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2342 Appropriation (Parliament) Bill; Appropriation Bill 31 Oct 2012 I commend the Minister for Local Government on the command he has over his portfolio. I would suggest that local governments all over the state are applauding the minister’s energy and enthusiasm for local government. I do not believe many other local government ministers can claim that they have visited every local council—73, if I am not mistaken—and in such a short time frame. More importantly, the minister did not just visit local councils; he actually listened to their concerns and suggestions— something that had not happened under the previous government. It certainly was encouraging to see a minister with such knowledge of and enthusiasm for his portfolio—something all ministers in this government have, compared to the previous government. A new era for local government has begun. In fact, a new era—a prosperous, full-of-hope era—for Queensland has begun under our government. I commend the report to the House. Mrs SMITH (Mount Ommaney—LNP) (11.45 pm): I rise to speak in support of the report of the Transport, Housing and Local Government Committee. As a committee member, I acknowledge the chair, the member for Warrego, Mr Howard Hobbs, who does an outstanding job as chair. His wisdom and fairness should be noted. His guidance of first-term members through the process made it a truly rewarding experience. As always I acknowledge the secretariat, whose eye for detail and thoroughness truly should be praised, for their professionalism. My first comment regarding the estimates hearing is directed to all ministers involved. They each clearly articulated a very clear vision for their portfolios and what they want to achieve. This gives certainty to all Queenslanders, leaving no doubt that, despite the horrendous debt and deficit the previous government left this great state, this government can still deliver. I will outline some of the highlights in the budget, firstly in the area of transport. Our transport minister is delivering on election promises: relief of cost-of-living pressures, which was the No. 1 issue raised with me by constituents in Mount Ommaney; freezing car registration fees for the family car; reducing public transport fare increases for South-East Queensland; and introducing the initiative to provide free the 10th public transport trip in one week. These measures deliver real cost savings to the families of my electorate. Unlike the previous government, the Minister for Transport is taking a refreshingly honest approach regarding QTRIP, especially in the Mount Ommaney area, where previous ministers have given commitments regarding important infrastructure upgrades—Sumners Road interchange comes to mind—only to find that the provision of funding was never budgeted for. That is what creates false expectations on the part of the community. This way, the LNP government’s way, very clearly outlines how this government intends to proceed—open, honest and fully transparent—and, more importantly, working within a budget. I know that this is a novel concept for the opposition to comprehend, but I thank the minister. I turn now to Housing and Public Works. Again, I fully support the strategic direction the department is taking, led by our very capable and compassionate minister, Dr Flegg. Highlights in this portfolio include: plans to increase available public housing; addressing the housing needs in Torres Strait and Cape York communities; asbestos audits and the removal of asbestos; construction of cyclone shelters and time lines to go with that; and addressing the waste and reducing the expenditure in QFleet. Finally, I turn to the Local Government portfolio. How impressive is our Minister for Local Government? In only seven months his comprehensive knowledge of his portfolio was on full display at the estimates. His genuine desire and dedication to have consultation and an inclusive approach has been welcomed with open arms. Having visited all 73 Queensland councils, he is the man who gets things done. Highlights in this area include reform—real beneficial reform—to increase autonomy and effectiveness of local government which also allows mayors and councillors to have the authority and the capacity to make good decisions for their communities. He also has plans for the implementation of the first round of funding of $40 million over three years to assist local governments meeting the recommendations of the Queensland flood commission. These are some fantastic initiatives. In conclusion, this is a once-in-a-generation budget. It is about getting on with the job and getting Queensland back on track. This is the budget about righting the wrongs from many years and it is a great starting point for Queenslanders. This has very much been a team effort. (Time expired) Mr PITT (Mulgrave—ALP) (11.50 pm): Although I was unable to be at the Transport, Housing and Local Government Committee hearing due to my attendance at the Asian Forum on Global Governance in India, I want to place on record some of my observations in the portfolio areas of Main Roads and Local Government. Firstly, the Minister for Main Roads decided that he would once again trot out a line from an article in the Cairns Post, which I table. Tabled paper: Article from the Cairns Post, dated 20 April 2012, titled ‘Road to a better Bruce’ [1472].
31 Oct 2012 Appropriation (Parliament) Bill; Appropriation Bill 2343 The line regarding the ‘misspending of state money by investing in the Bruce Highway’ is paraphrased and not a direct quote. The minister has been falsely dining out on this for six months. The context of the statement made simply highlighted two facts: first, funding for the Bruce Highway is primarily a federal responsibility because it is a National Highway and, second, there are state controlled roads that require the attention of the Queensland government. Unlike the Bruce Highway, the Peninsula Development Road or the Kennedy Development Road will not draw the cameras the minister so dearly craves. But they are important roads nonetheless, but not important to the LNP which failed to provide funding for state controlled roads in the 2012-13 budget, with $1.6 billion over four years being stripped from the Queensland road network. The problem is that the estimates hearing continued the LNP’s misleading and slanted picture of funding for the Bruce Highway. It has conveniently tried to airbrush from history its own federal National Party leader Warren Truss, who as transport minister in the Howard government starved Queensland of roads funding with an average of $100 million a year for the Bruce Highway. This compares with federal Labor’s contributions averaging $500 million a year since 2007. So, if the minister wants to be honest, any Bruce Highway ‘crisis’ is the result of his own party’s chronic underfunding. If he wants to point the finger of blame, he needs to point it at one of his own. The previous Labor state governments provided around $114 million a year for the past 10 years on top of funds from the federal government. This got work moving on the Bruce Highway and has resulted in the installation of 52 new overtaking lanes, the fixing of 100 dangerous black spots, building some 20 new rest areas and upgrading a further nine existing rest areas. Does the minister deny that the LNP will spend just one per cent or $10 million this year out of its promised $1 billion on the Bruce Highway or the next financial year when there will be only another $10 million, yet by comparison this year’s LNP budget found $17 million for roadworks in the Premier’s electorate of Ashgrove in Brisbane. The fact is more and more people are realising you cannot trust a word the LNP says, especially when it comes to its policies for regional Queensland. As I have said all along, the LNP’s magical mystery bus tour of the Bruce Highway would produce by and large the same projects as identified under the previous government’s 20-year Bruce Highway strategy, and that is what we have seen. Government members interjected. Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Berry): Order! There is far too much audible conversation. I cannot hear the member speak. Mr PITT: Thank you for your protection, Mr Deputy Speaker. This whole process has been a cynical exercise to blame federal Labor if it does not provide the funding, otherwise the recent state budget would have seen the LNP put some real money on the table like it claimed it would before the election. I also want to make some remarks regarding the Local Government portfolio. Given the LNP’s constant misshaping of the facts around debt levels in Queensland, I was very interested in the section where the Minister for Local Government was asked questions about debt taken on by local governments in Queensland. After avoiding questions about which council in Queensland had the largest amount of debt, the minister finally stated that it was the Brisbane City Council with a debt of $1.16 billion. However, the figure quoted by the minister contradicts information published by the Queensland Treasury Corporation, which states that the Brisbane City Council’s debt is $1.828 billion. It is concerning to think that the minister did not know the financial circumstances of the largest council in Queensland and, for that matter, Australia, nor that Legacy Way was a toll road—the biggest local government infrastructure project in Australia. The minister suggested that the Brisbane City Council was in a better situation than the state when the current government took office. In fact, the debt levels of the Brisbane City Council mean that it has a higher debt-to-income ratio than the state government. As had to be pointed out to the minister in questioning, the Brisbane City Council’s net financial liabilities to revenue ratio was 111.1 per cent in 2011-12 as detailed in the 2011-12 Brisbane City Council budget and annual plan. This was higher than the state’s level of 102 per cent as outlined in the midyear review. Thanks to the debt locked in by the current Queensland Treasurer and Premier during their time at Brisbane City Council, next financial year—2013-14—the debt ratio for the Brisbane City Council is expected to peak at 157.9 per cent, much higher than Queensland’s peak debt ratio at the midyear review of 123 per cent. It was hypocritical for the minister not to show a greater level of concern for the debt levels of the Brisbane City Council and concerning that he could not explain why he did not understand the relative debt levels of the largest council and the Queensland government. However, the minister should be aware that there are some saving graces, because with the bricks there are some bouquets as well. The minister quite ably captained the touch football team on Monday between Country over City with a resounding win of six to three. It is worth putting on the record. Unfortunately, the Minister for Transport was unable to come up with the goods but in this
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