RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS - Queensland Parliament ...

31 Oct 2012 Questions Without Notice 2255
The India trade mission will also coincide with the Australian government’s OzFest initiative,
which is designed to celebrate and promote Australia as a contemporary, creative and diverse nation.
Therefore, the mission will convey the Queensland government’s commitment to India as a trade
partner and reinforce Queensland’s image in India as a leading source of education and training
services, mining equipment and technologies and associated services.
Trade and investment missions are an essential strategy in the government’s objective of getting
the Queensland economy back on track. They are invaluable in helping us maintain and strengthen
Queensland’s relationships and reputation in the international arena. The government will continue to
pursue trade opportunities across the globe to open up new markets for Queensland business and
industry.
Great Barrier Reef
Hon. JW SEENEY (Callide—LNP) (Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development,
Infrastructure and Planning) (2.27 pm): Our government has committed to working with the federal
government to undertake a strategic assessment of the Great Barrier Reef coastal region as a basis for
a streamlined bilateral approvals process. Part of the strategic assessment is the development of a
ports strategy. Today, I table a draft Great Barrier Reef ports strategy that will be available for public
consultation and public comment from tomorrow. The strategy presents the vision and principles that will
guide our government’s approach to future port development and our planning in the Great Barrier Reef
coastal region for the next decade.
Tabled paper: Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning: Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy 2012-2022 for
public consultation, October 2012 [1451].
Port development is essential for the growth of Queensland’s economy, but so too is the
protection and health of our greatest environmental asset, the Great Barrier Reef. Through this strategy
the government will balance environmental protection with the need to facilitate economic prosperity.
Put simply, our ports must expand if we are to prosper and grow as a state. We are part of a global
economy and our ports connect us to the world.
The ports adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area are among the world’s busiest
and most productive, and their effective operation underpins the growth of Queensland’s four-pillar
economy. However, at the same time the Great Barrier Reef remains the most protected and one of the
best managed marine areas in the world. This government will ensure that continues to be the case.
This strategy is part of our plan to develop the ports we need and protect the Great Barrier Reef at the
same time. I point out that this government has already scaled back the unrealistic expansion proposals
of the previous government for Abbot Point, taking the proposed multicargo facility and the proposed
coal terminals 4 to 9 completely off the table.
Today I can announce that, under the strategy that I have just tabled, we will restrict significant
port developments within and adjoining the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area to within existing
port limits for the next 10 years. We will facilitate the expansion within those port precincts. We will
facilitate the development of terminals 0, 2 and 3 at Abbot Point. New coal terminals are mooted at
Dudgeon Point in the port of Hay Point. Within the Gladstone precinct, expansion is an ongoing constant
for both existing exports and imports and the future of the LNG industry. Balaclava Island, Port Alma and
Sea Hill all provide scope to serve ongoing resource development.
Fewer bigger port areas will mean less disruption to our environment and better protection for
areas outside these existing port facilities. Queensland has well-established processes to measure and
manage environmental impacts of port development and we will ensure that shipping through the Great
Barrier Reef region is also highly regulated. Queenslanders can be assured that this government will
successfully manage the balance between economic development and environmental protection.
ABSENCE OF MINISTER
Mr STEVENS (Mermaid Beach—LNP) (Manager of Government Business) (2.29 pm): I wish to
advise the House that the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice will be absent during question time
today. Minister Bleijie is attending a family member’s funeral in Gympie.
QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Minister for Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts
Ms PALASZCZUK (2.30 pm): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier outline to the
House how many meetings, briefings, dinners or lunches the Minister for Science, Information
Technology, Innovation and the Arts has attended with Santo Santoro since taking up her portfolio in
April?