foot-and-mouth disease, Ibelieve that we should not be playing Russianroulette with such products. We should beusing our geographical isolation and clean andgreen image to our advantage, thusmaximising our export potential. If we importcooked chicken meat, the chicken industry inmy electorate and elsewhere in Australia will

be devastated by Newcastle disease, as willbe Australia's unique native bird population.

Other industries in Redlands include thefollowing: sandmining at Carbrook, quarryingat Mount Cotton, vegetables and cut flowersat Redland Bay and Victoria Point, andaquaculture farms at Thornlands. It alsoincorporates the Department of Transport'sdriver training facility at Mount Cotton and thelarge retail outlet of the Logan Hyperdome.Unemployment remains a major problem inQueensland, and Redlands certainly does notescape this issue. Redlands needs toestablish some manufacturing industry that isessentially high tech and, hence, likely to beenvironmentally friendly. These industries areoften called "sunrise" industries and areappropriate for the region that greets the suneach day in Queensland. Such amanufacturing industry would need to beexport oriented. Manufacturing and serviceindustries offer the widest opportunities foremployment. I intend to work closely withindustry, the two councils and Governmentdepartments to try to attract such industries tothe Redlands electorate.

Our closeness and easy access to theport of Brisbane and the airport allow ease ofshipment, and Redlands has manyadvantages as a place in which to live andwork. In common with many other electorates,Redlands has over half of its private sectoremployment opportunities provided by smallbusinesses. The one-stop-shop initiativeoutlined in Her Excellency's speech, whilst nota new concept, is welcomed. However, moremeaningful Government initiatives to assistsmall businesses would include a reduction inland tax thresholds and an exemption of leaveloadings from payroll tax. Employers now facea hike in workers' compensation charges toadd to their already significant overheads.

Small business provides a largepercentage of employment in the Redlandselectorate, particularly in the constructionindustry. The present climate for housing is notbuoyant, and this can be partly attributed tothe increase in housing costs. The StateGovernment's portable long service leave levyhas contributed to those costs. The levy,designed to protect long-term employees inthe industry, is actually misplaced becausethose workers are largely subcontractors whowill be ineligible for the benefit. To date, thefund has accrued a surplus of over $20m inthe few short years of its operation, which isproviding yet another hollow-log opportunity forthe Government to get its hands on workers'money. The levy places nearly $1,000 extraon the cost of an average home. Those very


subcontractors, who provide for the peoplethey employ, are further disadvantaged asthey do not have security of payment. I intendto lobby for some form of security for thosesmall-business people.

Ecotourism is certainly the tourism of thefuture. I believe that Redlands exemplifies thattype of tourism better than most otherelectorates. It has the wetlands of Carbrook,the largest natural koala colony in south-eastQueensland in the Venman Reserve/MountCotton areas as well as other fauna and flora.It also has magnificent Moreton Bay and thebay islands, which should become therecreational fishing and boating mecca ofresidents and tourists alike. The concept ofwalking tracks though those bushland areasand the bay foreshore with budgetaccommodation—two or three-star—on theperiphery would attract both domestic andinternational visitors. This is another industry ofthe future in which Redlands shouldparticipate. The tourism and hospitalityindustry is booming worldwide, and Redlandsshould be part of it now.

The Redlands electorate is stronglyconscious of environmental issues and wouldwelcome well-conceived projects promotingecotourism. I note with interest theGovernment's plans in this area as outlined inHer Excellency's Speech. I wish to bring to theattention of the Honourable Minister for theEnvironment and the Honourable Minister forTourism the admirable suitability of Redlandsfor such development. The Redlandselectorate is ideally placed for this type oftourism, and only recently an ecotourismattraction of this type was opened by theRedlands Shire Council which encompassed a78-hectare wetlands area at Point Halloran,which also provides a network of twokilometres of walkways for the viewing ofnative fauna and flora in their natural habitat. Isuggest that the State Government should beplaying a more prominent role in furtherdeveloping that type of tourism. The Redlandselectorate is uniquely placed, situated as it isbetween the north and south coasts, for thattype of tourism opportunity.

As I have said, environmental issuesfeature greatly in the Redlands electorate, andit has many community groups involved in thatfield. I give the Government fair warning that ifthe Planning Environment and DevelopmentAssessment Bill comes before the Parliamentin similar form to the exposure draft nowcirculating for public comment, it will create amassive amount of debate, as manyconstituents in my electorate are voicing theirconcern at what they believe may be a denial

of their right to object to unwarranteddevelopment.

Along with the best intentions ofGovernment and futuristic planning, there willalways be a need for land to be acquired fromprivate individuals for necessary communityinfrastructure. Perhaps more than any othermember of this House, I am conscious of thestress and trauma associated with thelikelihood of losing one's home to make wayfor the perceived betterment of many. In mycase, the proposal in question was "thatdamned road".

Because many Government decisionsimpact adversely on the private land-holder, Ibelieve that Queensland must look to what ishappening in other countries where injuriousaffection and compensation for non-resumedbut devalued property is provided for inlegislation. Queensland must introduce similarlegislation if it is to look after its citizens better.That type of legislation also brings aboutbetter planning, as the true economic cost of aproject is considered when Governmentdecisions are made. The noted internationalenvironmentalist David Suzuki has stated—

"Any form of government is a humancreation and reflects the values and beliefsystem of a people. And like all humancreations, no political system is perfect. Intimes of stress and rapid change,Governments require flexibility,imagination and leadership. Thesequalities become especially critical as theplanet's biosphere undergoesunprecedented change."

I call on the Government to showflexibility, imagination and leadership,particularly in planning: flexibility in acceptingthat communities which are affected byGovernment decisions often have bettersolutions than the economic rationalistsemployed by Government; imagination inthinking laterally by looking at providinginnovative solutions with minimum impact andmaximum benefit; and leadership in changingattitudes by providing incentives for betterpractices and penalties for bad habits.Redlands needs sustainable developmentmeeting the needs of the present withoutcompromising the needs of futuregenerations. Growth and development bydefinition are distinctly different. The terms"growth" and "development" are used widelyto mean the same thing, but their differencesshould be understood. To grow means toincrease in size by the assimilation or accretionof materials; to develop means to expand orrealise the potentialities of to bring to a fuller,


greater or better state. Redlands does notneed growth; Redlands needs environmentallysustainable economic development.

The recently dumped eastern tollway hashad the most significant impact on south-eastQueensland communities of any Governmentproject in recent times. I was pleased that theHonourable Minister for Transport finallyrecognised the folly of that ill-conceived idea.Cars have the most significant environmentalimpact of any material possession. The world'svehicle population has grown more than twiceas fast as the human population. Between1950 and 1988 the number of cars, trucks andbuses grew at 4.1 per cent per annum, whilehuman numbers grew at 1.9 per cent. It is ourchoice now. It is not our preordained future tobe so reliant on the motor vehicle. We dohave a choice.

The announcement recently of the furtherdepletion of the ozone layer over Antarcticashould be sounding alarm bells to all levels ofgovernment in Australia. The latest surveyreleased showed that well over half of theAustralian population is concerned for theenvironment. Studies conducted in othercountries have found that the provision ofmore road space encourages the increaseduse of motor vehicles. I agree with theGovernment's plans for transit and high-occupancy lanes to reduce pollution andincrease safety, but I was appalled that it hasa goal only of doubling public transport usageby the year 2020. I noted also that theimpressive public transport initiatives espousedin Her Excellency's Speech concentrated onlyon the inner-city areas. I remind theGovernment that electorates such asRedlands are in dire need of public transport.

Environmental pollution is a majorconcern in the Redlands electorate, especiallywith regard to Moreton Bay. TheGovernment's decision to fund local authoritiesto tertiary treat sewage is commendable, buteven tertiary-treated water should not bedischarged into Moreton Bay as it alters thecurrent flow and water temperature. Morepractical options for disposal are using treatedwater for irrigation and in industrial coolingsystems, etc. The cost effectiveness of thosealternatives is real when balanced against thecost of pollution clean-up.

I welcome the proposed new policestation for Redland Bay for which land was setaside by the National Party Government in the1980s. This will go some way to redressing theimbalance of police numbers to population, inregard to which, regrettably, Redlands has theworst record in the State. The station,

although not planned to operate 24 hours perday, is at least a beginning. Because of theirisolation, the bay island communities feel theneed for access to police when needed.Having spent a short period in the QueenslandPolice Service, I know from experience thedifficulty in arresting an offender while one ison foot or on a bike. That is the predicamentthat the water police on the islands faceunless they can take a vehicle over tocomplete their task. I urge the HonourableMinister for Police and Corrective Services toprovide a one-vehicle barge for police useinstead of their having to hire a commercialbarge, thus announcing their intended visit. Iassure honourable members that the bushtelegraph is very active and effective on thebay islands.

Teachers in Queensland State schoolsare facing an ever-increasing workload inaddition to their main task of teachingstudents. The increased administrativeworkload placed on teachers, particularly headteachers, is enormous. New programs such asthe Continuum and Student PerformanceStandards are currently causing concern at allthe schools which I visit. Although the conceptof developing a set of standards andmeasuring students' progress is admirable, itappears that the implementation has beenhasty and ill-conceived, as the EducationDepartment is already making changes soearly in the life of the program. It would behelpful if more classroom teachers could beemployed in the SPS program and otherinitiatives to provide time for in-service trainingand more non-contact time for teachers.

I am pleased to be able to report thatprogress is finally being made on the buildingof a high school at Victoria Point, for whichland was set aside by the previous NationalParty Government in the late 1980s. One ofmy commitments before the election wascommunity participation in community projects.I am pleased that the Government is inagreement with that principle. Later this monthI will be inviting interested parties to a meetingto comment on a variety of issues involvingthe construction of the school, which intendsto enrol students in 1997.

The Government's recognition that peoplewith disabilities, their families and carers alsohave the right to live a quality life like otherQueenslanders is welcomed. I have beenapproached by a number of people in myelectorate in that situation who are veryconcerned at the closing of such centres asthe Basil Stafford Centre, whose function wasto care for those people beyond the capacityof living in a domestic situation. Families and


carers who wish to take on the responsibility ofcaring for the disabled in their familyenvironment still need relief from theenormous strain of day-to-day caring.

Whilst it is desirable to have children inadequately resourced conventional schools, insome cases it is not the best option for thedisabled child or the other children in theclassroom. Therefore, there will always be aneed for some special schools where speciallytrained staff and specific facilities can becentralised. My electorate has an excellentexample of a special school in the RedlandsSpecial School. Post school-age children withdisabilities not only need employmentopportunities but sometimes they need theclimate where their efforts are measuredagainst their contemporaries rather than justagainst their peers. For this reason I do notagree with the Government's policy of closingdown sheltered workshops.

I commend the Government on itsdecision to inject $17m into the QueenslandFire Service. The Redlands electorate is vastlyunderresourced in the provision of fireservices. The Cleveland Fire Station cannotrespond to emergencies south of VictoriaPoint in the recommended time. The rural fireservices on the islands of Moreton Bay areactually operating with unroadworthy vehicles.I give the Honourable the Minister forEmergency Services notice that I will be callingon him soon for Redlands' share of this $17mfunding.

The ambulance services are alsounderstaffed, with emergency calls sometimesbeing attended to by fire service personnel.The Cleveland ambulance site is to be soldwhen the ambulance service relocates to theRedlands Hospital. I call on the Minister to usethe proceeds of that sale to establish a newemergency/ambulance services centre atRedland Bay to cater for this growing area.

In line with Australia's ageing population,the Redlands electorate has a higher thanaverage number of retirees. It has fiveretirement villages. This is not surprising giventhe natural attributes of the area. With thiscomes special requirements for the provisionof health services, police and public transport.The Redlands Hospital, with its proposedexpansion, is well placed to service the needsof the northern end of the electorate, while thepeople in areas such as Shailer Park use theLogan Hospital. Public transport to both thesehospitals and to shopping centres and otherfacilities is desperately needed.

My vision for the Redlands electorate andwhat I will endeavour to deliver to the electorsof Redlands includes—

a tourist industry based on eco-tourism,encompassing beautiful Moreton Bay andits islands for boating and recreationalfishing; Mount Cotton and surroundingareas with its trees, koalas and otherfauna and flora; and the wetlands. All ofthose areas would be more valuable ifmanaged in their natural state and ifpromoted along the lines of the Africanbig game reserves. These areas must notbe exploited for the short-term gain ofhousing development, nor shouldMoreton Bay be allowed to be polluted.Once gone, they are lost forever;

cheap, reliable and frequent publictransport and a shift away fromdependence on the private motor vehicle;

clean, high-tech industries to createemployment opportunities and

flexibility, imagination and leadership in allthat we do.

I thank honourable members for theircourtesy.

Mr CAMPBELL (Bundaberg)(3.44 p.m.): I listened with extreme interest tothe speech of the honourable member forRedlands and the speeches of many of theother newly elected members of this House. Ihave taken that time to reflect on what I saidin my maiden speech in 1983. Manyhonourable members in this House shouldreflect on what has happened during their timein Parliament. It is important that at some timehonourable members look at what hashappened during the time that they haverepresented their electorates.

I have been honoured to be the memberfor Bundaberg—

Mr Johnson: It nearly wasn't.

Mr CAMPBELL:—since 1983—but I amstill here.

A Government member: And you'reon the Government side!

Mr CAMPBELL: And I am on theGovernment side.

Every time that this Government hasgone to the people, it has won. Regardless ofthe percentages that honourable membersopposite want to use, winning is a lot betterthan losing.

In my maiden speech I said—

"It is an honour to be part of thisAssembly, which has such a distinguishedrecord of innovative and progressivelegislation. Queensland has led thedemocratic world in legislation that


introduced widows' pensions, compulsoryworkers' compensation, free hospital care,education as a birthright forQueenslanders, unemployment andsickness benefits, the 40-hour week, andadult franchise in local government. Allthose policies have given dignity toQueenslanders as members of ademocratic society, dignity toQueenslanders as workers, and dignity tothe less fortunate and underprivileged.These achievements have been the resultof initiatives of great Labor Governmentsthrough the Parliament of Queensland."

Members can look back with pride andsee that many of these innovative policieswere introduced in this Parliament decadesago but have continued to benefit the peopleof Queensland.

In that speech I also referred to the needof the sugar industry for irrigation and theimportant part that the sugar industry played inthe economy of Bundaberg. It is interesting tonote that the words that I used back in 1983about the drought could be used today. Isaid—

"This year, under the demands of citywater supply and farm irrigation, thelimitations of the irrigation scheme wereexposed. Excessive undergroundpumping is still occurring on the southernside of the Burnett River at a rate inexcess of the annual safe yield of thatwater basin. Water is the life-blood offarming, industry and city and urbandwellers. The people of Bundaberg havethe right to expect that at some time inthe future an adequate water supplyenabling the use of garden sprinklers willbe available."

It is good to know that the Bundaberg CityCouncil, a progressive council, has providedmeters which allow the citizens of Bundabergto use garden sprinklers. I said further—

"To attract other industries toBundaberg, secure and adequate watersupplies are needed. Diversification ofindustry is a key requirement for stabilityand growth of the region to make it lessdependent on the sugar industry incomewith its cyclic troughs caused by low worldprices and variable production levels."

Since that time, Bundaberg has had theprivilege of seeing a 10-fold increase to$100m-plus in the horticultural industries thatare giving the economy of the Bundabergregion a little more stability. I will come to thatin detail later.

Another interesting point I made in thatspeech was that—

"The major requirement to improvetraffic flow is the provision of a secondtraffic bridge over the Burnett River."

I am honoured to inform membersopposite, particularly the honourable memberfor Southport, that this year this Governmentconstructed and opened the second BurnettRiver traffic bridge. So that proposal did cometrue. It was a privilege for me to join thePremier and Minister for Transport, Mr KenHayward, at the opening of that bridge.

Mr Veivers interjected.

Mr CAMPBELL: The former NationalParty Premier went to Bundaberg as a resultof a proposal to build that bridge. He wasgetting on in years at that time. He was askedabout the bridge that Russ Hinze said wasgoing to carry traffic by 1982. The thenPremier said, "What bridge? What bridge?"That statement was good enough for me towin an election back in 1983.

The position is that there have beenconsiderable achievements in Bundabergfollowing the provision of that infrastructure.What is important is that at that time Irecognised that—

"Bundaberg farmers have beenleading the way in Australia in theadoption of new technology and farmingmethods, especially the use of trickleirrigation and plastic mulch-farmingsystems. The farmers have to develop thenew farming techniques with localmachinery and chemical agencies as localDepartment of Primary Industries facilitiesare either totally lacking or the staff notavailable."

It is again a privilege to be able to saythat since that time a research farm has beenopened at Kalkie, and just this year the $5mDPI headquarters was also opened. I canreaffirm that—

"I recognise the innovativeness andskilled management of district farmerswhich have made Bundaberg the leaderin the use of trickle irrigation and plasticmulch-farming systems in Australia."

The Goss Government has providedmuch-needed facilities in Bundaberg that overmany decades were denied to the people ofBundaberg and district. For example, weprovided——

Mr Veivers: How are you going forindustrial areas?


Mr CAMPBELL: Although the membersopposite may not wish to hear what I have tosay, this State Government provided the landand the initial funding for the universitycampus at Bundaberg. That is one of thisGovernment's great achievements. ThisGovernment said that it would take theuniversities to the regional centres ofQueensland, and it has done so. There arecampuses not only in Bundaberg but also inGladstone, Mackay and Cairns. These aregreat achievements.

The Burnett River traffic bridge cost $20m.Over the past couple of years the Governmenthas provided funding for the regional mentalhealth unit, the regional breast-screeningservice and the DPI headquarters inBundaberg. A new police headquarters andwatch-house are presently under constructionin Bourbong Street. There are newCommonwealth offices. Two new schools havebeen built in the past two years—St Mary'sand St Luke's. A new city library wassubsidised and provided by the city council forBundaberg. The major CBD mall developmenthas brought a new spirit to the centre ofBundaberg. All these projects have broughtour facilities up to a standard that isacceptable for a vibrant and growing city. Wehave also introduced new levels of service, forexample, a regional headquarters for theState Housing Department. However, moreservices are needed in the region, which isexperiencing a growth rate of close to 3 percent. In low-income areas in particular there isa huge demand for Government services.

The Young inquiry report will be debatedin this House over the next couple of months.As that report states, although we haveprovided many facilities and services, more areneeded. The recommendations contained inthe Young report refer to our net debt free,low-tax status. Recommendation 8 states—

"That the Government recognisesthat while its achievement of a net debtfree status is important, it should not be atthe expense of delivering high standardsof service and employment to workingpeople throughout the State."

That is necessary. I will tell honourablemembers why it is important to a city such asBundaberg. Bundaberg has an historicallyhigh rate of unemployment. We need to domore to try to reduce that level. Last month,for example, the number of unemployed in theBundaberg district was 6,331. That figureincreased from 6,227 in the previous month.Those people need services. They greatlyneed not only social security services but also

other Government services directed towardslow-income earners.

In the previous month, the number ofunemployed in Bundaberg was 6,227compared with places such as Gympie, 2,600;Maryborough, 2,350; Hervey Bay, 2,880;Gladstone, 2,080; Rockhampton, 5,840; andMackay, 4,070. If we are to overcome theunemployment problem in Bundaberg, wemust provide the necessary infrastructure andother services.

Recommendation No. 8 stated that weshould perhaps look at the Budget strategy ofthe past. The fiscal strategy in the past meantmaintaining Queensland's low-tax position,borrowing only for assets that can effectivelygenerate an income stream sufficient to meetdebt-servicing costs and maintenance offinancial assets sufficient to fully meet theGovernment's future liabilities.

In August 1983 I wrote an article titled"Time for a Change", which I submitted toCabinet. At that time, we had reduced the netdebt from $3.4 billion to $1.8 billion over threeyears. It was my belief that there was a needfor a change. We must ensure that we providethe infrastructure that is necessary for newindustry in this State. It is time for a change instrategy; instead of reducing our net debt, wemust maintain our net debt at a stable level.The necessary infrastructure must be providedfor industry.

Unless the necessary infrastructure isprovided in the Wide Bay region, the area willnot be able to grow and more diversifiedindustries will not be able to develop. Imention firstly energy and natural gas. A four-inch natural gas pipeline from Gladstone toBundaberg would provide an important energyresource for industries in Bundaberg. WideBay Brickworks could utilise that natural gas inthe manufacture of clay bricks and blocks andfor gas-fired boilers and food processing.

Mr Littleproud interjected.

Mr CAMPBELL: I think it is about 100kilometres or more. That pipeline would costapproximately $20m. If that kind ofinfrastructure is not put in place, industries andbusinesses will not even consider locating inBundaberg. They will stay in Gladstone orBrisbane. The basic infrastructure must beprovided to meet that initial need so thatbusinesses can continue to prosper in ourregion. Business requires clean, cheap energyand it requires the flexibility of having differentenergy resources.

I turn to transport—in particular, a generalport. A low cost general cargo container port is


being developed at Bundaberg. At present theWide Bay region does not have a generalcargo port. We have a bulk port that handlessugar, molasses and fuel. A general cargoport would expand export facilities for regionalproducts and allow small to medium-sizedships to make Bundaberg a port of call in aPacific run and also to service Asian markets.There is a shortage of designated industrialland in our district. The expansion of the portto the north side of the Burnett River with theresumption of land rezoned for heavy industryis necessary to future development.

I turn now to rail facilities. Bundabergcould be a major beneficiary of the main lineupgrade. However, rail spurs need to beprovided for new and existing industries. A railspur is needed to service the Bunda industrialestate and future industrial zoned land atThabeban. In addition, a rail link could bedeveloped from North Bundaberg to themouth of the Burnett River to allow a rail linkwith a port development on the north side ofthe river.

The inland rail bridge project for aproposed standard gauge rail link fromMelbourne to Brisbane through inland NewSouth Wales could be expanded fromToowoomba through the hinterland of theWide Bay region—places such as Kingaroy—to link up with the Brisbane-Rockhampton railline and a service connection to the port ofBundaberg. This would provide a standardgauge rail line from Melbourne through toBundaberg and Gladstone, which would assistin the provision of the infrastructure that isnecessary for our region, especially in centralQueensland. A major upgrade of theBundaberg Railway Station is also needed forthe future tilt train service.

I turn now to roads. The proposedsouthern bypass road will service the needs ofthe southern and eastern suburbs ofBundaberg. Major road infrastructure isneeded to upgrade the hinterland links toBundaberg. The hinterland industries—mainlyrural, with possible mining developments—could be serviced through the port ofBundaberg if road and rail links wereupgraded. A major coastal road fromBundaberg to Miriam Vale is needed toservice the Seventeen Seventy/Agnes Watercoastal districts.

As to the airport—terminal facilities needto be upgraded with a snack bar, coffeelounge, bar and subnewsagent facilities toservice tourists. The extension of the runwayneeds to be reserved to allow for developmentto 1,800 metres-plus for use by medium-sized

jets in the future. This was the size of therunway at the old airport that served Brisbanevery well. If that infrastructure is not built, wewill not be able to provide for tourists or for theairfreighting overseas of our local produce andseafood. The aviation park concept needs tobe acted upon to ensure that aviation-basedindustries are developed in Bundaberg.

There is an urgent need to protectsuitable land for industrial purposes. Thedevelopment control plan can reserve the areabetween the Bunda industrial estate, theairport and the abattoir for industrial purposeswith appropriate rail, road and airport access. Itis a unique area that should be retained forindustrial use. A second area of land on thenorthern side of the Burnett River opposite theport should be resumed for major industry. Arail link could be provided and, if the inland railbridge project was developed, it could be astandard gauge rail line. A transport/industrialnode could be reserved over North Bundabergin the vicinity of the rail/road intersection to theport.

I turn now to water. The current droughthas highlighted the basic resource need of theregion: water. The development of furtherwater storages on the Burnett River, such asthe Walla Weir and Kulliwa Dam, need to beclosely researched to ensure the maintenanceof the integrity of the Burnett River as alifeblood for fisheries resources. The proposedimprovements to the Ben Anderson barragefish ladder should be undertaken immediately.For the very low cost of approximately$120,000 we could improve that fish ladderand I repeat that that should be doneimmediately. Improved methods ofirrigation—trickle and drip systems, recyclingand other water efficiency systems—should beencouraged, and enforced, if necessary, toreduce the demand for water. Smaller weirsand dams on smaller river and creek systemsshould be considered for on-farm and localirrigation systems. For example, the BurnettShire could investigate a dam or weir on theElliott River, a proposal first considered in thelate 1880s.

I turn now to the Bundaberg abattoirdevelopment. The Bundaberg RegionalAbattoir provides an economic, dependableand cost-price effective abattoir service tomany customers within and outside the region.A major investment in the abattoir facilities isneeded. Included in the redevelopment couldbe a boiler to provide steam, not only to theabattoir but also to future food processingplants. I believe that this should be looked atin the very near future to ensure thecontinuation of the integrity of our abattoir,


which is a great little business that does asuperb job for the community and deservesthe support of this Government. The rail spurto the Bunda industrial estate could serve theredeveloped regional abattoir.

An urgent need exists for a major hoteldevelopment in Bundaberg to service thelarge tourist groups and conference market.Until Bundaberg has a high-rise hotel, it will bevery limited in the infrastructure it can offer thetourist industry. I believe that the possibility ofa joint-venture development of a hospitalitytraining centre for hotel staff using TAFEresources should be investigated. A high-risehotel would mean 90 extra permanent jobs. Ifsuch a venture went ahead, we could trainBundaberg people in Bundaberg, obviatingthe need to bring in trained people from otherareas. That is one way of providing far dinkumjobs—not mickey mouse jobs providedthrough training programs, but real jobs that Ibelieve are needed for Bundaberg.

I turn now to tertiary education. CentralQueensland is well under the State averagefor the allocation of university places. TheBundaberg Campus of the CentralQueensland University has been a majorachievement for the Queensland Government.However, further development of the campusis needed to expand education and training.In addition to the current developments of theBundaberg campus, the following should beconsidered: courses for overseas students, achair for horticultural studies, a chair forenvironmental tourism studies, courses forrecreational and aged care services andprograms for Pacific Islander studies. We haveclose links with different islands and with theKanakas who make up a significant part of ourcommunity. I believe that we should beconsidering that key area of Pacific Islanderstudies. We should also be consideringcourses in regional development studies.Something that has not been createdanywhere in Queensland is a good researchprogram for regional centre development,even though Queensland is the mostdecentralised State in Australia.

TAFE resources need to be expanded tomeet the region's population. Expansion in thehospitality/tourism training area, marinestudies, sugar industry training for overseasstudents, aged care and welfare coursesshould be a priority. One sector that can bedecentralised very easily, and which I think weshould investigate doing, is medical andhospital services. Bundaberg has two modern,well-equipped private hospitals and a basehospital undergoing reconstruction. With avery good lifestyle and a comfortable climate,

Bundaberg should be selling health services toAustralians and foreigners. Bundaberg couldbecome a centre of excellence for aged-carerelated specialties.

I wish to deal with sporting facilities.Bundaberg has a very equable climate andeasygoing lifestyle. The development ofaccommodation for sporting teams andupgraded sporting facilities would allow State,national and international training camps to beundertaken in Bundaberg and the facilitiescould be used for pre-Sydney Olympic training.All of these measures require much planningand thought, but most of all we need tomake a commitment to be prepared to putextra infrastructure in those areas that havehigh unemployment—especially centralQueensland.

A feeling of unease and uncertainty hascome about as a result of the Hilmer report. Ihave great concerns with the Hilmer report andthe open competition policy that hasovertaken the economy of Australia. It leads touncertainty and insecurity. I believe thosebasic factors should be considered wheneverwe consider reconstructing industries. I amreminded of a quotation that I once read—

"We trained hard, but it seemed thatevery time we were beginning to form upinto teams, we would be reorganised.Later on I was to learn that we tend tomeet any new situation by reorganising,and a wonderful method it can be forcreating the illusion of progress whileproducing confusion, inefficiency anddemoralisation."

That writer was not a writer of today. He wasnot a writer of the twentieth century. Theauthor, a Roman general named Petronius,penned those words in 66 AD. In other words,change has been with us over many centuries.

The problem that I have identified is thatcompetition happens in different industries.For example, a number of outsideorganisations are now active in the field ofsugar industry research and development.They include the QDPI, CSIRO, and at leastfour universities. Those organisations nowcompete with the BSCS and Sugar Researchfor non-levy funding. Some competitionbetween research groups is healthy, but toomuch leads to a pooling of expertise. It canlead also to a compulsion to get in first bypublishing research work too soon, before itsvalidity has been established. I have foundthat, in some cases, researchers who arecompeting for the research dollar are doingsubmission writing, not research. We have toensure that the field does not become so


competitive that researchers forget that we arepaying them to do research. I am concernedthat this is happening in many places. CSIROis one place where that has happened. Another matter that concerns me isgeneric management, by which I mean thatpeople from outside industries enter anorganisation at management level. Genericmanagement, which is occurring in manydepartments, is destroying what I call thecorporate memory. In other words, a lot ofinformation that has been built up overdecades of people working in those areas islost when new people are brought in. It seemsthat that knowledge is not consideredimportant. We have to be careful whenconsidering selection criteria that we do notalways go for new blood, but be prepared toensure that the experience that has beengained over decades is not lost. I hope that,as a result of the sugar inquiry, the baby is notthrown out with the bathwater. I hope we donot forget why the infrastructure was built up.

A century ago, the Labor Party cameabout when the free market system failed.During the Great Depression people were outof work and all of our rural industries were sodepressed that the whole economy wasaffected. Because the price system did notwork, the Labor Party was born to providejustice for workers. Over a century, marketintervention was used to ensure that whenmarket forces did not work the Labor Partywas there to provide security and stability forthe benefit of people. I am concerned that, tosome extent, we might be losing that. In hisreport on the open competition policy, FredHilmer examines the virtues of competitionand unfettered market forces. The problem isthat often that may not be in the nationalinterest. It does not overcome very large pricefluctuations that can lead to depressedmarkets. In the words of Fred Hilmer, whoprides himself on objectivity, the problem formembers of Parliament and politicians is thatthey have also to show compassion and care.When one considers price competition, marketcompetition and the open market, compassionand care are forgotten and there is no suchthing as price justice. Price justice must alsobe considered.

Another matter that concerns me is thatcompetition will lead to lower prices. That issaid to be a benefit. I ask: is that for thebenefit of the community? Increasedcompetition can lead to increasedconsumption, and I believe that at presentsociety is increasing its consumption. However,often that is not desirable. For example, wehave had a massive increase in air travel over

the last few years through lower prices, but isthis desirable from an environmental point ofview? It has been shown that the level ofozone in the atmosphere has been depletedby commercial aircraft. So although pricecompetition has increased consumption, it hasalso caused environmental problems. Thatfactor is not taken into account when we justconsider market forces.

Mr Ardill: What about the effect on ourbalance of payments of the purchase of theaircraft?

Mr CAMPBELL: That is a similarproblem. Pure price competition will not eventake account of that factor. It is not evenconsidered. We are looking only at pricecompetition.

Dr Watson interjected.Mr CAMPBELL: That is right. I was

lucky I did not hear what the member said, butI agreed with him because he usually makessensible comments in relation to economicmatters.

Mr Livingstone: Perhaps not this time,though.

Mr CAMPBELL: But perhaps not thistime. The other matter is that Fred Hilmer is onrecord as saying that managers work better ifthere is micro-economic reform. He believesthat they will respond to the pressure of micro-economic reform. I am concerned about thesocial problems, such as stress andbreakdowns, that are generated by increasedmicro-economic reform. I ask members: whoare the people who come to see them withproblems? The ones who have beenretrenched from their jobs, the ones who havelost their jobs, the ones suffering from workstress, the ones who have had a mentalbreakdown and need help. Hilmer does notworry about that. It is one of the costs of openprice competition that Governments areexpected to pick up. For example, we have ahigh suicide rate and we have high healthcosts. Under open competition, those costsare not going to be reduced.

Kim Sweetman, who wrote about the fearof power, gas and water price rises, stated thatthe Australian Federation of ConsumerOrganisations warned that Hilmer did notconsider consumer protection references. LizCarver, the spokesperson for the AustralianFederation of Consumer Organisations, saidthat both the Industry Commission and theCommonwealth Treasury have acknowledgedthat domestic and rural consumers may beworse off as a result of those changes ascross-subsidies and the user-pays principle areintroduced. That is a concern.

Time expired.


Mr LITTLEPROUD (Western Downs)(4.14 p.m.): Firstly, in rising to support themotion for the adoption of the Address inReply, on behalf of the constituents ofWestern Downs, I pledge our loyalty to HerMajesty the Queen and to her Vice-regalrepresentative in Queensland, Her Excellencythe Governor. I also offer my congratulationsto all members who have been elected or re-elected to this House. I notice that somepeople, such as the member for Southport,have been returned with increased margins.That has given them a much morecomfortable feeling on returning to this House.Other members scraped back in. To getthrough an election is always a bit of achallenge.

I have listened with great interest to themaiden speeches of those members whohave been elected for the first time. I extend aspecial welcome to them. I have been mostimpressed by their contributions. We are agroup of people who are representative of thebroad spectrum of people in Queensland, andwe are richer because of it. The members ofthis House have all manner of styles, but I amsure we all come to this place with the idea ofdoing the best we can for the people werepresent and collectively for allQueenslanders. Obviously, I am pleased toonce again be given the opportunity torepresent the people of Western Downs. Theyare proud Australians. They are very proudQueenslanders. They are a group of peoplewho, in recent times, have been doing it prettytough. Over many years, they have made agreat contribution to all forms of prosperity inQueensland. Given good Government and achange in weather conditions, the people inmy electorate will, once again, live in a vibrantpart of the State.

The people in my electorate are gratefulfor the drought assistance given over the lastcouple of years by people living in the city. Itwas rather heartrending to see convoys ofpeople going west to give some assistance tothose people. They truly appreciate it, butobviously they would much rather be making acontribution and sending their produce to themarket in the city.

I want to thank the people of WesternDowns for showing confidence in me onceagain to be their representative——

Mr Springborg: It was 9.8 per cent,wasn't it?

Mr LITTLEPROUD: It was not quitethat, but I will be modest and say that theelection was a resounding success for me. I

am only too pleased to acknowledge that voteof confidence.

Mr Veivers interjected.

Mr LITTLEPROUD: I say to themember for Southport that those figures willbe disclosed in the proper place at the propertime.

I would like to make some commentsabout the overall result of the election. It hasbeen stated in this House many times that wenow have a Government in Queensland thatreceived less than 50 per cent of the overallvote. That has happened across-the-board inevery State, and in the Federal sphere in oneof the last two general elections. So there aresome questions to be asked about the type ofelectoral system that we are using. Manypeople in Queensland had made up theirminds that they wanted a change ofGovernment. When the dice finally camedown, the Government retained power withless than 50 per cent of the vote.

To me, that result was not unexpected. Infact, Mr Deputy Speaker, I am sure you werepresent in the House earlier this year when Ispoke to the Appropriation Bill. I madecomments about the sorts of things I wasreading from the community with regard to theperformance of this Government. People inprivate enterprise, especially in small towns,are often very reluctant to speak out onpolitical matters because they know that theircustomers can be people of either politicalpersuasion. So they do not say very muchabout political matters, although they will talkto people privately about political matters. Butin recent times they have been so sorelypressed that they reached the stage at whichthey were most vocal in their opposition to theway that the Keating Government and theGoss Government were, in fact, impacting ontheir capacity to remain viable. Of course, theloss of cash flow because of the drought hasnot helped them.

At that time, I referred to the publicservants who had been treated unfairly underthis new, super-duper system of what theGovernment calls appointment on merit. It hasalways existed, but in another form. However,those people have been treated very badly.The party machine has been working so wellthat it has put mates in places and it hasstacked selection panels. Other people, whohave been very dedicated and quiteindependent public servants, have resentedthat happening, and that was reflected at theballot box. Of course, through the local papersin my electorate I have referred to the poordeal that the young people of Queensland—in


fact, all young Australians—are getting at thepresent time. The previous speaker, themember for Bundaberg, referred to thoseyoung unemployed people. We really aredoing a great disservice to the young peopleof Australia when a person can reach the ageof 21 or 22 and not have been in full-timeemployment. What hope do those youngpeople have of putting together some capitalto buy motor cars, to buy blocks of land, or tostart a family? It takes a number of years foryoung people to establish themselves andstart families. No wonder the youth have afeeling of hopelessness. The previousspeaker, the member for Bundaberg, spokeabout the high rate of youth suicide.

A predominant factor in relation to theelection result was that people were sayingquite openly that this State is beingmismanaged. They know that the StateBudget is now $2 billion a year bigger than itwas in 1989. They quite legitimately asked thequestion, "A lot more money is coming fromus. What do we have to show for it in return?"The Government has talked about how muchmore money it has spent on police, educationand national parks, but when it comes down tothe real shake——

Mr Hamill: Three thousand moreteachers than when you were Minister forEducation—3,000 more.

Mr LITTLEPROUD: When the Ministerwas the shadow Minister for Education, heasked only two questions in 12 months. Nowhe is a big mouth for education. He spends alot of money, but gives no performance.

We have the situation now that peoplehave started to become more specific. Theyhave talked about the cost of workers'compensation. Of course, in recent weeks thatsubject has been spoken about at length inthis House and in the press, and it is not overyet. The reality is that people are going to behurt, especially those people who paypremiums. People have also wondered aboutthe overall strategy of the QueenslandGovernment when they hear about the saleand lease back of the Stanwell Power Station.The Opposition has been warning the peopleof Queensland of the track records of socialistGovernments elsewhere in Australia, and inVictoria in particular. The people ofQueensland realised that there has beenmismanagement in Queensland, and theyvoted accordingly.

Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen was asked tocomment on why the ALP had performed sobadly. He identified its leader, Wayne Goss.Sir Joh said that the Premier tried to run his

campaign from a TV screen. A couple of timesthe Premier had tried street walking, but hegot a few barbs and did not like it. Hetherefore retreated, and the strategists put alltheir eggs in one basket. The campaign wasstage managed in front of TV cameras aroundthe State. The result was that people did notfeel that they had any contact with him andthey rejected him. On the other hand, theLeader of the Opposition and the DeputyLeader of the Opposition made personalappearances across the State. The Oppositionwas prepared to take a few barbs, but itcertainly received a lot of accolades. TheOpposition certainly got its message across inthe flesh. There is quite a message in that.

I believe that the other message thatcame out of the election campaign was thedishonesty factor, which manifested itself inthe last week of campaigning. The Treasurermade the accusation that the Opposition wasgoing to privatise hospitals, which he has nowadmitted was dishonest. As that dishonestystarted to become apparent and the peoplerecognised it for what it was, they started toswing very strongly against the Government,and the polls showed that. Of course, in thefinal debate the member for Surfers Paradise,the Leader of the Opposition, walked all overthe Premier. By this time, the Premier wasnervous, and it showed. The day after theelection I was talking to a former student ofmine who is now a young businessman inChinchilla. He summed up his feelings bysaying, "Brian, people will not weardishonesty." The dishonesty factor waslooming large.

I will remind members of a couple ofthings that have occurred since the election.For example, as part of her electioncampaigning, the former member forMansfield got herself in trouble with the courts.

The previous speaker mentioned theYoung report, commissioned by the ALP toinvestigate what went wrong in its campaign. Ifound certain things in that report veryinteresting. Recommendation 12 states that asenior member of each Minister's staff begiven responsibility for dealing with inquiriesfrom party members. The public service issupposed to be independent, but theGovernment is setting up a dishonest situationwhereby it is calling for a senior public servantin each Minister's office to look after only theALP members. All other Queenslanders mustbe different. There are two sorts ofQueenslanders: ALP members and others.Recommendation 6 of the report urges thatgreater attention be given to the employmentof ALP members to the boards and advisory


groups in the public sector. That is also part ofthe dishonesty factor I spoke of, whichmanifested itself in the last week of electioncampaigning. That dishonesty factor is still withus; it is endemic in the Government.

Of course, Government members mayremember that on 13 September I raised theissue of a bogus facsimile that had been sentfrom the electorate office of the member forRockhampton. The content of that facsimile,which was written on a United Fire FightersUnion Brisbane branch letterhead, conveyed afalse message aimed at cancelling a plannedprotest march by firemen on 22 August andreplacing it with a rally a day later. Honourablemembers would be aware that, since thisdisclosure, both the member for Rockhamptonand the Minister for Emergency Servicesreacted quickly in a bid to distance themselvesfrom that ploy to disrupt a protest by firemen.Since then, I have received further informationwhich indicates that sections of theGovernment, including the Premier, wereaware of the bogus fax soon after it had beensent and that there had been a concertedeffort within the Government ranks to hush upthis matter. That effort also involved thePremier, who had allegedly been briefed onthe matter.

Further, associated with this issue hasbeen a trumped-up investigation involvingpolice allegedly looking for stolen documentsin fire stations. Investigating officers in thisregard have named the Director-General ofEmergency Services, Dr Leo Keliher, as acomplainant, and firemen are convinced that itis only a ploy to intimidate them into silence.On top of this—and about 33 minutes afterthe bogus fax was sent to some Brisbane firestations on 21 August—several letters fromsolicitors acting for Dr Keliher implying legalaction were delivered to UFU Brisbane branchexecutive members at Kemp Place FireStation. Subsequently, similar letters weredelivered to other fire stations by a process-server. These letters basically threateneddefamation proceedings against the UFUrecipients relating to documents published bythe union's Brisbane branch about the protestMarch.

Firemen are well aware of the closefriendship between Dr Keliher and the memberfor Rockhampton. The arrival on 21 August ofthe bogus facsimile from Mr Schwarten'soffice, which referred to threats of legal action,followed shortly afterwards by letters from DrKeliher's solicitor threatening action fordefamation, has all the hallmarks of aconspiracy against those firemen. This wasparticularly so, because until the bogus fax

appeared firemen were unaware of the priorexistence of any public document mentioningthe threat of legal action—a conspiracy, theysay, involving Mr Schwarten, Dr Keliher andprobably others.

Mr SCHWARTEN: I rise to a point oforder. I have clarified my stance on this matterpreviously in this House. What the member isalleging is untrue. It is hurtful, and I ask that itbe withdrawn.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (MrPalaszczuk): Order! The honourable memberfinds the comments to be untrue. UnderStanding Orders, I am bound to ask thehonourable member to withdraw them.

Mr LITTLEPROUD: I withdraw that lastcomment concerning a conspiracy. However, Iremind you, Mr Deputy Speaker, that when Ispoke about this on the previous occasion, themember for Rockhampton promised to give anexplanation, and he never has.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Thehonourable member has withdrawn. I remindall honourable members that points of ordercannot be debated. The honourable membershall return to his speech.

Mr LITTLEPROUD: These are not myaccusations; they are claims made instatements of station officer first-class KevinAlbert Foster, who is also the president andpast secretary of the Caboolture branch of theAustralian Labor Party, and the UFU Brisbanebranch secretary, Mr Roger Williams. I tablethat documentation.

Here the plot thickens, because in lateAugust efforts were made by officer Foster tobring the bogus fax to the Minister's noticethrough what he believed were the correctchannels, namely, his local member, themember for Caboolture, Mr Sullivan. At about9 a.m. on 28 August, he met the member forCaboolture to raise his concerns about thebogus fax. He states that Mr Sullivan read thedocument and immediately sought to contactthe Emergency Services Minister, Mr Davies,by phone. However, the Minister was notavailable at that time. Officer Foster goes onto state that at about 7.15 a.m. on 20September he was approached by a personknown to him and who, through employment,was a regular visitor to the Kemp Place andRoma Street Fire Stations. He also states thatthat person is a member of the same branchof the Labor Party as the Premier, Mr Goss. Iam deliberately refraining from identifying thatperson publicly because of possiblerepercussions, and I ask the media to respectthat wish.


Officer Foster states that, on severaloccasions, that person had conveyed to thePremier concerns about firefighter disputation.On one occasion it involved a meetingbetween officer Foster, that person and MrShaun Rohrlach, one of the Premier'sadvisers, at his Marsden electorate office.Officer Foster states that there were twomeetings about three weeks apart, both beingto brief the Premier on the industrial turmoilexisting in the Fire Service. On 20 September,at the meeting that officer Foster had with thatperson, he was told that the person had beenfully briefed and given a copy of the bogus faxdirectly to the Premier allegedly on or about 23or 24 August. Officer Foster says that, on theevening of 21 September, he received aphone call from the member for Cabooltureand immediately asked him why there hadbeen no action from the Minister. In hisstatement in relation to Mr Sullivan and thebogus fax officer Foster stated—

"He seemed upset. He informed methat he had been told to say that inrespect of the subject document it had infact been shredded and that neither theMinister for Emergency Services, Mr KenDavies, or Mr Robert Schwarten, MLA,had read it."

When Mr Sullivan proceeded to tell officerFoster that he also had not read the bogusfax, officer Foster replied that they both knewthat it had to be false and that he, Foster, didnot now believe a word of the shredding story.

On the morning of 22 September, officerFoster again met with his contact from thePremier's Labor Party branch. According toofficer Foster, that person told him—

"I had another meeting with WayneGoss about that bogus fax. He's nowusing the story that he knows nothingabout the bogus fax and he says heshredded it without reading it."

There is some sort of similarity there! Thestatement continued—

"I was absolutely furious because thelying little bastard knows I told him allabout it and handed him a copy"——

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

Mr LITTLEPROUD: I am sorry; I amquoting.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thehonourable member will resume his seat. Thatterm is unparliamentary. Even though the termcame from the mouth of somebody else,under the provisions of the Standing Orders it

should be withdrawn. I ask the honourablemember to withdraw it.

Mr LITTLEPROUD: I withdraw thatcomment. It is contained in the documentationthat I tabled, so honourable members canread it. I withdraw and apologise for thatcomment.

The quote continues—

". . . I told him all about it and handed hima copy and he read it in front of me anddiscussed it with me."

Both officer Foster and this person thenreached a consensus that they weresaddened by their shared information and thatit seemed to them that the apparent cover-upwas an indication of guilt. At a subsequentmeeting with the member for Caboolture on22 September, officer Foster said that MrSullivan had been shocked when he relatedthe story of the Premier saying the same thingabout the bogus fax, that is, that it had beenshredded without him reading it. He advisedMr Sullivan to stay out of it and that hiscomplaint was not about the member's actionsbut about those who were trying to cover upthe issue.

One is left to wonder why this wholeepisode has attracted such efforts to cover itup. Officer Foster suggests that there hasbeen a breach of the Postal andTelecommunications Act of theCommonwealth by virtue of the fact that thefacsimile message was false and wasconveyed without the authority of the UFUBrisbane branch. Perhaps the desire to coverit up was heightened by the fact that breachesof such Federal legislation relating to postaland telecommunications messages carrypenalties of one year's imprisonment.Whatever the case, I believe an investigationby the Criminal Justice Commission iswarranted, and I will be forwarding to it a fullcopy of the material made available to me.

In addition, I intend to write to theChairman of the Members' Ethics andParliamentary Privileges Committee seekingconsideration of the actions of the member forRockhampton in allowing, either knowingly orunknowingly——

Mr SCHWARTEN: I rise to a point oforder. I reiterate that I have no knowledge ofthis matter. I have said so in this place andother places on a number of occasions. I findthe remarks continuing to be made in thisplace by the member for Western Downs to beoffensive and untrue. I ask that they bewithdrawn. Mr Deputy Speaker, I ask for your


assistance in bringing the honourablemember's remarks to a halt.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I willmake reference to a ruling on points of ordermade by Speaker Brassington on 13November 1946, which was reported as—

"May be based only upon referencesmade to hon. members; happenings inpublic or private gatherings may becriticised or published by an hon. memberin Parliament."

Therefore, I rule that the honourable memberwill withdraw the remark.

Mr LITTLEPROUD: I seek aqualification: which remarks?

Mr FitzGerald: Knowingly orunknowingly, you have to withdraw.

Mr LITTLEPROUD: I withdraw, eitherknowingly or unknowingly. I will carry on——

Mr SCHWARTEN: I rise to a point oforder. This is continuing along the same line.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Thehonourable member will resume his seat. Thehonourable member for Lockyer has not beenhelpful in the prosecution of the point of order.I ask the honourable member to withdraw thestatement.

Mr LITTLEPROUD: I withdraw, MrDeputy Speaker.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I thankthe member. He may continue.

Mr LITTLEPROUD: I was stating thatthis matter would be referred to the Members'Ethics and Parliamentary PrivilegesCommittee. Surely it is the role of thatcommittee to consider the matter.

Officer Foster's statement goes on tooutline how police had gone to the RomaStreet Fire Station on 22 August 1995allegedly to investigate the theft andpublication of an unofficial magazine calledCODE-INE. According to officer Foster, thesedocuments primarily related to memorandumsor other material which had been faxed intothe fire stations. In the case ofmemorandums, staff are required to familiarisethemselves with the contents thereof. Theother material was not marked "Private".Officer Foster made this point to police: howcould anyone steal or leak what ostensibly wasa public document? Surely if the Minister atthe time had wanted them to be treatedsecurely, he would have used acceptedprocedures. So, in a sense, he has onlyhimself and his staff to blame.

It seems clear that the police investigationwas just a tool instigated by Dr Keliher tointimidate firemen and was perhaps a blatantmisuse of police powers. The Government hasbeen embarrassed politically by the strength ofthe firefighters' protests. The Premier, theMinister, the director and perhaps themembers involved are desperate for theclaims made by officer Foster and the UFUbranch secretary, Mr Roger Williams, to becovered up. In my view, that is sufficientjustification for the Criminal JusticeCommission to thoroughly investigate thewhole matter.

I turn to other matters—and there shouldbe no more points of order taken during myspeech; these issues are not as sensitive. Irefer to some of the comments made in theGovernor's Speech to the Parliament. HerExcellency spoke about this Government'sintention to rebuild community values. Thoseare fine words, but the challenge is still there.Many people in Queensland would be quick toacknowledge that the Department of FamilyServices was probably the worst sector ofpublic administration during the lastParliament. I was pleased to see a change ofMinistership. I offer my congratulations to MrsWoodgate on her elevation to the position ofMinister for Family and Community Services.She must meet the challenge. TheGovernment has some fine ideals, and theMinister will have my support if her departmentcan enhance community values. Already Ihave heard of some of the steps taken by theMinister to ensure that her department will runmuch better than it has previously.

During the election campaign, in speakingabout improving community values I heard thePremier mention that there would be so manymillions of dollars to build indoor sports centresacross the State. Recently, I was visited bysome people from the town of Chinchilla whohad been running a youth support centrethere for probably 10 years. They already havethe use of premises and they carry outvaluable work to give young people who donot have any work some sort of meaning in lifeand a gathering place where they can pick upcertain skills. They have written to the DeputyPremier asking that the guidelines for this helpfor young people be wide enough to allow notonly the building of centres but also thefunding of staff in existing centres. To date,their requests have not been met, but there ismerit in what they are suggesting. In manyQueensland towns there are already finecentres at which young people can beoccupied in some sort of recreational activity ortraining. However, they question whether or


not enough money is being provided to helpthose sorts of organisations to supportthemselves. Certainly, not much money canbe raised by young unemployed people. If weassisted with the operating costs rather thanjust the construction of new buildings we maywell do just as much good.

In Her Excellency's Speech to theParliament there was a statement aboutcreating an attractive environment forbusiness. I find that statement rathermisleading. We have only to think about thenumber of Government charges that haveincreased alarmingly in recent years. Over thepast six years, these charges have beendocumented by various members on this sideof the House. Those charges still continue torise. In being a bit more particular, I refer tothe recent environmental protection levyintroduced by the former Minister forEnvironment and Heritage, Molly Robson.That is a debacle. I am sure that members onboth sides of the House would be receivingrepresentations from people in business whoare saying that the level of fees set out in theregulations is completely unrealistic.

I pay tribute to the local authorities ofWambo and Dalby in particular. They havealso received representations, because theyare going to be the policing authority. Theyknow that levies such as $500 a year areanother unreal overhead on businesses thatare already struggling. They intend to strikewhat they believe is a decent sort of levy inembracing the spirit of the Act. Then it will beup to the Government to accept that or put itaside. I hope that the Government is going tobe true to its promise of listening to thepeople, because these people are quitegenuine in making representations. Small-business people simply cannot afford theimpost of the environmental protection levyproposed in the regulations of the formerMinister. Those levies need to be morerealistic. The Wambo and Dalby TownCouncils are proposing what they think areworthwhile and reasonable levies. They will belooking for support from the other localgovernments across the downs area. Perhapsit will snowball and be picked up by other localauthorities across the State.

We also have the fiasco of themismanagement of the WorkersCompensation Fund. The reality is that thepeople paying the premiums—once again,people operating businesses—are in for aslug. It is not a slug in the form of a tax after aprofit has been made; it is a slug onbusinesses before they operate and evenmake a profit. Those are the sorts of imposts

that businesses find very difficult to handle.Also of concern is the cost of workplace healthand safety. Not only does that concernbusiness; it goes right across the full spectrumof the community. When Parliament was lastsitting, I led a deputation to see theHonourable Ken Davies. That issue is havingdamaging effects on the State EmergencyService. The biggest group of volunteers inQueensland is being frustrated by thedemands of the Workplace Health and SafetyAct. The Minister readily conceded that thepoints they raised were in fact quite valid. Hehas promised to look into it. That is only goingon in one particular avenue, that is, within theSES. However, the issue certainly has to belooked at in the total context of employment.Everyone supports the notion that theworkplace should be safe. However, it is thedegree to which regulation is imposed that isimportant. I am of the opinion that, in thiscase, it is over the top.

Another topic mentioned in theGovernor's Speech was education. I note thatthe Minister for Education has left theChamber. I concede that an enormousamount of money has been injected intoeducation since the change of Government. Ihave quite correctly said in the past and I willsay it again now that people are asking: inspite of that huge injection of funds, what sortof value for money are we receiving? Theanswer is: not much.

I want to refer particularly to schoolsupport centres. Mr Braddy was the Ministerfor Education when those centres wereestablished. I supported the idea of havingspecialist teachers, but I said at the time that itwould be a pretty expensive exercise. Isuggested that it would be much better tohave specialist teachers attached to aparticular school. Such teachers would beunder the direction of the administration ofthat particular school and more benefits wouldbe derived. Instead, the specialist teachers aresituated in their own enclave. It was veryexpensive to acquire the real estate, and anenormous amount of money continues to bespent on the school support centres. Althoughthe specialist teachers may be trying hard,there is no substitute for the solid teachingoffered in the classroom across the desk. Theexperts can discuss theories all they like, buttalk is only talk. Ultimately, knowledge must bedelivered in the classroom.

I turn now to the gas pipeline runningfrom south-west Queensland to Wallumbilla.When this Parliament last met, there was adetermination by the Government that it wouldinsist on resumptions of land to create a


corridor. Since then, commonsense hasprevailed. Effective representations have beenmade by industry bodies and by the memberfor Warrego and me. We all kept pushing for areversal of that determination, and Iunderstand that the Government has nowdeclared that easements will serve thepurpose. Public servants in the Co-ordinatorGeneral's Department had advisedlandowners who questioned them closely thateasements were all that were needed. At theend of the day the Government backed awayfrom resumptions, and I commend it for doingso.

One issue mentioned this morning wastree-clearing guidelines. The Department ofEnvironment and Heritage has had a closeinvolvement in this issue. Under the previousMinister, that department was out of control. Iattended a public meeting in Miles. It wasobvious that the good work of the LandsDepartment and the DPI was being squashedand put aside by the Department ofEnvironment and Heritage. It has now beenproven that proper consideration was notgiven to the financial impact of the proposedguidelines and tree management issues.People in various regions of Queensland arepleading with the Government to ensure thatall submissions are considered and allimplications are finalised before a decision istaken.

The Minister for Primary Industries hasclaimed that everything has been put on holduntil such time as the issues are finalised. Thatis not strictly correct, because the proposednew guidelines are already in operation—eventhough the issues are supposedly still underconsideration. I note that the Minister forLands is in the Chamber. I hope that he hastaken note of the comments I have made withregard to allowing full consultation to takeplace. There are people out there with lots ofexpertise in terms of tree management. Theyunderstand the localities in question. Thefinancial implications of the proposedguidelines must be investigated. Landownersare prepared to leave corridors and preservevarious aspects of the ecology, but it isimportant that their viability is not placed atrisk. Given time, those landowners will worktheir way through the issues, and I amconfident that they will allow the Governmentto make a more informed decision.

In conclusion—I offer my apologies for thecomments that I had to withdraw. I know thatthe issues involved were close to the heart ofthe member for Rockhampton, but I wasquoting earnestly from the statements given tome.

Mr DOLLIN (Maryborough) (4.44 p.m.):In rising to speak to the motion for theadoption of the Address in Reply, I reaffirm myloyalty to the Crown and Her Excellency theGovernor of Queensland. I extend mycongratulations to the Speaker and DeputySpeaker on their election to those high offices.

I take this opportunity to thank the citizensof the Maryborough electorate for re-electingme for a third term to represent them in theForty-eighth Parliament of Queensland. Ipromise to do my best to ensure that all myconstituents receive a fair and equitable shareof the State's record Budget outlay of $11.65billion—an increase of 8.1 per cent over lastyear's record Budget. I promise to serve all myconstituents in a fair and even-handedmanner irrespective of their race, religion orpolitical affiliations. I consider myself to be amember for everybody in my electorate, as Ihave over my last two terms.

I believe I can claim in all modesty thatthe Maryborough electorate and indeed thewhole of the Wide Bay/Burnett region hasprogressed in leaps and bounds over the pastsix years under the stewardship of the GossLabor Government. Our region is now thefastest growing in the State. That growth isspread across a wide range of industries whichgive our region a superbly balanced portfoliothat would be the envy of many other regions.We do not have all our eggs in the onebasket, so to speak.

For the benefit and enlightenment ofhonourable members here assembled, I willendeavour to highlight the key industries ofour bustling region. I will not attempt to namethem in order of importance, as each andevery industry is extremely important, and inmany cases they complement each other.Primary industries play a major role in theeconomy of our region, as just about everyfacet of this important portfolio is represented.Timber processing in native hardwood andpine plantation resources employs some1,200 people in the region. Hyne and Son isour largest processor of both hardwood andpine. The hardwood is drawn from forestryreserves and private property in and aroundthe Maryborough district.

Privately grown hardwood log resourcesplay a very important role in our region, wheregraziers have for over 100 years or moregrown native—mostly hardwood—species thatoccur naturally in the region. This is done bythe economic method of selecting the bestsaplings when ringing or tordening, allowingthem to grow into valuable timber resourcessuch as electricity poles, other timber roundsand, finally, very valuable saw logs.


In our region, as in many others, graziershave been very successful in the combinationor dual usage of land, primarily in cattlebreeding and as a secondary income thegrowing of timber, which is well understood bythese people, who have been managing theirproperties in this manner for up to fourgenerations. I believe that that type of dualfarming should be encouraged, as itcomplements the environment by preventingsalinity and soil erosion, creates shade foranimals, provides a habitat and food for manyof our native animals, and above all isprofitable.

I extend an invitation to members on bothsides of the House or anyone else who isinterested to come to Maryborough. I wouldbe very happy to show them first-hand howwell we do the job of growing and processingtimber in a way that is not damaging to theenvironment and plays a very important role inour balance of payments by limiting our needto import. Honourable members might besurprised to learn that we as a nation import inexcess of $2 billion worth of timber each yearover exports. To make a comparison, it takesour total sugar exports—valued at over $1billion—to offset half of our timber importcosts.

I point out to all honourable members thatwe have in Australia a ready-made $1 billionmarket in timber production. This is a verygood reason for putting a lot more effort intothe growing of timber. Not only would it bringabout thousands of extra jobs; it would alsoreduce our balance of payments by at least $1billion and, done properly, would enhance ourenvironment.

The Hyne/Sumitomo partnershipCanterwood chip mill at Owanyilla is now fullyoperational and is operating very successfully.The chips are transported from Owanyilla toGladstone by Queensland Rail in specially builttrains which haul two loads a day. QueenslandRail is expected to earn $50m in revenue fromthis project. This $120m contract over 10 yearswill assist our balance of trade payments by$12m a year and has created about 80 jobsall up. The resource for the operation is drawnfrom the Tuan/Toolara pine plantation, a Statepine plantation, utilising the forest culls thatwould have otherwise been wasted. I believethat this is a wonderful result from what wouldhave been otherwise a wasted product if thisGovernment had not initiated the project.

The sugar industry is another veryimportant facet of our primary industries. TheMaryborough sugar mill employs 130 people,with the industry in total employing 580

people. Last year's season was an all-timerecord, with about 600,000 tonnes of sugarcrushed. This season will be a bit down on thatfigure, but it will still be a good harvest,pumping approximately $30m into the district'seconomy.

As a matter of interest, I point out that theMaryborough sugar mill recently held itscentenary celebrations. Even more interestingis that it is still managed by Tom and DavidBraddock, the fourth generation of the TomBraddock who originally founded the companyin 1895. Maryborough is proud that the totalindustry is locally owned and managed, whichmeans that the revenue generated stays athome. Some 170 growers supply the mill from11,560 hectares of land, of whichapproximately 40 per cent is irrigated. TheMaryborough sugar industry is in need of moreland to offset land lost to urban developmentand to provide economies of scale. The millhas a capacity to crush about a million tonnesand will need to rise to that throughput overthe next few years to maintain this veryimportant industry in our region into the future.

Citrus also plays an important role in theMaryborough district, not just in the growing ofcitrus but also in the packing and market. MrPat Davis and partners had their orchards andpackaging industry factory officially opened bythe Premier in June this year. This factorycreates employment for over 100 workers andis earning some $12m in export dollars. Thebusiness is operating well and is a greatenhancement to Maryborough's primaryindustries. I believe there is plenty of scope forexpansion for this company into the future.

The Maryborough electorate has within itsboundaries one of Queensland's largestpiggeries situated at Netherby in the TiaroShire. This piggery contains 1,500 animals atall times. Other smaller piggeries also operatein the area. Grazing is also a large industrythat plays an important role in our localeconomy, along with bauple, or macadamia,nut plantations, pineapples, avocados and amultitude of vegetables and other small crops,all of which contribute to the diverseagricultural pursuits within the district. Fishing isalso an important industry that adds wealthand employment to the district. TheMaryborough electorate is richly endowed inthe majority of primary industries that are amajor part of our economy and that add to thewealth of our State.

Not only is Maryborough the hub of theregion, it is also the Newcastle of the region.Walkers Engineering in Maryborough, asubsidiary of EDI, was at the crossroads in


1989 and Maryborough and its district werefearful of losing an engineering industry thathad played a very major role in the earlydevelopment and ongoing economy ofMaryborough, as it does still today. When Iwas elected in 1989 Walkers was employing350 people and its future was very bleak.Today Walkers is employing 640 people andhas in excess of $200m in orders, whichinclude the prestigious $62.5m tilt train forQueensland Rail, $100m for light rail cars forKuala Lumpur, Queensland Rail contracts for$80m for Brisbane to Sunshine Coast trains,sugar harvesting equipment for South EastAsia and Mexico. It is a great credit to Walkersthat 45 per cent of its production last year wasexported.

I believe that this success firmlyestablishes Maryborough as a base forinnovative rail and sugar machinerytechnology in the South East Asian region,which is a great feather in the caps of theworkers and the management of Walkers asthey have proven that they are world classtradesmen and managers and can take onthe world and be successful. Being successfulis not anything new to Walkers. It has had 122years of being just that, having built the firststeam engine in the colony, the Maryanne,which was built by the engineering works'founders, John Walker and Company, in 1873under commission from two Scotsmen, WilliamPettigrew and William Sims. She was the firststeam engine to be built in the colony ofQueensland and was probably the single mostreason why John Walker and Companydiverted from standard engineering intobuilding locomotives. That diversification in1873 led to the construction of the firstQueensland built locomotive for QueenslandRail, No. 299, now fully restored and ondisplay in Maryborough, to building allgenerations of steam, diesel and electriclocomotives for the Queensland Governmentright up until today. Walkers Limited haspositioned itself at the leading edge of state-of-the-art technology to build tilt trainscommissioned by the QueenslandGovernment which will travel from Brisbane toRockhampton at all-time record speeds. TheMaryanne is the missing link betweenMaryborough's historic connection with theearly steam locomotives and the latest intechnological advances, the tilt train.

The icing on the cake is that Walkers hastaken out this year's Premier's Award,Queensland's most prestigious award forexport excellence. This automatically placesthe company as a finalist in the Australianexport awards, the winner of which will be

announced later in the year. This I believeproves that skills and tradesmanship win overlow wages. In South East Asia wages are aslow as $2 per day. This goes to prove that thetraining of our work force does pay dividends.Those contracts have a flow-on effect to manysmaller engineering firms in Maryborough, plusthe great boost that these contracts bring tothe morale of the citizens of the region.

Health is another service for which theregion has been well provided. Coming on topof the state-of-the-art $2m maternity facilityfrom the previous Budget is a $60m package,part of which is a further $9m upgrading of theMaryborough Base Hospital, a $5.3m regionallaundry now under construction atMaryborough, which will service hospitals ofthe region, and a $38m hospital underconstruction at Hervey Bay that includes amaternity facility. These improvements willalleviate much of the pressure on theMaryborough hospital system, which is feelingthe weight of the rapid growth of the region,the fastest growing development inQueensland. The $9m project for upgradingthe facilities at the Maryborough Base Hospitalcommenced three weeks ago. It includesextensions and renovations and theconstruction of an inpatient rehabilitation unit,a pharmacy unit, an operating/day procedureunit, a medical records unit, a rehabilitationday hospital, a geriatric assessment unit, acommunity health unit, an administration unit,and a library and education unit. All of thesedevelopments in health services are part ofthe State Government's $1.5 billion 10-yearhospital rebuilding program made necessaryby the neglect of the previous Governmentover many years.

Tourism is now a major part of ourregion's economy, creating thousands of jobsand injecting millions of dollar into oureconomy. Some operators have had toemploy extra staff just to count their money.The estimated value of tourism in the region isapproaching $200m per annum and rising.Inquiries to the Maryborough PromotionsBureau tourist information centre increased by20 per cent over the past 12 months. A lot ofthe attraction for tourism is Fraser Island andthe whales. No doubt the World Heritagelisting of Fraser Island put our region on themap.

I ask: do honourable members rememberthe doom and gloom that poured from theopposition benches when Fraser Island wasfirst mooted for World Heritage listing?Opposition members claimed that tourismwould be killed off, the region would slide intoeconomic decline and an Argentinian dictator


would take over the island. In reality tourismhas trebled; the region is now the fastestgrowing in Queensland; and Wayne Goss isstill the boss and Bob Dollin and Bill Nunn arestill around, and we have no intention ofallowing the coalition to remove WorldHeritage listing from Fraser Island, as someNational Party candidates suggested theywould do if elected.

The new $2.9m Government officesconstructed at the corner of Lennox and AliceStreets are now operational and house theregional headquarters of the Department ofEducation and the Department ofEnvironment and Heritage. These are the firstGovernment offices to be built in Maryboroughin 50 years. They are also the first step in theredevelopment of redundant Queensland Railland connected to the old railway station.McDonalds is now well advanced with itsbuilding at the other end of the block and willofficially open for business this month. Theremaining land has been made available forexpressions of interest for the establishment ofa major shopping complex, something thatwas denied to the Maryborough citizensmostly due to objections of the previousChamber of Commerce about eight years agowhen a major shopping village would havebeen established had it been supported bythe chamber.

I believe that this will be the lastopportunity Maryborough will get to recoup itsposition as the major commercial centre of theWide Bay region. I hope the reformedChamber of Commerce and business peopleof Maryborough this time will have the goodsense and foresight to take a positive role andassist in bringing about a result in keeping withwhat the citizens of Maryborough want ratherthan just their own pecuniary interests.

Another project that has been mooted forMaryborough for some considerable time hasfinally come to fruition, that is, the ChelseaPeace Memorial Hostel project which is beingbuilt at an estimated cost of $4m on the oldMaryborough showgrounds, a very centralposition of some 18 acres. This site is beingdeveloped by the RSL War Veterans Homesand the community and will provide amarvellous complex which will assist inmeeting with much needed accommodationfor our senior citizens and creating some 30permanent jobs in Stage I, with a secondstage already gone out to tender.

There is also good news for the residentsof Tiaro, with the completion of a 10-unitretirement village allowing residents to retire inan environment where they have lived and

worked all their lives, close to family andfriends. A second stage is planned in the nearfuture for Tiaro as well. Both Tiaro andWoocoo Shires have experienced rapid growthin the last five years and I believe that growthwill continue to accelerate even more rapidlyinto the future. The canterwood chip mill atOwanyilla, which is on the boundary of theseshires, has played a major part in their growthpatterns. Curra, Glenwood and Bauple estatescontinue to grow at around 8 per cent. Whenall available lots are occupied, these areas willhave a population of approximately 20,000,something that local authorities and ourGovernment need to take into consideration intheir future planning for education, health andlaw enforcement in our region. From 1990 to1995 this Government has invested recordamounts of capital in the Maryborough area,and I will list the expenditure briefly: AlbertState School, $333,000; Brooweena StateSchool, $50,700; Glenwood State School,$140,000; Granville State School, $464,000;Gunalda State School, $404,000;Maryborough Child Care, $121,000;Maryborough TAFE, $8,200,000;Maryborough Central School, $530,000;Maryborough Court House, $130,000;Maryborough Government building,$2,900,000; Maryborough Horsburgh Place,$124,000; Maryborough Hospital, $9m;Maryborough Neighbourhood Centre,$80,000; Maryborough Police DistrictHeadquarters, $3,200,000; MaryboroughState High School, $2,400,000; MaryboroughWest State School, $558,000; Mungar StateSchool, $279,000; Theebine State School,$119,000; Tiaro State School, $135,000; an dTinana State School, $265,000. The totalamount is $32,172,000.

If this Government had not won office in1989, I am sure that by now the studentswould be taught while sitting under trees. Thewhole Maryborough district simply ran out ofschool rooms. The Brooweena State Schoolwas so crammed for space that lessons werebeing conducted in the shade house. Thefurniture was old and worn out, computerswere unheard of—unless supplied by theP & C—and paintwork was a forgottenproduct. The Maryborough Central StatePrimary School had not had a drop of paintapplied to it in 25 years. What a peeling, uglymess it was. This was standard throughout thearea.

I ask honourable members to comparethe achievements of this Government in theeducation sector with those of membersopposite when they were in Government and,worse still, what the Opposition's great mate


Mr Kennett has done for Victoria. He sacked7,000 teachers, closed 250 schools, sackednurses and closed hospitals. That man is theOpposition's idol; so God help Queensland ifthe Opposition ever returns to Government inthis State.

Having been raised on a dairy farm, Ihave always maintained an affinity with theland. I understand the appalling hardshipssuffered by many farmers and their familiesthrough droughts, floods, fires and marketsthat return less than the cost of production. Iam very proud of this Government's recordcontribution to farmers and people in ruralindustries to assist them to hold on until thereis a turnaround in their fortunes. In the greatmajority of cases, rain will create thatturnaround.

I will briefly outline the DPI budget for1995-96. The budget for the Department ofPrimary Industry increased by $67m in 1995-96, representing a 10 per cent increase overthat allocated in 1994-95. It is now a total ofnearly $673m—a record amount for thatportfolio. Approximately $19m has beenearmarked for new initiatives which are aimedat encouraging and facilitating industryrestructuring, resource sustainability, waterresource development, rural leadership andaquaculture and forest industry development.In particular, these initiatives will fund theimplementation of the Government'scommitment to regional development asoutlined in From Strength to Strength. Theremaining $48m of the increased allocation willbuild on existing initiatives and, in particular,water resource development, where nearly$38m has been allocated to high-priority,water-related activities.

The new initiatives for 1995-96 include:the restructuring and development of theAtherton Tablelands, $500,000; integratedcatchment management, $1m; ruralleadership and strategic businessmanagement project, $490,000; Queenslandagribusiness export strategy, $660,000; waterallocation management plans, $500,000;water resources infrastructure, $5m;vegetation and land use monitoring system,$4m; enhanced management of forests, $2m;development of native species plantations,$3m; research and development for plantationhardwoods, $1.47m; and aquaculture industrydevelopment, $100,000. The total funding forpolicy initiatives is $18,795,000.

As I said at the outset, this Governmenthas been very supportive of our rural industriesand the families involved, with all-time recordfunding. I am very proud of this fact. I will now

reinstate commitments promised in myelectorate and which will be carried out duringthis term of the Goss Labor Government. Theyinclude: a $6.4m redevelopment of theMaryborough Hospital, which commencedabout three weeks ago; a $5.5mestablishment of a regional laundry atMaryborough, already under construction;$800,000 for a replacement ambulancestation at Maryborough—the site has beensecured; $0.4m to construct an indoor pool inMaryborough, which is now almost finished;$37,000 to complete a manual arts machineshop at the Maryborough State HighSchool—completed; $26,000 to complete ageneral learning half-block at Mungar StateSchool; $2,000 to complete a tuckshop atTinana State School—completed; a $100,000Gympie-Maryborough road—new deviation;$80,000 for new alignments for the Gympie-Maryborough road; $500,000 for anovertaking lane—Curra and Gootchy Creek;$1.8m granular overlay—Gympie toMaryborough; $30,000—a share—in theMaryborough-Gin Gin overtaking lanes;$520,000 for the Maryborough-Cooloola road,to install traffic signals at Granville; and $1mfor widening of the Granville Bridge, to bestarted in March and completed by November1996. That is something that the people ofGranville have been looking forward to forsome time.

I thank my lovely wife, Verlie, and ourfamily for the great support I received fromthem, not just at election time but throughoutthe past years. I also thank Alan Holmes, mycampaign director, and the campaigncommittee, who did a sterling job, as did theLabor members and friends who manned thepolling booths. Last, but by no means least, Ithank Kim, my secretary, and my diligentfriend and volunteer friend, Harry, for their longhours, hard work and tolerance. Theircombined efforts added up to my victory.

Mr BEANLAND (Indooroopilly—DeputyLeader of the Liberal Party) (5.07 p.m.): MrSpeaker, let me firstly congratulate you onyour election to that high office. I thank theelectors for placing their faith in me once againas I look forward to continuing myrepresentation of them in this place. My re-election to this House did not occur withouttheir support and vigorous assistance and thesupport of a willing band of helpers andsupporters. I place on record my thanks tothem also.

I want to talk for a few minutes about anumber of electorate issues before moving onto issues that relate to my shadow portfolioresponsibility of Attorney-General and Justice.


First of all, I shall talk briefly about QueenslandRail services, which I have mentioned once ortwice in this Parliament. Constituents in myelectorate and neighbouring electorates areexperiencing problems with trains not runningon time and with the peak-hour servicesthemselves. Over two years ago, the thenGovernment decided to reduce the number ofpeak-hour services to some stations, includingSherwood, Graceville, Chelmer and Taringa inmy electorate, and Auchenflower, Milton andto a degree the Toowong station in theneighbouring electorate. At that time anumber of those stations had good Park &Ride facilities. But at the Indooroopilly station,the Government did not supply additional carparking spaces. So this has created a numberof problems.

There is a lack of car parking spaces atthe Indooroopilly station. Vehicles are nowoverflowing into the neighbouring street andcausing all sorts of problems because thestreets are not adequate to cater for thissituation. Nearby stations have adequate off-street car parking facilities, which wereestablished by Government over a longperiod. Yet many of those car parks remainhalf filled after the morning rush hour, becausepeople are obviously unwilling to park theircars at those stations. People who do park atthe station have to wait for a considerableperiod for the next rail service. During peakhours, people have to wait up to 20 minutes ormore for the next train. Previously, the trainsran every seven or eight minutes. People arenot prepared to wait around for trains at peaktimes. And when they do catch a train, theyfind that they cannot move on it because ofthe crush; they are elbow to elbow, with mostof them having to stand up. When they reachtheir destination—suitably crushed, exhaustedand very sweaty during the summer months—they are very frustrated. People are packedinto trains like sardines, and that is simply notgood enough.

I appeal to the Government to considerthis situation. I know that some train serviceswere transferred from those stations with theview to providing services to outer areas, suchas Ipswich, Darra and Goodna on the westernline. That is fine. I am not saying that peoplein those areas should not have adequatepeak-hour train services and some expressservices; but the residents in nearbySherwood, Chelmer, Graceville and Taringawant the return of those peak-hour services.Because of the inadequate train services inthat area, there has been an increase in thenumber of people who drive motor vehicles towork instead of catching trains.

We hear much rhetoric from people whoare pushing their own barrow that more peopleshould get out of their cars and use publictransport. That is a wonderful statement, butthat is about as far as it goes—it is merely astatement about protecting the environment.What is really happening is that people aregetting back into their cars because the publictransport services are so inadequate. Weshould keep in mind that the western suburbsare not endowed with a good road system.That is the reality; so be it. However, oneexpects at least to have a reasonably goodpublic transport service. The rail service wasgood in peak periods, until September 1993when the Government decided to cut backconsiderably the number of peak-hourservices. Of course, the rail service is now amere shadow of its former self. It is littlewonder that the Government has been losingpatronage on the rail service.

I know that there has been a considerablereduction in the number of patrons who usethe rail service. I still receive regular complaintsfrom people about their having to wait a longtime for trains and about trains that arescheduled to run in peak periods running late.That is another matter that I will address,because not only is there a lack of peakservices, but the services that are scheduledrun late—both in the morning and in theafternoon. I continually receive letters aboutthis and I will read a portion of a letter that wassent to the Minister for Transport—

"From our perspective your first twodays in the transport portfolio have notbeen an auspicious start. Yesterday the5.21pm Redbank train was remarkablytransformed into an all-stations Ipswichtrain, which Roma Street passengers wereadvised was full before it left Central. Thenext train was the 5.34pm—expressMilton to Indooroopilly—which meant thatAuchenflower, Toowong and Taringapassengers (and those for stationsbetween Indooroopilly and Corinda) hadyet another ten minutes to wait.

This morning was no better with the8.24am Taringa to Central (which isnormally around five minutes late anyway)not departing until 8.40am. The broadcastapologies have long since ceased to haveany meaning—and our experiences onthe Ipswich line are not exceptional."

In a moment I will refer to a letter about whathappens on the Beenleigh line. However, myconstituent goes on to say—

"In the words of the Premier youshould take 'a good hard look' at the


deterioration in the suburban rail servicesince the introduction of the 'improved'timetable in September 1993."

In a letter to the Courier-Mail dated 29 June,people in the Loganlea area complained of asimilar situation on the Beenleigh line: trainsnot running at all, trains running 5, 10, 15, 20minutes late, the wrong trains limping intostations at the wrong time and broadcastssaying that a train will be two minutes late yetthe train being 10 minutes late. One canappreciate the problems that this must causepeople who are endeavouring to arrive at theirplace of work. People do not allow an extrahour to get to work. They expect to arrive ontime when they use the rail service. TheGovernment has a growing problem with thisservice. The problems that the Governmentexperienced and the people of Queenslandexperienced on 15 July have worsened as thefailure to deliver services has grown.

The problem is so bad that, recently, atone station, people were handing out tocommuters tins of Maggi Pasta Ready Sauce,which, I might mention, is made in the USA.Perhaps the Government could infer that railpatrons have so long to wait for their trainsthat they need to have breakfast while theywait. I know the trains run very late, but that isutterly ridiculous. Instead of commuters beinghanded tins of food, they should be receivingmore regular, on-time, frequent services—particularly during peak periods. Publictransport should not be a major issue, but itcertainly has become a major issue in thewestern suburbs and the situation will becomeworse for this Government unless it attends tothe matter.

Another issue in the transport sector isnoise problems which people who live near theWestern Freeway have been experiencing forover a decade. That noise problem will simplynot go away. In more recent times, an attempthas been made to rectify the situation.However, many hundreds of residents whosehomes adjoin the freeway are experiencingthis problem. Many of those people went tolive in that area when the road was only a dirttrack—not a freeway. In some cases, no roadexisted, not even a dirt track. Now,vehicles—particularly heavy vehicles—travelthrough that area at not only 80 kilometres anhour but also at 90 kilometres an hour. Onecan appreciate the noise that those heavyvehicles make during the wee hours of themorning when everything else is very quiet. Iappeal to the Minister to provide noiseprevention barriers. I believe that a need existsto ensure adequate funding for the provisionof those barriers. A number have been

constructed elsewhere, such as along theSouth East Freeway, yet the Governmentseems to be reluctant to provide them alongthe length of the Western Freeway—not just inmy electorate, but also in adjoiningelectorates. The noise is insidious; it simply willnot go away. The issue will not go away, andconcern has been growing as people seenoise barriers constructed in other areas. Allthat the people who live adjacent to theWestern Freeway have received is an increasein the speed limit from 60 kilometres an hourto 80 kilometres an hour and now to 90kilometres an hour, which has aggravated theproblem considerably.

I turn to other noise problems on theBrisbane River caused by dredging and alsoby people who use the Brisbane River forrecreational purposes. I raise this issuebecause I believe that it is time for theGovernment to stop the talkfest and to get onwith cleaning up the river, stopping such usesas dredging and returning the river to its pastglories. A number of grave problems exist.One is the overflow of sewage which occursfrom time to time. During the recent electioncampaign the coalition of the National andLiberal Parties indicated that it would spend$500m over 10 years to clean up waterwayssuch as the Brisbane River, to provide decentsewage treatment works and to upgrade thoseplants at which work needs to be done. Theriver is a major concern. The dredging hasbeen going on for a long period and I believethat enough material has been taken from it.

Now that the Somerset Dam is situatedon the Stanley River and the Wivenhoe Damis situated on the Brisbane River, the flow ofthe river is not what it used to be. It haschanged as a result of the uses to which it isput. There is a need for reassessment. We donot need another committee to beestablished. We have more Brisbane RiverManagement Committees than we can poke astick at. What we really need is some action.We do not need a continuation of the talkfestthat has been experienced over a long period.

The other issue of growing concern in myelectorate relates to the crime problem andpolice shortages. In recent times, myelectorate has experienced severe police staffshortages. For some time I have beencriticising the lack of police, because oneneeds adequate police numbers if crime is tobe prevented. Crime prevention is somethingabout which this Government was very silentduring the election campaign. I point out that,after the attrition rate is taken into account, anadditional 2,000 police over 10 years will notkeep pace with population growth.


Mr Cooper: The correct figure is 1,420. Mr BEANLAND: The Opposition Police

spokesman assures me that the correct figureis 1,420. I thank him for that. That is not goingto keep pace with the growth rate.

Mr Cooper: Decreasing.

Mr BEANLAND: As the shadow Ministerreminds me, it will result in a decrease in thenumber of police over time. Overall, adecrease in police numbers has occurred, andin my electorate in particular the police in theIndooroopilly/Kenmore/Toowong area havebeen working with a skeleton staff. They arenot my comments; they are the comments ofthe police officers themselves. The peopleworking in those stations have indicatedpublicly a need for at least another 12 officersto replace those who have been removed inrecent times. The crime rate is rising and thelaw and order situation is going from bad toworse.

In order to provide adequate patrol carsfor the road, the Kenmore and IndooroopillyPolice Stations will be closed for two days aweek. That is a farcical situation. It is badenough that those stations are open onlybetween 8 and 4—crime is also committedbefore and after those hours—but it is anabsolute farce that those stations are closedfor two days during the week because of theloss of 12 police staff. I am sure the Ministerwould agree that it has made a mockery of thesituation.

I believe that the Government facesserious problems in relation to the issue ofpolice staffing. Because the Government isexperiencing problems in one region, staff arebeing taken away from other districts. Evenwithout the loss of those 12 staff, there wereinsufficient resources to enable pro-activepolicing. Instead, it was reactive policing. Weneed to engage in pro-active policing toprevent crime from occurring in the first place. Ihave attended meetings of community groupssuch as Neighbourhood Watch at which suchconcerns have been raised. Those groups—on both sides of the river—have noticed thatpolice numbers are decreasing.

In the past, I have made a number ofspeeches about the inadequacies of theSherwood Police Station, which is simply goingfrom bad to worse. Recently, the President ofthe Police Union, Gary Wilkinson, said thatstaff shortages had made police too busy torespond quickly to public calls, and someresponses are being made in excess of 24hours after the event. He said that the slowresponse time meant that residents did notreport a crime the next time it occurred. That is

exactly what is happening now: many crimesare not being responded to by police becauseof staffing inadequacies. The people in theelectorate know that and they do not botherreporting the crimes.

The public acknowledge and accept thatpolice are in fact short on numbers and thatthose staff shortages mean that it isimpossible for them to react to a particularsituation. The shortage of police numbers hasmeant that, under this Government, crimeprevention is a thing of the past. If theGovernment is serious about reducing thecrime rate, then it needs to start addressingcrime prevention. During the electioncampaign, we did not hear a word from thisGovernment about crime prevention. For morethan 18 months prior to the last State election,two shadow Ministers—Mr Cooper and MrLittleproud—and I travelled around the Stateholding a number of law and order task forcemeetings. We listened to members of thepublic and heard what they had to say. That iswhy, during the election campaign, weannounced a crime prevention package thatwas unmatched by this Government.

Mr Ardill: You chased him out.

Mr BEANLAND: What is "bottlebrush"going on about? What is wrong with him?

Mr Ardill: You've chased the shadowMinister out.

Mr BEANLAND: The shadow Ministerhas gone to get material that highlights theincompetence of this Government. Shortly hewill bring me some more material that showsfurther police shortages in other parts of theState. I thank the honourable member forraising that issue. It was very generous of himindeed.

The point is that this Government has nocrime prevention strategy. It does not givepriority to preventing crime. Of course, prior tothe election, all we heard from theGovernment was that the Opposition had nopolicies and then, in the same breath, that theOpposition's policies amounted to $7 billion.The Government cannot have it both ways.Let me suggest that the Opposition did havepolicies, but they amounted to only a fractionof $7 billion.

I trust that the Minister will see fit toensure that the Toowong police district as wellas the Sherwood district receive adequatestaff numbers. In fact, those stations shouldget back the staff that were recently takenaway from them, because it will not be longbefore those areas experience a hugeupsurge in crime. Already we are seeing that


occur because of the inadequacy of policestaffing.

I want to deal with one other issue beforeI talk about a couple of matters generally, andthat is the proposal by the AustralianBroadcasting Corporation to axe the 7.30Report as a Queensland-based current affairsprogram. I believe that the replacement of the7.30 Report with a national program—which, Iunderstand, will be a magazine-style weeklyoverview of national affairs, no doubt touchingon State affairs—will not be an in-depthanalysis of State issues, which is what wereceive currently. I am sure that the GossGovernment is overjoyed by the axing of theprogram. Some time ago, it was verysuccessful in having Pamela Bornhorst axedas the presenter of the program. I am surethat having the whole program axed will be ablessing for this Government, because mostMinisters are not game to face up to it anymore.

Mr Cooper interjected.

Mr BEANLAND: They are done like adinner.

Mr Cooper interjected.

Mr BEANLAND: As the shadow Ministerfor Police says, the Federal election is aroundthe corner. The Government is getting theABC to axe those programs that will stand upto the Labor Party. This is yet anotherexample. I think that any cutback in programsof this nature is a retrograde step for thepeople of Queensland. For some time now wehave seen a reduction in radio news services,which are networked throughout the State.Current affairs programs play a very importantrole. I believe that the cutback in theseprograms by ABC management is a gravedisservice to the people of Queensland.

For some time the ABC has beenendeavouring to centralise programs inSydney. That means that everything comesout of Sydney and nothing flows fromBrisbane. It is fair enough to have AustralianCorrespondent broadcast from Brisbane, but itis not a State-based program; it is a nationalprogram. If the people of this State are toreceive adequate coverage of very importantand relevant issues, we must have programsbased on State issues.

I listened with great interest to the firstspeech of the member for South Brisbane.One of the things that was missing from thatspeech was any reference to the Boggo Roadjustice precinct—something that was promisedduring the election campaign towards the endof June by the Minister for Police and

Corrective Services. I would have thought thatthe member would have referred to such amajor development in her first speech. I amnot surprised that she did not mention itbecause, quite frankly, the citizens in herelectorate are outraged by this action by thisuncaring Government. Prior to theannouncement, no consultation was carriedout in relation to this issue. In fact, it was donewith great haste by the Government to try toovercome the problem of overflowing prisons,as well as to address the need for moreadequate watch-house facilities.

The Government certainly needs toprovide those facilities. In proposing this newremand centre—this new watch-house andMagistrates Court—at a cost of $21m, theMinister said that it will not be a prison; it willbe a remand centre. Time and time again hehas tried to deny that it will be a prison. It willprobably be worse than having a prison. Forsome time the coalition has been claiming thatsections of the old gaol will be reopened orthat a new gaol will be built. That is exactlywhat is happening with this remand centre.

The location of a remand centre in thatarea will be far worse than having a prison.The people of Annerley and South Brisbanewill not be conned by glib phrases from thisGovernment and its Ministers. Of course, forsome six years now, that is something forwhich this Government has become wellknown. The public will not be conned intobelieving that extremely violent, dangerousprisoners will not be kept at the remandcentre. Of course they will! They will be kept onremand there, as will a whole host of otherpeople. All types will be held at that remandcentre prior to going to the watch-house orgoing to court. Of course, with the backlog ofcourt cases, people will be kept on remand atthat centre for quite some period. Themembers of the local community are correctwhen they say that they will end up with a farworse situation under this proposal than simplyhaving a gaol near them. To call it a justicecentre is, of course, an outrage. It is anindictment on the Government and highlightsthe lack of compassion and paucity of thinkingthat one has seen over and over again fromthis Government.

One local resident went to great lengthsto express his concern. He said that hepurchased a property in this area on the clearunderstanding that there would be no gaol orany other like facility constructed there. As Isay, the local residents believe that a remandcentre will be worse than a gaol. The Brisbane2000 plan, which was released by theBrisbane City Council, earmarked the site as


residential. On the plan it is designated asmixed density residential with some 490dwellings housing 990 people. What is theGovernment giving the people of this area withthis Boggo Road precinct? None of what thecouncil had planned. In fact, what they aregoing to get is a super-gaol. It will be a super-watchhouse with a large gaol attached to itand will attract a range of undesirables intothat area, which I am sure is not going tocreate a better lifestyle for the local people.They will now be far worse off than they were.Clearly, they have been conned by theGovernment. Because they believed Ministersand believed Premier Goss, they acquiredproperty in good faith. Of course, just like thepeople who were to be affected by the tollway,they believed what the Premier said during the1992 election campaign. They believed theGovernment of the day, but they got caughtbecause they were conned in the same way. Debate, on motion of Mrs Bird, adjourned.

ADJOURNMENTHon. K. V. McELLIGOTT

(Thuringowa—Minister for Lands) (5.30 p.m.): Imove—

"That the House do now adjourn."

Facilities for Disabled Citizens

Mr LINGARD (Beaudesert—DeputyLeader of the Opposition) (5.31 p.m.): Theresources and supports available to theprofoundly disabled in the community are themost critical issue in the wholedeinstitutionalisation debate. This Governmenthas promised that the necessary supports willbe there when the Challinor Centre and BasilStafford close down. It has promised that noresident put out of Government residentialinstitutions will be disadvantaged by the moveinto the community. However, I remindGovernment members of the promises madein relation to mainstreaming in the educationsystem. Teachers were promised plenty ofresources and suitable numbers of teacheraides to look after students who were put intomainstreaming programs. However, we allknow that that did not occur. Clearly there areinsufficient numbers of teacher aides andinadequate resources to assist people inmainstreaming.

I also refer Government members to theChallinor Centre and Basil Stafford. I ask theMinister for Family and Community Services totake backbenchers to see the profoundlydisabled people who are in the ChallinorCentre and Basil Stafford. I say to the Minister

that while we provide 24-hour service at bothBasil Stafford and the Challinor Centre, thereare many homes with a staff of 12 to 15people during the day, but at night there maybe only two organisers or two carers rosteredon. It may be that both those carers are notused during the night. However, when they areneeded they are there and they are providinga 24-hour service to these profoundly disabledpeople.

People understand what I mean when Irefer to "profoundly disabled people" who livein places such as the Challinor Centre. I askthe Minister: what is going to happen whenthose people move into homes in thecommunity where there are only threemembers of staff? How can she possiblyguarantee that those people who need one-on-one service will have that service for 24hours of the day?

The Minister has said that residents will,"Not simply be forced into the community tofend for themselves." I would like to draw tomembers' attention the case of oneprofoundly disabled lady who has been left bythis Government to fend for herself. I will callher June.

June lives in Townsville and was thrust, bya family crisis, into the emergency care ofthree very dedicated community organisations.These organisations, the SupportedAccommodation Service, TTRACSQueensland Lifestyle Services and the Kithand Kin Association, banded together toprovide, out of their own emergency services,the intensive 24-hour support that Juneneeds. No appropriate crisis housing wasavailable. After some difficulty, a flat wasfound through the Community Rent Scheme,furniture was provided by the Salvation Army,the Community Emergency Service suppliedfood and a number of other small agenciesprovided what they could. TTRACSQueensland Lifestyle Services allocated fundsthrough its temporary response program tostaff June's flat around the clock. However, theemergency funding of these groups is rapidlyrunning out. Without continued funding andwithout the necessary 24-hour support, June isat risk in the community. She is totallyincapable of looking after herself. June is aclient of Intellectual Disability Services.However, cries of help were brushed aside bythe department. Apparently, there is nofunding available to people like June. Thedepartment will only provide the prescribed 35hours per week accommodation support,which still leaves huge gaps in June's care.Yet this Government has the hide to tellpeople it will ensure that all necessary


supports will be available in the community inthe wake of the deinstitutionalisation process.

The Minister says that nobody will beforced to fend for themselves. What about thesituation of the profoundly disabled personalready in the community who cannot accessadequate support services from theGovernment right now? June's carers feel shewill have to be inappropriately institutionalisedin a nursing home. I urge the Minister forFamily and Community Services to urgentlyreview this case and provide the necessaryfunding to retain June's dignity and lifestyle.

I put to members opposite that thisGovernment must reconsider its blanketdeinstitutionalisation policy. It mustconcentrate on providing supports for thedisabled people already in the community andfor those who want to move to the community,and it must retain residential and respite carecentres for those who cannot cope withcommunity living. The profoundly disabledneed a care safety net, and if this Governmentproceeds with its plans to remove residentialhomes from the spectrum of care options, it isdoing a grave disservice to the disabledpeople of Queensland.

Award Safety Net

Mr ROBERTS (Nudgee) (5.37 p.m.): It isimportant for the community to understandwhat is meant by the award safety net and theno disadvantage test, and to understand thedifferences between the approach supportedby Labor and that proposed by John Howardand the coalition. We can only assume thatthe Queensland coalition supports his position.

In short, the term "award safety net"refers to the minimum set of wages andconditions that an employee is entitled toreceive as set out in the relevant award. Theno disadvantage test refers to the test that theIndustrial Relations Commission applies whenan agreement is brought before it forcertification.

The clear difference which is emerging inthe industrial relations debate, pursued byboth Labor and the coalition, is the nature ofthe benchmarks used for the no disadvantagetest. In an example I will outline shortly, it willbe shown that, based on some basicagreement provisions which are common inmany current agreements, a worker could beover $60 a week worse off under the coalitionplan.

Under Labor, the no disadvantage test isclear: the Industrial Relations Commission isrequired to test or evaluate an agreement

against all wages and conditions contained inthe award which currently covers theemployee. If this evaluation shows in total thatthe proposed wages and conditions are lessfavourable to the employee, then theIndustrial Relations Commission is obliged toreject that agreement. Under the coalition, theno disadvantage test takes on an entirelydifferent flavour. Peter Reith reiterated thecoalition's no disadvantage test at a lecture inMelbourne last week. He is quoted in theCourier-Mail as saying—

"The coalition's industrial relationspolicy would include a 'no disadvantagetest' against a set of fair and reasonableminimum conditions."

What are those fair and reasonable minimumconditions? They include: an hourly rate of noless than the relevant award hourly rate; fourweek's annual leave; two weeks' sick leave;and one year's unpaid maternity leave. Underthe coalition, there are only four miserlyconditions which make up the nodisadvantage test.

Honourable members can compare thatto Labor's position. Under Labor, the nodisadvantage test is against all the conditionsin the relevant award, including: the minimumhourly rate; annual leave provisions; sick leaveprovisions; and parental leave provisions. Tohighlight the fact, those four alone account forthe coalition's no disadvantage test. However,under Labor the list continues, to include:overtime rates; penalty rates for shift work; callback provisions; minimum payments forSaturdays and Sundays; leave loading; arange of allowances including mealallowances, tool allowances, leading handallowances and motor vehicle allowances;bereavement leave; paid training leave; awardcareer paths; and redundancy provisions.Under Labor, all of these conditions are takeninto account when the Industrial RelationsCommission checks to see whether workersare being disadvantaged by a proposedagreement. Under the coalition's policy, acheck is made against four miserly conditions.

The coalition's no disadvantage test is asham. Under Labor's genuine nodisadvantage test, workers will have an entireaward as a reference point. That entire awardwill, additionally, receive periodic safety netadjustments to maintain its relevance. Whereis the coalition's commitment to maintainingthe relevance of its safety net? There is nosuch commitment!

To illustrate the inadequacy of thecoalition's approach, I provide a simpleexample of the application of the no


disadvantage test to a set of basic provisionswhich are relatively common in currentagreements. The example that I proposeincludes the following components in anagreement: firstly, a tradesperson employedunder either the Federal Metal Industry Awardor the Engineering Award—State at the basetrade, or C10 classification, level; secondly, aminimum weekly award rate for a 38-hourweek of $433.20, plus the tradesperson'sbasic entitlement to a tool allowance of $9.20per week in the Metal Industry Award and$10.80 per week in the Engineering Award;thirdly, a provision in the agreement whichprovides for working 38 hours betweenTuesday and Saturday each week betweenthe hours of 8 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. on Tuesdaythrough to Friday and 8 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. onSaturday.

The results of applying the nodisadvantage test supported by Labor asopposed to that supported by the coalition areas follows: under Labor, the agreement whichcovers this worker would have to provide atleast a wage outcome of $494.70 or $495.30per week respectively under the Metal IndustryAward and the Engineering Award. Thisoutcome is based on 32 hours beingcalculated at ordinary rates, three hours attime and a half and three hours at double timeas per the award plus the tool allowance.Under the coalition's no disadvantage test,which in respect of wages and allowancesguarantees only the minimum hourly rates, anemployer would get away with paying atradesperson working these conditions only$433.20 per week—over $60 per week lessthan the protection provided by Labor's nodisadvantage test.

Time expired.

Skillshare; Member for Redcliffe;Federal Member for Petrie

Mr COOPER (Crows Nest) (5.42 p.m.):Today, I wish to raise in the House the processwhich saw an investigation into allegedimproper or illegal conduct by members of thesouth-east Queensland Skillshare committee.The matter received very strong coverage inthe Sunday Mail the weekend before last.Both the member for Redcliffe, Mr Ray Hollis,and the Federal member for Petrie, Mr GaryJohns, deserve to be roundly condemned fortheir attitude to these allegations.

It is not my purpose to judge the truth orotherwise of allegations made; theresponsibility for that lies with the appropriateauthorities. To that end, I take the opportunitytoday to commend the actions of the Federal

Police in clearing up the matter. The mattersraised here have not been prejudged andthere is no finger pointing. What I have doneis to do what the Labor members whorepresent the Redcliffe area have failed to do,that is, refer the serious allegations to theappropriate authorities.

The allegations that were forwarded to thetwo Labor MPs were serious. They related tothe use of unemployed persons currentlyunder Federal work schemes to build kitchensfor the homes of program managers. Theyalso related to claims by a former committeemember of the Skillshare program that he wassacked after uncovering the matter. Onewould have thought those claims to be seriousenough to warrant further investigation.Indeed, the local branch of the ALP thoughtso. I now table the minutes from the AustralianLabor Party Redcliffe branch meeting of 1August 1995. I also table a handwritten noteforwarded to me from a member of theRedcliffe branch which further substantiates amotion passed by the branch at its 1 Augustmeeting. At that meeting, Labor memberspassed a motion demanding that FederalEmployment Minister, Simon Crean,investigate the Redcliffe/Deception BaySkillshare Management Committee and itsactivities. What occurred prior to that meetingand right up until the time I raised it with theauthorities was a deliberate effort by themember for Redcliffe and the Federal memberfor Petrie to cover up this issue because it wastoo hot and would impact upon their electoralprospects. The handwritten letter states—

"We were scared it would become anissue in the State election so it was keptin house with the promise from Hollis andJohns that action would be taken afterJuly 15."

Yet post 15 July, the time when theinvestigation was supposed to havecommenced, still nothing happened, quiteobviously because of the potential impact onthe Federal election prospects of Mr Johns. Infrustration at the lack of accountability of bothMr Hollis and Mr Johns, we had theextraordinary spectacle of the local ALPbranch——

Mr HOLLIS: I rise to a point of order. Ifind that remark offensive and I ask that it bewithdrawn. It is untrue.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I will seek theadvice of the Clerk. What was it that you foundoffensive, Mr Hollis?

Mr HOLLIS: The member's commentsabout my lack of accountability.


Mr SPEAKER: Was it specificallyrelated to you?

Mr HOLLIS: Yes.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! Under StandingOrder 119, I ask the honourable member forCrows Nest to withdraw.

Mr COOPER: I withdraw.

We had the extraordinary spectacle of thelocal ALP branch forwarding allegations to meso that I could bring the matters to theattention of the authorities, and that is exactlywhat I did. Unlike Mr Hollis and Mr Johns, I amnot in the business of covering up matters thatdeserve investigation. By not acting, MrHollis——

Mr HOLLIS: I rise to a point of order. Ifind that comment offensive and ask that it bewithdrawn.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I ask the memberfor Crows Nest to withdraw that comment.

Mr COOPER: I withdraw.

Mr Johns allowed an unfortunate shadowto be cast over hard-working members of theRedcliffe/Deception Bay Skillshare Committee.The members did this for their own base,political motives.

Members on the other side of thisChamber love to stand up and lectureeveryone else about doing the right thing inthis post-Fitzgerald era. When we hearsomething a bit suspect, we are told to run offto the CJC and report it. "There will be nocover-ups", we are told. Mr Hollis has failedthat test and so, too, has his Federalcolleague Mr Johns. In addition, Mr Hollis isthe Chairman of the Parliamentary PublicAccounts Committee. His actions in respect ofthese allegations do not set a very goodexample.

At the meeting that the honourablemember attended, he deliberately chose to donothing. He was there and he could well havedone something—as he should have. It iseasy to get these matters corrected. All wehave to do is refer them to the appropriateauthorities and let them weigh in the balancethe evidence and make the judgments.Unfortunately, some of those involved inSkillshare have been maligned by people inthe area, something that they do not deserve.They deserve better treatment and to havetheir reputations cleared.

Time expired.

Griffith University Campus,Meadowbrook

Mr D'ARCY (Woodridge) (5.47 p.m.):This week's decision by the Government tosite the new Griffith University campus atMeadowbpplk, in the Loganlea area, was atremendous bonus to the people ofWoodridge and Logan. In spite of thebleatings of the Mayor of the Gold Coast, thatsite was the best available. The site is centralto the south-east Queensland area andalready encompasses a TAFE college,hospital, other Government facilities and theLoganlea State High School.

I am hopeful that State, local and FederalGovernments will see the advantages ofintegrating some of these services so that thepublic can gain the benefits from siting suchimportant and expensive Government facilitiesin the one area. Not only will futureemployment prospects in the area improve,local transport will be improved. Local transporthas always been a problem within Logan, andthat has been exacerbated by the placementof other Government facilities in the area.Although this area is on the train line, we areseeking extended bus services within the area.The centralisation in the area of these types offacilities I have been speaking about will allowthe extension of bus services to occur. Thisdecision should also permit greater publicutilisation of Government resources.

I am hopeful that, as has occurred inother areas, public and private enterprise willalso come to the party with the establishmentof other facilities. This may mean greatercommunity usage of sporting, library and otherfacilities within the precincts of the university,the TAFE college and the Loganlea StateHigh School. There could even be combinedrecreational facilities for staffs of the respectiveinstitutions.

The site's proximity to the railway line andother Government facilities will ensure that thefacility is an excellent one. It is the site thatwas preferred by Griffith University, which is thefounding university for the campus atLoganlea. These factors all combined toprovide the necessary conditions in which tosupply what will be a tremendous Governmentfacility within the area. The site is within theboundary of the Waterford electorate. TomBarton, the member for Waterford, and Iworked very hard with the local council, as didthe Premier, the member for Logan, to seethat this site was given the recognition that itdeserved.

The Logan City Council has agreed tospend money to establish the necessary


infrastructure—for example, roads andchannelling for the area. This decision hasbeen a tremendous bonus for the councilbecause it worked very hard. The mayor usedto kid everyone and threaten to secede if thearea did not obtain the university. The areadeserves this type of facility. The integrationthat will take place with other facilities will benot only of long-term benefit to Logan but alsoQueensland. As I have said, I have long beena proponent of the integration of these typesof facilities into the community so that greatercommunity access is provided. That isimportant for the Meadowbrook area ofLoganlea. We would do well as a Governmentto look at all the things that we can do to bringthose facilities to not just the people ofQueensland but in particular to the localcommunity.

Actions of Emergency Services andConsumer Affairs Minister

Mr ROWELL (Hinchinbrook) (5.51 p.m.):It is of concern that I should have to raise inthis House the matter of a member ofParliament and Minister of the Crown placingundue pressure upon a family in Hermit Park,Townsville. In accordance with the informationprovided to me in a statutory declaration by ahusband and wife, it is clear that the activitiesof the Minister for Emergency Services andConsumer Affairs are inappropriate andunbecoming for a person holding that position.

Earlier this month, I was approached byMr Jim Smith regarding a conflict that hadoccurred between his family and the memberfor Mundingburra, Mr Davies. In a statutorydeclaration from both Mr and Mrs Smith, whichI now table, it is alleged that Mr Daviesdistributed false and misleading information toelectors in the form of a letter advertising thata personal call had been made to a residencewhen that call in fact had not occurred; that MrDavies rang Mr Smith at 9.30 on Tuesday, 3October and told Mr Smith that he was tellinglies and threatened to take court action; thatMr Smith was contacted by a solicitor actingon behalf of Mr Davies, who proceeded to askpersonal questions about finances, birth datesand bank accounts; and that on Friday, 6October 1995 Mr Davies used his ministerialvehicle to travel to Mr Smith's residence totake photographs of Mr Smith's home, yardand other assets.

Also included in the tabled information isa statutory declaration from Mrs Smith whichsets out her understanding of the events. Itdetails a visit to her residence by a person in avehicle registered 457-CYP and the

subsequent photographing of her home, yardand other assets. In her statement, Mrs Smithsays that when her son walked out into thegarage the man realised that he had beenseen and tried to hide behind a tree. MrsSmith subsequently identified the man as KenDavies.

I have today, by letter, referred thesematters to the Members' Ethics andParliamentary Privileges Committee. Inintroducing the Parliamentary Committees Bill,the Premier stated that the formation of thatcommittee marked a significant advance in theaccountability of members to this House andthe Queensland community. The Premier wenton to state that the committee will be able torecommend to the House whether actionshould be taken against a member and whatthe appropriate action should be. The referralof these matters will allow the committee toaddress significant issues. The first issuerelates to the activities of Mr Davies inallegedly——

Mr ELDER: I rise to a point of order. Iwant to know whether the Mr Smith whom themember is talking about is the one who wasmentioned in the Townsville Bulletin on 25March 1994 as having a criminal record,including unlawful wounding, assault andpossession of heroin.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no pointof order.

Mr ROWELL: The Minister is wastingthe time of the House.

The first issue relates to the activities ofMr Davies in allegedly distributing false andmisleading electoral information. In his letter tothe Hermit Park resident, which I also table, MrDavies said that he had been doorknocking inthe Hermit Park area over the past few days tomeet face to face with local residents. He wenton to say, "Sorry I missed you." Not only dowe have Mr Smith's statement that Mr Davieswas not the person who placed the letter inthe letterbox; an article in the Advertiser alsoreports that Mrs Betty Lang of Rosslea saidthat the person who came to her door wasdefinitely not Ken Davies but a young chap.

The second and most significant issuerelates to the extraordinary lengths to which MrDavies will go in his bid to get even with MrSmith. It will be up to the Members' Ethics andParliamentary Privileges Committee todetermine the veracity of the respectiveclaims; but at the very least, Mr Davies owesMr Smith and his family a public apology forthe stress that has been caused to them.Neither Mr Smith nor his wife sought anyconfrontation at all with Mr Davies. Despite the


stories that Mr Davies has been peddlingaround town, Mr Smith has no political axe togrind. He is not a member of any politicalparty——

Time expired.

North-west Mineral Province

Mr ARDILL (Archerfield) (5.56 p.m.): Thenorth-west province of Queensland—known asthe mineral province because it produces thegreater part of Queensland's heavy minerals,except coal—is also a sleeping giant intourism, and it is now being promoted as theGulf Savannah. For over a century, its majorcontribution to Queensland's export earningswas through the pastoral industry, despite richmineral finds in the spectacular ranges aroundCloncurry and the advent some 60 years agoof the world's largest silver/lead mines atMount Isa.

The Burke and Wills expedition was aspectacular disaster, but the expeditions sentout to search for the Burke and Wills partyfound excellent pastoral lands in the 1860swhich were soon taken up by pioneeringsquatters. Many towns have come and gonein the copper mining areas around Mount Isaand Cloncurry, often providing primitive livingconditions for miners and their wives andchildren before disappearing almost withouttrace into the harshness of the north west.Cloncurry has been the exception, and therailway has been the main reason for itssurvival. Mount Isa has been a different story.With its 25,000 people—and about 8,000 ofthem working in the mine itself—it has beenone of Australia's biggest success stories. It isAustralia's largest inland city, after all.However, it would seem that it will be the lastAustralian city to be built and maintained on amining field.

During the most recent parliamentaryrecess, I took the opportunity to inspect themineral region and particularly the incredibleCentury zinc deposit some 300 kilometresnorth west of Mount Isa. It is quite anexperience to stand in the middle of thatawesome valley and see from horizon tohorizon a lease that will provide a large part ofthe world's zinc supply for some years. MountIsa Mines has a huge zinc stockpile. As well, itengages in silver, lead and copper production.However, because of the cost, the zinc islargely not treated. Century zinc will becrushed, mixed to a slurry and piped a further300 kilometres to Karumba, where it will besun dried and shipped to other parts of the

world, which will refine it and make a hugeprofit out of its multitude of processes,particularly in steel manufacture and protectivecoatings.

The difference between what happenedin Mount Isa and the establishment of theCentury zinc mine by CRA is that workers willnot live on the site. They will be flown in, workfor a period, be replaced by a new shiftbrought in and then flown out. I must say thatit is not an area in which I would like to live,despite its proximity to two of Australia's mostattractive oases and a most important heritagearea at the Riversleigh fossil field. At present,the Century mine is only a prospecting site,with a large amount of overburden removed toprovide information on the site. It comprisesthe Lawn Hill and Riversleigh pastoralholdings—or at least the flat land of thosestations. Growing on the site are a hugenumber of snappy gum trees—excellentfirewood, incidentally—and a huge, evenlarger number of silver box trees, whichprovide the timber for didgeridoos. In fact,there would be enough timber on that site tooccupy a large work force making didgeridoosfor many years to come. The silver box treehas a soft centre—beloved of termites—whichprovides a hollow instrument which Aboriginalpeople decorate and play to great effect. Ithas become a tourism article of trade. I hopethat that huge number of trees is used andnot just bulldozed.

The whole region has a harshenvironment with appalling roads. However, allthat is set to change as the Century zinc minerequires that a bitumen road be built from theBurke and Wills Highway junction betweenCloncurry and Karumba. This will open up thearea to all manner of cars and coaches whichnow avoid the four-wheel-drive road fromMount Isa and the National Highway. It will putgreat pressure on one of the most wonderfulgems of Queensland's natural environment.

Out of the harshness of an entire regionappears a wonderful oasis known as Lawn HillGorge, whose pristine waterway and cool,limestone clear water reverse the entireenvironment. In an area noted for lack of anytrace of moisture, there is a cool rainforestwhich has survived for millions of years. It is abeautiful place which attracts people fromaround the world. However, it could suffer fromoveruse with the new bitumen road to theCentury zinc mine only a few kilometres away.

Time expired.

Motion agreed to.The House adjourned at 6.02 p.m.

Hansard 17 October 1995 - parliament.qld.gov.au€¦ · Medical Act 1939— Medical Board of Queensland Amendment By-law (No. 1) 1995, No. 272 Nature Conservation Act 1992— Nature

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