RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS - Queensland Parliament ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

2276 Appropriation (Parliament) Bill; Appropriation Bill 31 Oct 2012 Cavendish Road State High School in my electorate has also received funding to install flashing school-zone lights on what is one of the busiest roads in my electorate. Mount Gravatt State School will receive funding over the next two years to complete an upgrade of the pick-up and drop-off zones at the school. That school is also on one of the state’s busiest roads, Logan Road. These initiatives are very important to me not just as the local member, but also as a parent and a local resident. We can put no price on our kids’ safety. I could speak for a long time about my electorate, but it seems my time is almost up. I had best take this opportunity to commend the Premier and the Treasurer once again for assisting residents, students and businesspeople to make our community the best it can be. I commend the bill to the House. Mrs FRECKLINGTON (Nanango—LNP) (4.30 pm): I rise to speak in support of the Finance and Administration Committee report and the bill before the House. It was a pleasure to attend the estimates hearing as Assistant Minister for Finance, Administration and Regulatory Reform alongside the honourable the Treasurer on 9 October. It was a pleasure also to hear and see how the chairman of the committee, Michael Crandon, the member for Coomera, handled himself and the committee. The way the estimates process was run was an absolute credit to him and his committee. This was my first experience of estimates and it was a very well-run committee. I would also like to commend the Premier for how he handled himself throughout the estimates committee hearing. I was able to sit in for some time during his session, and he handled himself very well. I also commend the Treasurer for how well he handled all of the questions. He was able to answer every question that was put to him and to his staff as well. The difference between the current government and the previous government and how they handled the estimates committee hearing is extremely clear. The Treasurer was able to outline what we have, and that is a plan. He was able to outline the once-in-a-generation budget in relation to the core set of fiscal principles that the Treasurer clearly outlined. Throughout the process the Treasurer was able to note that the fiscal repair tasks that were set about by all of the departments have resulted in reduced borrowings. The improvement in the government’s fiscal balance will result in interest cost savings of over $1.3 billion over the forward estimates. This means a lot for the state of Queensland and for the people of Queensland because these savings can go into the most needed front-line services such as new hospitals, police stations, ambulances or maybe a dual carriageway for the Bruce Highway— Mr Johnson: Country roads. Mrs FRECKLINGTON:—and country roads, which are very important in the Nanango electorate. It is very pleasing to see the amount of money that is being allocated to country roads within this budget. It is very important and it is very good to see. I think some of the statements made by the opposition in relation to this committee need to be corrected. The amount of time that the opposition was given on this committee to have their questions answered amounted to some 55 per cent. The last time I counted, there was a very small opposition compared to the government, and I would consider that time allocated to be five per cent over and above the time that they possibly should have been allocated. I would also like to strongly dispute the statement of reservation in the committee’s report. I could easily go through it, but time precludes me because I would have to go through each line as clearly every statement is quite wrong. I really do not have the time. However, I would like to put on the record the fact that I completely disagree with this statement of reservation. This is a once-in-a-generation budget and for the people of the Nanango electorate it is a very important one. I have been out and about in my electorate. The feedback I am getting is that the decisions that this government has had to make because of the debt that the previous Labor government left us with are hard decisions but they are ones that are very much supported within my electorate. The Treasurer came and spoke at a dinner a couple of weeks ago and the feedback was extremely positive. The benefit that this budget will bring in future years is of extreme importance to my electorate. With the remaining time I would like to touch on the importance of the Office of Best Practice Regulation that has also been set up, which will work towards reducing red tape and regulation by at least 20 per cent. Mr JOHNSON (Gregory—LNP) (4.35 pm): Whilst I was not a member of the Finance and Administration Committee, which examined the estimates of the Premier and Cabinet, it is with pleasure that I rise to speak to this very important estimates committee report this afternoon. I was somewhat amazed to hear the contribution this afternoon of the Leader of the Opposition when she passed comment that she was very concerned about the lack of compassion shown by the Premier and that he was not across his brief. I think the Premier has a lot of compassion, as does this government. It is the former Labor government that never had compassion, because they drove this state into oblivion. That is one of the reasons in 1990 we saw the Goss government implement the budget estimates process
31 Oct 2012 Appropriation (Parliament) Bill; Appropriation Bill 2277 whereby the opposition and the parliament could scrutinise the accounts in the best interests of the state. The people of Queensland were not briefed by the former Labor government, which created that estimates process. The people of Queensland were sick of the contempt. That is why they spoke on 24 March—at the last state election. The audit report commissioned by this government under Peter Costello, Doug McTaggart and Professor Sandra Harding has created the template that is going to progress the forward balances of this state for generations to come. That template has been set by the hard decisions made by the cabinet of the Newman government. It has not been easy and I know there has been pain across Queensland. However, there is no gain without pain. I know that my electorate has suffered some of that pain. This budget has created confidence in this state again. I know that there are people who want to invest in my electorate. It is one of the great wealth generators in this state. The bankcard management strategies of the Labor Party are doomed to failure. Bankcard strategies do not work. Anyone who has a credit card knows that they are a failure. You have to be able to afford what you buy and know how you will pay for it. The former government did not seem to understand that. As the Premier said here today, we will be saving $115 million a week in interest alone. What a magnificent, responsible development that is for the finances of this state. This budget also provides first home buyers with a $15,000 grant. This is really going to inject and encourage the construction industry of this state. As part of our fourpillar policy, we believe that the construction industry is an integral player in making the state move forward again and in creating jobs. We know what has happened in the mining industry in this state in relation to the developments that have been announced by the government in the last week relating to uranium mining. That is another positive—more jobs. Another of the four pillars, agriculture, is enjoying great developments and has been making progress in moving forward. Tourism is another integral industry to Queensland. The real issues in this budget are, under revitalising front-line services, state funding for specialist disability services, up three per cent on last year to $959 million; $15 million to assist elderly parent carers of people with a disability; $44 million to provide better access to emergency specialist care; $51.6 million to improve and upgrade health facilities; and $34.7 million to provide 300 police as part of the additional 1,100 front-line police over the next four years. It goes on. There will be $750,000 over three years to support the Women’s Legal Service to support vulnerable women in Queensland; $2 billion for recovery and reconstruction projects, in partnership with the Australian government; $1 billion over 10 years for the Bruce Highway—another program that the last state government did not pay any attention to; $1.3 billion to construct, expand and redevelop hospitals across Queensland; and—this is the doozy—$200 million over two years to address maintenance in Queensland schools. Schools will receive up to $160,000 a year. This is about keeping dollars in local communities, forging relationships with local contractors and giving people jobs. This is the LNP way, not the Labor way. Report adopted. State Development, Infrastructure and Industry Committee Report Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Dr Robinson): The question is— That the report of the State Development, Infrastructure and Industry Committee be adopted. Mr MALONE (Mirani—LNP) (4.41 pm): It is a real pleasure to speak on behalf of the committee. Firstly, I congratulate the committee on their support. I acknowledge Tim Mulherin, the deputy chair; Rob Katter, the other non-government member of the committee; and of course all of the committee members from the government side. I think the committee’s examination of the budget was very intuitive in terms of the outcome. I must say that I was surprised by the statement of reservations by the Labor Party. It seems to me that it is so easy to criticise all that is going on. Our deficit is close to $5 billion, yet they criticise where and how we make cuts. During the committee hearing, support for small business was clearly identified. Ultimately, the grunt portfolio areas of industry and state development were well and truly covered. It will take some time, but unless we actually turn this state around, in the current economic climate not only in Queensland but also across Australia and indeed the world, there will be real concerns. Obviously we have to make some hard decisions. That was clearly identified at the estimates hearing. Most fortunately, the three ministers who appeared before the estimates committee were able to clearly identify some real gains in terms of extra funding and some real changes in the programs under their control—most importantly, programs that can push this state forward, initiatives that can bring prosperity back to Queensland. We all clearly understand that that is not going to happen overnight, but we have to start somewhere. Indeed, this budget is the keystone to make sure we get back on track.
Page 1 and 2: PROOF ISSN 1322-0330 RECORD OF PROC
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents — Wednesday, 31
Page 5 and 6: 31 Oct 2012 Legislative Assembly 22
Page 7 and 8: 31 Oct 2012 Privilege 2251 Madam SP
Page 9 and 10: 31 Oct 2012 Tabled Papers 2253 Surv
Page 11 and 12: 31 Oct 2012 Questions Without Notic
Page 23 and 24: 31 Oct 2012 Appropriation (Parliame
Page 31: 31 Oct 2012 Appropriation (Parliame
Page 53 and 54: 31 Oct 2012 Classification of Compu
Page 55 and 56: 31 Oct 2012 South East Qld Water (R
Page 57 and 58: 31 Oct 2012 Weapons and Other Legis
Page 83 and 84:
31 Oct 2012 Appropriation (Parliame
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
31 Oct 2012 Adjournment 2347 Early
Page 105 and 106:
31 Oct 2012 Adjournment 2349 School
Page 107 and 108:
31 Oct 2012 Adjournment 2351 During
show all

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS - Queensland Parliament ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?