RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS - Queensland Parliament ...

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22 Apr 2009 Appointments 53 know to be the case now and what I believe will be the case in the future is that it is to the overall benefit of the residents of Queensland, whether they be identified as ratepayers, state taxpayers or federal taxpayers, that we pursued that agenda. I believe ultimately, as we have seen with many councils, that savings are there to be made. I believe in the importance of the reform. I believe overwhelmingly that on 21 March the people of Queensland endorsed the reform that we undertook, which was difficult structural reform that was important for the future of Queensland. That is what you can expect to see from this government well into the future. Private Rental Market Mr HOOLIHAN: My question without notice is to the Minister for Community Services and Housing and Minister for Women. I commend the minister on the Bligh government’s $1.3 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan. Four thousand new homes across the state will kick-start local economies. It is a win for the building industry and public housing tenants. With that in mind, I ask the minister: what steps are being taken to cater for people trying to enter the private housing market? Ms STRUTHERS: I am delighted to talk about housing and I thank the member for the question. Last week I was in Rocky and I saw firsthand a number of social and community housing projects, some already completed and some about to get underway. It is absolutely fantastic that we have such support from the federal government. Last week in Brisbane I stood shoulder to shoulder with federal housing minister Jenny Macklin. She came to Queensland with a cheque for $138 million. That money will build 444 additional social housing units. That is the sort of cooperation we are getting from the federal government. In Queensland it means jobs, jobs, jobs; it means lots of roofs over people’s heads. I am delighted to be the minister who is able to deliver that. I thank the former minister, Robert Schwarten. Members of former parliaments know of the hard work he did to try to get money out of the Howard government. Sadly, not much money ever ended up in his department’s pocket. In Central Queensland everyone is a winner. Last year we commenced a trial of the RentConnect project. In Central Queensland and the other trial area of Caboolture, 200 people have been able to find private rental accommodation. This is about helping people negotiate the private rental market. It is about helping young people who often have trouble as they may not have a recent tenancy history or single parents who, as many of us know, often have difficulty negotiating the private rental market. Officers in Rocky work one-on-one with people to help them overcome the challenges of the private rental market. They are given simple and effective tips and advice on how to find a property, how to apply for it and how to start a tenancy, and a tenancy guarantee of up to $1,000 is on offer for some people. There is a big demand for private rental housing and, as we know, a lot of competition. We will evaluate the trial to see whether we can roll it out state-wide, because while we have our massive Nation Building and Jobs Plan, we are not about to turn our back on people who need help entering the private rental market. Everyone needs a roof over their head and that is why the Bligh government is getting on with the job of building 4,000 new homes across the state and generating thousands of jobs. I will say that again: we are building 4,000 new social housing units across the state. That is what this government is committed to and we look forward to your support. Mr SPEAKER: Order! The time for question time has expired. Honourable members, I would like you to welcome in the public gallery the school leaders and teachers of the Faith Lutheran College at Plainland in the electorate of Lockyer, represented in this House by Mr Ian Rickuss. APPOINTMENTS Liberal National Party Mr LANGBROEK (Surfers Paradise—LNP) (Leader of the Opposition) (11.30 am): I have a list of LNP appointments. I seek leave to have the list incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. I rise to inform the House of opposition appointments. I have been appointed Leader of the Opposition, Leader of the LNP and shadow minister for Arts. Lawrence Springborg has been appointed Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Leader of the LNP, shadow Attorney-General and Shadow minister for Trade. Mark McArdle has been appointed shadow minister for health while Tim Nicholls has been appointed Shadow Treasurer and shadow minister for Employment and Economic Development. Jann Stuckey has been appointed Shadow minister for Public Works and Information and Communication Technology. Jeff Seeney has been appointed shadow minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy and additionally holds the post of Leader of Opposition Business. Bruce Flegg has been appointed shadow minister for Education and Training, while Vaughan Johnson has been appointed shadow minister for Police and Corrective Services.
54 Private Members’ Statements 22 Apr 2009 Ted Malone has been appointed Shadow minister for Emergency Services and Northern Development. Ray Hopper has been appointed Shadow minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Rural and Regional Queensland. Fiona Simpson has been appointed shadow minister for Transport and Main Roads. Howard Hobbs has been appointed shadow minister for Local Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships. David Gibson has been appointed shadow minister for Infrastructure and Planning while Rosemary Menkens has been appointed shadow minister for Community Services and Housing and is shadow minister for women. Glen Elmes has been appointed shadow minister for Climate Change and Sustainability. Andrew Cripps has been appointed shadow minister for Disability Services and Multicultural Affairs. Ray Stevens has been appointed shadow minister for Tourism and Fair Trading while Jack Dempsey has been appointed shadow minister for Child Safety and shadow minister for Sport. Mike Horan has been appointed Opposition Whip and Rob Messenger has been appointed Deputy Opposition Whip. Mr Speaker, I am very proud to announce these changes. My shadow ministry will hold this government to account. PRIVATE MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS Job Creation Mr LANGBROEK (Surfers Paradise—LNP) (Leader of the Opposition) (11.30 am): This morning we have come into this place and listened to the government talk about its target of 100,000 jobs which the Premier has provided to the House. She of course provides the colour and then we look to the Treasurer to provide the detail and more specifics. The Premier is big on targets—and has been in her previous portfolios, as we all know, of education and families—but when it comes to the detail sometimes the targets are not always lived up to, and I think the expectation is that the people of Queensland will just forget what the targets were. Let us have a look at what has happened this morning in the House. The honourable the Treasurer spoke about the 119,000 infrastructure jobs that were mentioned in the budget papers last year that would be provided by the infrastructure plan. To the end of March, nine months into this financial year, only 1,700 jobs have been provided of those 119,000. What did the honourable the Treasurer say? ‘Oh, no. Those 119,000 jobs will be jobs that will be supported throughout the economy.’ He is not going to be held to the ABS statistics on those jobs figures because of something that was written in the budget papers back in June, even though we have had the commitment from the Treasurer that the ABS statistics will be the ones that he is happy to be governed by when it comes to the target of 100,000 jobs. I think he uses the ABS statistics when he wants to and disregards them when he wants to. That is the pattern we have seen from this Premier in the past. She told Queenslanders only a month ago that they could count on her. When it comes to energy prices, let us have a look at that history. In 2005 the honourable the Premier, who was Deputy Premier at the time, said, ‘It does not matter where you live. Nobody—not one Queenslander—will be worse off under the government’s proposal.’ That was the proposal for deregulation of electricity prices. What has happened since? We have 30 per cent increases in electricity prices. Now we have a mooted increase. It could be 15 per cent. And all the Minister for Natural Resources could say this morning was, ‘Well, at least it is not going to be anywhere near 48 per cent.’ Do not look at what they say; look at what they have done. (Time expired) Oxley Electorate, Railway Stations Mrs ATTWOOD (Mount Ommaney—ALP) (11.33 am): I rise to bring to the attention of the House the great work being done in the electorate of Mount Ommaney to improve public transport for its commuters. When I first became elected I wanted to ensure that my railway stations were upgraded to Commonwealth disability standards. The minister was quick to act and in 2004 the Corinda Railway Station received a $6 million upgrade complete with three lifts. The old ramps were taken down because they did not meet the Australian standards and were too steep for people with disabilities to use safely and easily. Not long after that, Oxley Railway Station was upgraded with a lift and ramp to also meet the required standard. Vicki Humphries, a local Oxley resident and advocate for people with disabilities, advised me that she was then able to use the train to travel throughout Brisbane and to take in all the sights of our great city. There was, however, still one small hurdle—there was too much of a gap between the platform and the floor of the train. In other words, people in wheelchairs having to use a ramp to board the train said the ramp was too steep and difficult for them to board. After lobbying the minister, QR soon responded to raise the platform floor—quite a difficult goal to achieve considering that the station was heritage listed—and work was completed to make this adjustment.
Page 1 and 2: PROOF ISSN 1322-0330 RECORD OF PROC
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents — Wednesday, 22
Page 5 and 6: 22 Speaker’s Statement 22 Apr 200
Page 7 and 8: 24 Appointments 22 Apr 2009 Panel o
Page 9 and 10: 26 Motion 22 Apr 2009 MOTION Sessio
Page 11 and 12: 28 Motion 22 Apr 2009 (3) The House
Page 13 and 14: 30 Tabled Papers 22 Apr 2009 Wooloo
Page 15 and 16: 32 Tabled Papers 22 Apr 2009 16 Apr
Page 17 and 18: 34 Ministerial Statements 22 Apr 20
Page 27 and 28: 44 Questions Without Notice 22 Apr
Page 35: 52 Questions Without Notice 22 Apr
Page 39 and 40: 56 Private Members’ Statements 22
Page 45 and 46: 62 Financial Accountability Bill 22
Page 47 and 48: 64 Vegetation Management (Regrowth
Page 49 and 50: 66 Vegetation Management (Regrowth
Page 51 and 52: 68 Corrective Services and Other Le
Page 53 and 54: 70 Local Government Bill 22 Apr 200
Page 55 and 56: 72 Adoption Bill 22 Apr 2009 To ens
Page 57 and 58: 74 Adoption Bill 22 Apr 2009 The go
Page 59 and 60: 76 Adoption Bill 22 Apr 2009 Our fi
Page 61 and 62: 78 Telecommunications Interception
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