RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS - Queensland Parliament ...

2328 Appropriation (Parliament) Bill; Appropriation Bill 31 Oct 2012
long multicultural festival across the breadth and width of the state, enabling all of Queensland to
celebrate our cultural diversity instead of a one-day event that has been held previously. I also value the
time the minister spent answering my question on the deadly stories campaign that highlights the
everyday stories and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders. Of course
tomorrow at lunchtime we all have the opportunity to thank the latest 14 participants of this tremendous
campaign.
I was again disappointed to see that the non-government members provided a statement of
reservation. They were either not in the same estimates hearing as I was or they just were not listening.
In their statement they suggested that the minister would not be appropriately funding the upcoming
South Sea Islander commemorative events. The minister made it very clear that preference would be
given to any community groups that apply for grant funding that will be directly attributed to the
commemoration of the 150 years since the first South Sea Islanders were forcibly brought to our shores.
Under the portfolio of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services we were able to examine
key initiatives such as the elderly parent carer innovation trial, the Your Life Your Choice initiative and
the Caring for our Community grants scheme that will enable community and volunteer groups to apply
for essential equipment such as computers, upgraded software and white goods. As a member of the
Health and Community Services Committee, I recommend that the proposed expenditure which is
detailed in the Appropriation Bill 2012 for the committee’s area of responsibility be agreed to by the
House without amendment. I commend the report to the House.
Mr SHUTTLEWORTH (Ferny Grove—LNP) (10.21 pm): This evening I rise in support of the
Health and Community Services Committee report into budget estimates for 2012. Thanks to the
chairman of the committee, the member for Redlands, Mr Peter Dowling, and to the secretariat for their
outstanding support, particularly in the lead-up to the estimates hearing. There are throughout the four
portfolio areas reporting to the committee some extremely notable highlights which I will run through this
evening. The Minister for National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing highlighted the Get in the Game
grants. The program is a fantastic three-tiered program. I and the member for Everton, Mr Mander, are
able to report that the lights at the Pine Hills Football Club on the border of both our electorates, which
was a commitment made during the election campaign, fall under the spectre of the Get in the Game
grants and there are around 850 participants at that local club who are looking very forward to the
switching on of the lights early next year.
We also heard of days past of course where under the previous regime many examples of waste
and mismanagement were typically orders of the day. The particular highlight for me in that regard was
the discussion we had in relation to the Strangler Cairn on the Conondale Great Walk. I always figured
that at some point in my life I would undertake the Kokoda Trail, but it seems far more challenging to
perhaps take a casual four-day stroll along a particularly challenging part of our national park to see a
$750,000 rock structure. I am sure that not too many people will undertake that before it crumbles under
the weight of a seedling planted underneath it. Of course we also discussed other particular examples of
waste, not least of which was the rainforest canopy walks and the ongoing maintenance required.
Of course the Health portfolio was a particular highlight and consumed a considerable portion of
the day. It was a very interesting undertaking mind you, most of which was focused on the Health payroll
debacle. Understandably, the people of Queensland are demanding and continue to demand an
outcome where at least they can be certain that any possibility of cost recovery and seeking damages
from responsible parties would be pursued with great vigour. Of course, the tabling of certain documents
today will hopefully assist us in that regard. I have no doubt though that on their own these will not
eliminate the need of the government to carefully plan and manage a subsequent course of action to
ensure better outcomes for all Queenslanders into the future. I have great faith that the minister and his
department will review the documents tabled today and consider whether the recommendations made
within our report, recommendation Nos 3 and 4, will provide further assistance to ensure that the people
of Queensland can recover these costs where possible and be truly informed in relation to the course of
events of the Health payroll debacle.
The health minister also outlined new programs and initiatives designed to improve the targeting
of BreastScreen services. It is interesting to note that even this evening the member for Bundamba
continued with the hype and scare campaign and propaganda that we know is all too common from
those opposite in relation to breast screening services in Queensland. In fact, today the minister outlined
that northside services will receive an additional $400,000 in funding to support women at risk of familial
breast cancer. The funding will go towards hiring an additional nurse and radiographer and will enable
350 women to be screened or rescreened each year. It will become the only clinic in Queensland
offering state-wide multimodal screening services for women at high risk—hardly an initiative that
warrants the continued scare campaign of those opposite.