RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS - Queensland Parliament ...

22 Apr 2009 Private Members’ Statements 59
formally take shape. A new association formed with the express purpose of promoting Queensland’s
tropical expertise, to be known as TropLinks, was launched by its inaugural chair and Queensland chief
scientist, Professor Peter Andrews.
TropLinks, which has been supported through a $1.1 million funding grant, will bring stakeholders
together in a network that aims to capture a bigger slice of the burgeoning global tropical market in
areas such as health, environmental management, tropical primary industries, and tropical infrastructure
and urban design. I congratulate the board of TropLinks for bringing this exciting concept into existence.
I wish it and the business communities of North Queensland well in their quest to create employment by
doing the very things that they do best.
Tilt Train
Ms SIMPSON (Maroochydore—LNP) (11.55 am): Last year the Labor government tried to cover
up the gravy train fiasco. This term it has the ghost train fiasco—the tilt train which mysteriously does
not go anywhere, the reasons for which it is desperate to hide. The shroud of secrecy surrounding the
real reasons for the tilt train’s cancellation has more to do with the government protecting itself than the
public. Labor cover-ups usually are about Labor self-protection.
In her first test as minister, Rachel Nolan has resorted to Labor’s traditional game of smoke and
mirrors. The transport minister’s ongoing refusal to release the full information on the cancellation,
claiming legal reasons, is looking more and more flimsy. The fatal tilt train accident, which was a
tragedy, occurred in November last year but the minister is yet to reveal when she became aware of the
ongoing safety concerns and the full reasons for the cancellation which happened at Easter. I am calling
on her to urgently reveal this information, otherwise the truth will be conveniently hidden under a cone of
silence of the government’s creation.
Labor’s refusal to release information has the question arising in the community about what the
government is trying to cover up. People have a right to know the real reasons surrounding the ongoing
cancellation. Minister Rachel Nolan has a responsibility to be open and accountable to the people. This
is a sad indication of what is in store for the department of transport, at a time when Queenslanders are
demanding more from transport services across the state; namely, high levels of safety and efficiency.
Parliamentary Internship Program
Mr O’BRIEN (Cook—ALP) (11.57 am): Last year I participated in the Queensland Parliamentary
Internship Program and supported Jessica Owens, a student from the Cairns campus of James Cook
University. Ms Owens undertook a research project looking at issues of Indigenous homeownership.
Jessica has worked very hard on the report, and I table it for the consideration and benefit of the House.
Tabled paper: Report by Jessica Owens, Queensland Parliamentary Internship Program 2008, titled ‘Place and possession:
Indigenous home ownership in Far North Queensland’ [74].
The report places the impediments to homeownership in their historical, sociocultural and
economic situation. It also explores the complicated land tenure arrangements that exist in remote
Indigenous communities that further prevent individual ownership. In her report Ms Owens
acknowledges that there are people who are in a position to undertake the responsibility of
homeownership and that affordability can be further increased through specially tailored loans and
subsidies.
I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the initiatives this government is
undertaking to ensure Indigenous Queenslanders and other Queenslanders have access to appropriate
housing. I note the comments made by the Minister for Housing to a question asked by the member for
Keppel this morning. Last term the government brought legislation into the House which allows for the
introduction of 99-year leases on Aboriginal and Torres Strait land. The process for delivering these
leases is still embryonic and no doubt we still have much to learn on how we can improve and
streamline what will be the final process. When something has never been done before, there are likely
to be mistakes initially, but we will learn as we go and pilot the initiative and take it from one community
to another. Of course we have to continue to provide social housing, which we are doing. We are finally
being assisted by the Commonwealth, which after 11 years of neglect and cuts is committing funds to
social housing. These are important initiatives that will allocate money to maintain and provide additional
housing across communities. I commend Ms Owens’ report to the House.
High-Voltage Powerline
Mr WELLINGTON (Nicklin—Ind) (11.58 am): It gives me a great deal of pleasure to thank the
Minister for Infrastructure and Planning for agreeing to my request for a further one-month extension so
people could make their submissions to the South East Queensland Regional Plan. So the new
deadline is 1 May. I thank the minister for listening to our calls for an extension.