Transcript: Carins doorstop at Lakeland Dam with Senator the Hon Matt Canavan and Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch MP, 28 April 2019
E&OE:
Entsch:
Today really is a red letter day. What we're announcing today and I'll say thank you to the Deputy Prime Minister, McCormack and Matt Canavan, Frank Beverage as well he very, very exciting time today. Because today we're announcing the final stage for the construction of the Lakeland Dam. Business case has been put forward and it's been completed, which overwhelmingly shows that there is a great opportunity there to be able to create a huge, huge economic advantage in the Lakeland region and the next stage now, before construction, is that we need to put the money in there to do all the engineering specifications to get the final costs associated with this project and to make it shovel ready.
And that's what we're announcing today, that we're putting the $10 million in required to make this project shovel ready. We're also making a commitment now that as soon as that is finished and soon as we know exactly what the final costs are, the money for the dam will be built. The funding will be made available through a couple sources through the National Water Infrastructure Fund and also through the Northern Australia Fund.
And so this is not about subject to, this is about, we've already done that in the business case, this is about getting all of the final costings. Can't build a house until you got the planning done on it, until you got all the plans done and you got the final costings. This is in effect, the final plans and costings available and as soon as that's done, we've actually got the money in the bank to make this happen.
Now I'm going to defer if I could to Matt Canavan, Minister if you’d like to say a few things.
CANAVAN:
All right, thank you very much Warren, great to be here with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Frank our Candidate in Kennedy. It is as Warren said, a red letter day. It is a great day for Far North Queensland to announce the first dam to be built here since the 1950s. And it’s reflective of the approach that the coalition of the liberal national party's taking to the development of farming and agriculture in our nation. We have put dam building back on the agenda. We are building the Rookwood weir down in the Fitzroy river. We are building the Hells gate dam in the Burdekin system and now we are building the Lakelands damn here in Far North Queensland as well.
We've had a generation of saying no to dams in this country, a generation since the construction of the Burdekin Falls Dam in the last 1980 and we have turned that around in our two terms of government, and now dams are cool again, and dams being built again. What we need to do now of course thought is make sure the next federal election, that parties and hopefully the people, support that side of politics and wants to build dams.
We've got a very clear choice here, we've got a very clear choice that's been helpfully clarified for us all by Bob Brown coming up from Tasmania in the last couple of weeks, and showing us one choice, one path. That path is represented by a stop sign and all these guys campaign behind. They want to put a stop sign up to Queensland to stop dams and stop farming, to stop hunting, to stop driving; unless its them driving up to an anti-coal protest. They want to stop everything. They want to stop jobs in this state, but we represent a different path for Queensland. The Liberal National Party, we represent a green light for new dams, a green light for jobs, a green light to expand agriculture here in Far North Queensland. That's why it is so good to be here with Warren Entsch, who has campaigned tirelessly for the Lakelands project and for agriculture in Far North Queensland. His efforts have paid off. We have delivered. What we need now is to make sure that this election, people back parties, back those who are going to back them, and their jobs and their futures.
MCCORMACK:
We'll I'm here with three of my very best colleagues, Warren Entsch the Member for Leichhardt. Matthew Canavan, the Mister for Northern Australia and Resources. And Frank Beverage, the LNP candidate for Kennedy. Three people who believe in jobs. Three people who believe in dams. Three people who believe in progress. They want to see North Queensland be its best self. They want to see the first dam built since Tinaroo in 1958. Now construction of Tinaroo started in 1953, finished in 1958. It took 5 years. It took $12.6 billion. We've got $10 million on the table to make Lakeland Irrigation Dam shovel ready. We've got $10 million on the table now, to do the geo specs, to do the technical work, to do the engineering and to get it shovel ready because, we want to build it Warren. We want progress. We want jobs. We want to increase irrigated agriculture here to 8,000 additional hectares, let’s make it 16,000 additional hectares. The sky is the limit.
It has just started to rain here. It started to rain so we had to move undercover for this press conference. When it rains we need to harvest that rainfall, we need to store that rainfall. Now there's plenty of water up here. When you add water, you grow agriculture. When you grow agriculture you grow jobs, you grow exports, you grow a future, and that's what we want to do. Whether it's North Queensland or whether it's anywhere in Australia, we want to make sure that the $500 million that the Liberals and Nationals have contributed to the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund is utilized, is harnessed well and continues to grow even more jobs, even more irrigated areas and even more progress. That is what the liberals and Nationals stand for. We stand for dams and looking forward to getting on and turning the first sod hey Warren. Good on you.
BEVERIDGE:
Great, fantastic. Fantastic. Thank you for that wonderful opportunity and I'm surrounded by people who achieve things here. We're just coming out 8 years of consecutive growth in agricultural exports. 8 years, last year was nearly $50 billion. This is not just about building a dam. This is about leaving a legacy, not for us, not for our children but our grandchildren. You build the dam, it is like building a bank that just keeps paying on and on again. This is about a legacy project for us and generations to come.
ENTSCH:
Can I just say too that this is again not an election promise. This money is actually made. The money's in the bank. The money is already in the tin in relation to the commitment to finalize this project in relation to all the engineering work. The money's in the bank in relation to the actual cost of construction. I think it is very, very import for you to know and this is what managing the economy is all about. This is what you get me. Questions?
REPORTER:
While we are talking about dams, when are we going to see some of the federal commitment for the Nullinga dam?
ENTSCH:
Well we are still waiting on the business case. Unfortunately, I would give me no greater joy than to be able to announce the Nullinga. Unfortunately, when the first business case came out, the state government conveniently forgot or overlooked the fact that there was a significant consumer, or water user there in MSF sugar. And in the first business case they came out and said that there was no requirement for the water.
So we had to do it again. Now we're waiting on that to be done. Factoring in the MSF sugar contribution, that has to go to the state government and they will release it once they've got it they will release it to us. That will allow us then to progress it as has happened with the Lakeland project. The business case has come forward and was released a couple weeks ago. It showed a very, very strong economic benefit for this project and with that it allowed us to go to the next stage which is doing the engineering of the project. The sooner we can get that from Nullinga, the sooner we can progress it to the next stage.
MCCORMACK:
Can I just add to that question? Just before we went into caretaker mode. Well, before I've actually written to each and every one of the Water Ministers in the States and in the Territories and they replied to me on April 1 and gave me the list of projects that they wanted prioritised. I will work with any willing State Government or any Territory Government to build dams. To heighten, lengthen and strengthen weirs. To put down pipelines, because we want to grow agriculture. Agriculture in Australia is a $60 billion industry. We want to make it a $100 billion before the next decade. We want to make sure that we grow agriculture and you only do that by adding water.
Yes, we are in a long drought. But if you add water storage infrastructure, if you heighten, lengthen and strengthen weirs. Look at the $176.1 million dollars we've put down on the table for Rookwood, they've talked about it for decades the Liberals and Nationals are delivering it. But I'll work with any willing State partner, work with any willing Territory partner to build more dams. That's what it is all about, we're not frightened to say, we like dams, and we like to grow agriculture. That's what we're doing.
ENTSCH:
See the added complexity with Tinaroo, and this is where we need the co-operation of state government. State who owns the water. It's a State Government owned entity owns the water in Tinaroo. We're building Nullinga that's gonna fill it too. So there has to be that co-operation from the State Government to have made that happen. Whereas Lakeland is a totally separate independent side and so we can progress that one very quickly.
REPORTER:
Would you say that the State Government hasn't been co-operating thus far?
ENTSCH:
Well the State Government, has a no dam policy up here. They've had it for decades. This is the first dam as we've said earlier, that will be built in over 60 years. And there is a reason for that. The reason is not because we don't need the water for agriculture. The reason is that for many, many years the State Government has had a no dam policy and has blocked every opportunity to do it. And so this breaks that policy and I'm hoping, I'm hoping the State Government will see sense in this and come on board in other projects as well.
REPORTER:
Now that we have the money for Stage 4 Warren, how soon can we see stage 5 and how quickly can we see it starting?
ENTSCH:
As quickly I would say, as quickly as we can get the final report. That will be a good question to ask of the RDA who is involved in the work and they’ve attempted, and will tell us how long it is going to take for that work to be done. But I can assure you that the day it is released will be the day that we will be knocking on the Ministers door and tapping into those water infrastructure funds that is already available.
MCCORMACK:
That's actually in Warren’s terms knocking down the door of the Ministers office.
REPORTER:
Deputy PM, Labor’s promise 4 billion for cheaper and free Child Care for low income earners, surely that’s got to help people in regional Australia.
MCCORMACK:
Well the fact is Labor promise a lot of things. Labor promised this sort of policy, this type of arrangement last time. But can they afford, what they are they actually going to do pay for it, they going to jack up taxes on other Australians. We don't have that system, we don't have that policy of hurting one lot of Australians to benefit another. What we want to do is grow the economy, and then you can afford a thing such as child care, when you grow the economy you can afford better health and education, that's why we are pumping record amounts of money into services. To making a better life for our families, for our regional Australians. Labor, yeah, sure they can promise the world, how are they going to pay for it? They are going to pay for things by jacking up taxes, they're going to pay for it by running down the economy, that's the Labor way, that's the Bill Shorten way. And I’d be very, very weary if I were Australians today about any promises Bill Short makes. He makes them at the behest of the unions, that he makes them at the behest of Sally McManus, he makes them at the behest of the Greens, and lately obviously Bob Brown too.
REPORTER:
Tanya Plibersek said this has been the dirtiest campaign in 20 years, that she's observed, have you -
MCCORMACK:
Well Tanya Plibersek stood beside Van Badham the other day. Van Badham, who came out on Twitter, and called people, well I wouldn't use the word, I wouldn't use the word to my worst enemy. Let alone someone who was a Prime Minister of Australia. Let alone somebody who holds the office of a Minister, let along anybody, no self-respecting person should stand beside Van Badham. And then glorify what they do. This is a disgrace so Tanya Plibersek should take a long hard look at the company she keeps. So I wouldn't take lectures, I will not take lectures about Tanya Plibersek, and anything that she's says because of the company she keeps.
REPORTER:
Just a question for Senator Caravan. Could I just ask as a Queenslander, are you comfortable with preferencing Clive Palmer who could potentially get a senate seat on the back of the preferences, when he owes millions of dollars to Queensland workers?
CANAVAN:
Well the situation is of course, but we as well as every other party have to fill out a How to Vote card for people to fill in because that's the law, what we've had to do of course is make sure that those Parties that we do not agree with, and do not think are the best for the Australian People will go at the bottom of our card. And that's why of course in Queensland here we have, Fraser Anning party last. I certainly think that anyone standing on a Fascist or Communist position should be last, that’s why I put Fraser last. The Greens Party is incredibly damaging to Queensland, you can just look at it there up here this week in Claremont, where I was yesterday, lecturing.
They’re not good at listening these guys. The Greens have not come up here to listen to Queensland, they've come up here to lecture us about what we should do because they think what is happening in Tasmania in the last couple of decades in what we should do. I have no interest in making North Queensland a new version of North Tasmania. What I want to see Queensland do is get back to what we do best which is grow our farming sector, grow our mining sector, grow the country, provide wealth for the country and lots of jobs and opportunities for young Queenslanders here. And that's why we’re getting behind Parties that can do that. That’s why we’re putting parties that won’t do that last.
REPORTER:
Well why isn’t Clive palmer paying his workers?
CANAVAN:
Well that’s a matter for Clive Palmer. The Commonwealth Government is perusing those liabilities with great zeal for the court system which is what we have to do. We'll of course do that to our full extent but what we need to do in the next 20 days, is decide as a State that we want to progress our state that we want to progress jobs, we want to progress opportunity. Or do we want to jump into bed with the Greens political party who wants to shut everything down.
REPORTER:
Minister Canavan, still no NAIF funding for Cairns, what's going on?
CANAVAN:
We have the NAIF, sorry Warren Entsch had delivered enormous amounts of funding for this region. Enormous amounts of funding for the Northern development agenda, the one thing I am so excited about, and I know Warren has pushed and pulled and done everything he can to get this. Is the Peninsular development road, that's come out of Northern development road funding. We're going to get that done. Something that should have been done years ago, but thanks to Warren's pushing and fighting, we've finally got funding to get a proper road through to Weipa, that happening in the Northern development agenda. Under the NAIF there is its largest current investment decision, is a project a Kidston, just west of Cairns, which will be of enormous benefit to Cairns. Unfortunately the NAIF is made its investment decision, but that's contingent on having a power purchase agreement with the state government, with energy Queensland, and the state government has been dragging their heels on this.
One only fathom that unfortunately the Queensland Labor Government adopts a position that a win for the federal Government is a loss for them, when we should be adopting ‘win win” solutions for Queensland and we should be working together to make this project get ahead.
But the NAIF has done all they can to progress that project and it would be the largest project if the state government got on board. Now it turns the NAIF as a whole though too, they’ve lent nearly $1.3 billion, made investment decisions of $1.3 billion dollars in the last year. It was a bit slow to start with but it was an innovative way of creating finance and getting projects going. That's why about 15 months ago I made some changes, to a mandate of the NAIF. Since then, it has really got cracking including on the Kidston project. We just need the Labor Party to come on board.
REPORTER:
The NAIF needed a lot of changes though, do you concede that you mucked up the initial part of it?
CANAVAN:
Well what I said back then 15 months ago is that we had to change course to make sure this thing worked. Of course when you doing something that's completely new, so we hadn't set up a concessional lending finance for infrastructure facility anywhere in the country. Not just Northern Australia but anywhere in the Nation, so it was completely innovative and a pioneering initiative. So of course when you see some issues and some difficulties, challenges what does anyone, any good business do? They look at those issues and challenge make the appropriate changes and get different results, and that's exactly what has happened with the NAIF.
ENTSCH:
I think it’s fair to say with the NAIF too, in its development we didn’t factor in the fact that Queensland would be the only State and Territory Government that refused to put in any applications, we assumed that they would jump at the opportunity and grab everyone, rather than play a spoiler role, which they have right since the inception. The West Australian Government, Northern Territory Government, both on whom are Labor Governments, have embraced this and put applications in one after the other the state government, we are still waiting on the first one, and every time we get something, like the Kidston Project, they do every possible thing to stop it from happening, that is not in the best interest of Queenslanders by any stretch of the imagination. This is all about politics, it's about them building a case to try and empower their own political agendas at the expense of the Queenslanders and I think it's a disgrace and they need to be held accountable for it.
REPORTER:
Can I just ask you about some foot traffic from leaders during the campaign. Are you worried at all, about your seat?
MCCORMACK:
No I just happen to like Warren. We’re good mates aren’t we Warren (Laughter)
REPORTER:
I’ve got a question, my name is Brad Bogget, Im the CEO of Western Yallenge Aboriginal Corporation . We hold native title over the proposed damn sight, and you guys are talking about all of this money being thrown around in preliminary research, but nobody has knocked on my door. I was just wondering when that is going to happen?
ENTSCH:
My understanding is that there has been discussions, I’d have to defer to David Kempton over here
[UNKNOWN]:
We're in support of this but when are you going to come on knock on our doors.
ENTSCH:
My understanding from talking to the RDA they’ve already had discussions with [cross talk] I can't answer that question other than to say that there has been a discussion.
[UNKNOWN]:
We’re in your electorate, so you should know who we are.
ENTSCH:
Well there's somebody that claim leadership in this. Give us if you like a list of those in priority, but it’s not my role to do that consultation, that’s the role of the RDA, and they have been doing that.
CANAVAN:
If I could just add to this. There's no way that any funding form the Northern Development Agenda will go into any project that doesn't fully involve the development of Indigenous Australians, we've been firm on that from Day 1. Every NAIF project has significant Indigenous employment targets and indeed, I just signed off on one in Western Australia which has a 40% indigenous employment component that currently employs 60% Indigenous on that project and targeting 40% for long term. I can say that all the road projects have required indigenous traineeships and employment associated with them. And of course any construction of major water infrastructure would involve necessary, the compliance with Native title Laws and the appropriate consultation with traditional owners.
My understanding and I apologize if this hasn't happened, but my understanding from the process we have run, is that there has been consultation with traditional owners. Keep in mind that was a business case so it’s not the full design and final arrangements and approval processes, obviously those will come. I’m more than happy to sit down with any Indigenous group to discuss these things because together what I want to see happen is opportunity, employment, jobs, for our first Australian in particular is a key part of our Northern Development Agenda. Thanks for coming, and I'm happy to have a chat after this and get to the bottom of it.
REPORTER:
Warren, in [Inaudible]
ENTSCH:
I challenge her to come up and commit to the local Indigenous. I challenge her to do that, the money's in the bank. She can't use money as an excuse not to do it, we've already got it in the budget, and we’ve already got it in the water infrastructure fund. We've already got it in the Norther Australia Development fund. All she has to do is say yes I support this, and I will certainly welcome her.
Thank you very much.