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22 Apr 2009 Ministerial Statements 37 Kangaroo Point, Park Hon. AM BLIGH (South Brisbane—ALP) (Premier and Minister for the Arts) (9.56 am): Providing more green space for Queenslanders to enjoy is part of this government’s Q2 vision, and we are getting on with that job as well. As I stand here today, 16 workers are on a demolition site making way for a new park on the edge of the Kangaroo Point cliffs. I announced in January that this priceless site would be gifted back to the people of Queensland as part of our Q150 celebrations. This site—almost 10,000 square metres of spectacular views of our beautiful capital city—will soon be a public park for all Queenslanders and all visitors to enjoy. It will link up with the existing park that runs along the top of the cliffs adjacent to River Terrace and it will become a family favourite, particularly on those special days like Australia Day, New Year’s Eve and Riverfire when there are fireworks displays. The former Southbank Institute of TAFE buildings that date back to the late 1960s are being removed from the site. With the redevelopment of the Southbank TAFE on the South Bank site, these buildings at Kangaroo Point are no longer required and many are way past their use-by date in any case. Under the project’s recycling management plan, demolition materials from the site including concrete, steel, bricks, aluminium, glass and plaster will all be recycled. With the design currently being finalised, I am pleased to advise that we expect Queenslanders to be enjoying the park by November this year. Pacific Adventurer, Moreton Bay Oil Spill Hon. AM BLIGH (South Brisbane—ALP) (Premier and Minister for the Arts) (9.57 am): I want to say a couple of words about the terrible oil spill that has affected the shores of the south-east corner of our state. The Pacific Adventurer oil spill on Moreton Island and the Sunshine Coast is one of the most serious environmental disasters to affect Queensland, with significant consequences for our environment, for our wildlife, economy, industry, community and for many of our visitors. In heavy seas whipped up by Tropical Cyclone Hamish, the Pacific Adventurer lost 31 containers of ammonium nitrate and spilled an estimated 270 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on Wednesday, 11 March 2009. As members know, oil washed on to Moreton Island, Bribie Island and Sunshine Coast beaches, resulting in a mammoth clean-up and recovery exercise. The clean-up has been an enormous challenge requiring sensitive and often very labour-intensive work. I am pleased to advise the House that the vast majority of the clean-up is now complete, and I applaud the magnificent efforts of all those who worked to clean up this pollution. Moreton Island, Bribie Island and the Sunshine Coast are well and truly open for business. Last week saw the Easter holidays and camping levels were at normal levels in Bribie and Moreton Island national parks. On Moreton Island 1,470 visitors were camping over the holiday period and 620 enjoyed Bribie Island. I want to acknowledge the professionalism, the dedication and the efficiency of all who worked in the clean-up, both paid and voluntary. I particularly want to acknowledge the leadership of Mayor Alan Sutherland from the Moreton Bay Regional Council and Mayor Bob Abbot from the Sunshine Coast Regional Council. Their swift response to this disaster ensured a great outcome for the areas they have responsibility for. I also offer grateful thanks to those people from interstate and those with international expertise who have come to Queensland to lend their hand to the task. Maritime Safety Queensland estimates that some 2,500 people have tirelessly worked to monitor, limit and remove the spillage and to aid the recovery process. I will be hosting a thankyou reception in June for all the workers involved in the recovery process. In my regular briefings on this matter it has been impressive to witness the coordination and cooperation of so many diverse public and private sector organisations. Each of them will be invited to submit the names of workers who will attend a reception here at Parliament House. Mr Speaker, I look forward to joining you and other members in a thankyou reception and to hearing the many stories of this remarkable clean-up effort. Queensland Health Hon. PT LUCAS (Lytton—ALP) (Deputy Premier and Minister for Health) (9.59 am): Anyone who thinks you can do a good job as health minister sitting at a desk in Brisbane reading briefs is just plain wrong. That is why one of my first decisions as health minister was to get out of the office, get out of the city and visit Queensland hospitals. Mr Johnson: How’s your left ear? Mr Robertson: How’s your election result? Mr Johnson interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! Honourable member for Gregory, that is the third time.
38 Ministerial Statements 22 Apr 2009 Mr LUCAS: So far I have visited nine hospitals from the Torres Strait and the tip of Cape York to South-East Queensland. I have already visited hospitals at Thursday Island, Bamaga, Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Mackay and in the Redlands. I have also visited the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Mater Children’s Hospital. I have made a brief visit to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital emergency department and will be returning there shortly for a longer visit and discussion with health staff. At those hospitals I have spoken to doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, administrators, patients, local councillors and many others. I have heard about the issues facing them: pressures from rapid population growth, an increase in chronic disease, facilities that were not designed to be easily upgraded and many other issues. I have seen operations on young children, I have seen some of the impressive work our staff are doing in telehealth and I have seen their unswerving dedication. In the next month or so I will visit even more hospitals in the west, in South-East Queensland and up and down the coast. I will be spending time at busy emergency departments like the one at Logan Hospital to see firsthand the challenges they face. There is more listening to be done. Nothing beats being on the ground talking to the professionals where they work about the problems they face. My message to them—and to the people of Queensland—is simple: action is underway but we know there is more to do. Queensland offers the most comprehensive free health system over the largest decentralised area in world. We have more than 150 hospitals and health facilities across the state. Our $8.35 billion health budget is the fastest growing budget in the country, increasing by 64 per cent since 2005. We have the biggest health infrastructure program in Australia, with a $6 billion building program to build and rebuild hospitals across the state including the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast hospitals and the Queensland Children’s Hospital. We are halfway through our $10 billion five-year Health Action Plan—the largest single injection of funding ever put into Queensland Health. That work has delivered an extra 2,500 doctors and nurses since 2007 and It has delivered the shortest elective surgery waiting times in the country. But we heard the message from Queenslanders at the election that we must do better, and we will. I am honoured to serve as health minister in the new Bligh government. Health has a direct and major impact on the lives of many Queenslanders. Its importance cannot be overstated. I am committed to working hard as health minister. I know that health staff work hard and they do a good job. But that does not mean we cannot do better, and I am enjoying hearing the ideas that Queenslanders, especially our dedicated health professionals, have for delivering a healthier state. Briefly on another matter, I would like to thank the expert surgeons and burns specialists who treated patients following the incident at Ashmore Reef last week. Four of the patients remain in a critical condition in the intensive care unit at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. They are expected to undergo further surgery this week. Three patients remain in a stable condition in the burns unit. It is a testament to the commitment and skill of our top health professionals that they were called on to assist in such a tragedy. Queensland Economy Hon. AP FRASER (Mount Coot-tha—ALP) (Treasurer and Minister for Employment and Economic Development) (10.03 am): Queensland has taken a battering from the global recession. Our revenues have taken a $12 billion hit to date and growth has been clubbed. We stand on the cusp of recession. Economists may debate the utility of the definition of a recession as two quarters of negative growth. When I issued the Economic and Fiscal Update on 20 February—an unprecedented third update of the state’s finances in nine months—I questioned that definition and I note the comments in the last 24 hours from the Governor of the Reserve Bank. The fact is that the economists’ debate is irrelevant to the 23,600 Queenslanders who have joined the unemployment queue since September 2008, when the unemployment rate began rising sharply following a general downward trend over most of the past decade. On an alternative definition—arguably a much more relevant yardstick—unemployment has risen by a full percentage point in the past six months, with the trend unemployment rate in Queensland of 4.7 per cent in March this year, compared with its near generational low of 3.7 per cent in September 2008. For the thousands of Queenslanders who have lost their jobs, this looks and feels like a recession. I table for the benefit of the House the Queensland state accounts for the December quarter 2008. The accounts record our economy as having grown by just 0.3 per cent in trend terms in the December quarter. This contrasts with the contraction recorded by the Australian economy as a whole in that quarter but in its proper perspective reveals the pace of the slowdown being experienced in our state. Annual growth in the first half of 2008-09 was 0.8 per cent. It is apparent that this places further pressure on our revised forecast growth rate for this financial year of 2.5 per cent. The outlook is also
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