TRANSCRIPT: Press Conference – Mackay, Queesnland, 4 June 2019
E&OE
Subjects: Proposed regional deal for Mackay, Isaac, and the Greater Whitsundays.
GEORGE CHRISTENSEN:
George Christensen, Federal Member for Dawson.
Well it's great to be here this morning with Deputy Mayor Amanda Camm, GW3 or Greater Whitsunday Alliance chair John Glanville, and the Deputy Prime Minister – and at the moment
Acting Prime Minister - Michael McCormack. It's great, two weeks after the election to have the Deputy PM as Acting PM back here in the Mackay region. He's come to talk to local community leaders about a proposal that I've been touting for a little while now, and that is doing a regional deal for the greater Mackay region including the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Councils. So last night we had a very constructive meeting with both the Mayor of the Whitsundays, the Deputy Mayor of Mackay Regional Council, the Greater Whitsunday Alliance.
And in the last week- the last two weeks in fact, I've been moving about the community talking with various councils, various industry groups, Chambers of Commerce, farm groups about what could be part of a Mackay Regional Deal or a Whitsundays Regional Deal, depending on who you talk to. But this would encompass as I’ve said the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Council areas. I think what we will be looking at as part of a deal is how we strengthen existing industries, such as our resource industry, such as our agricultural sector, particularly our sugar industry, and how we can create new industries, how we can envigor I guess fledgling industries. And one of the key things for the Mackay region is obviously the Mackay waterfront priority development area, and that would be a focus of the regional deal but basically the sky's the limit here.
This is early days. And what I've asked for in the last couple weeks- and yesterday I wrote to a whole heap of local organisations. What I'm asking them for is for feedback on what they think a regional deal should look like for our region. What particular projects they think might be in on it, and what particular focuses might be part of that regional deal. From here we're going to get together a working group. It's going to be made up of obviously the councils and other local industry key figures, and that is going to develop the pathway forward. We've got the Deputy Prime Minister here to talk to some of the mayors about this at the start and also to talk to John from the Greater Whitsunday Alliance so that we know that we're on the right path. And we're informing the Deputy Prime Minister who oversees regional deals throughout the whole journey. So I'll hand over to Amanda Camm to talk a little bit more about the Mackay Regional Council's input into this.
AMANDA CAMM:
Thank you George. Acting Mayor this week, which doesn't happen very often so I'll just let you know I'm here actually on behalf of the Mayor and in particular representation as part of the Greater Whitsunday Council of Mayors as well. So through the discussion we had yesterday, which was really, really positive – and we thank both George Christensen and Michael McCormack for coming here, our Acting Prime Minister it's wonderful to see him here so soon after the election. But what this regional deal potentially can bring to the Greater Whitsunday region, which is the councils of Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday, is opportunity for diversification in some of our major industries that we see here and also facilitating innovation which is going to bring new jobs.
We do know that there are significant changes coming across the mining sector with the introduction of automation, and that's a real opportunity for our region. So as well as spanning across tourism, agriculture, and other sectors we see a regional deal as a catalyst for creating new jobs – new jobs for the future – attracting more people to our region and retaining young people in our region. So, the decision as- of how we will progress the regional deal is still to be finalised, but it will be top of agenda at the next Greater Whitsunday Council of Mayors meeting and we see that body as the leadership body that will help and also facilitate these discussions, in partnership with GW3 and their facilitation of all the industry groups and sector groups out there. But it's very exciting for our region and we're keen to work with the Federal Government and other tiers of government to make sure that as a region we're getting our fair share and significant investment.
JOHN GLANVILLE:
Thanks Amanda. Look, GW3 sees this as a very exciting opportunity. Obviously it's very early days. What I do like is the fact that we've got a cohesive group here with the Greater Whitsunday Council of Mayors prepared to work together with us and we want all three levels of government. We're delighted that the Deputy Prime Minister has come to talk to us but we need to be cognizant of the fact that there's going to be a lot of other areas in Australia that are going to be putting their hands up for regional deals. What we have to do is make sure that what we put forward is just a stand out that's going to give us diversity, that it's going to give us an opportunity for growth, and I think that GW3’s role in that along with other industry bodies is going to be important in making sure that what we put forward is undeniably one that gets a tick of approval. And I look forward to being part of that process, and I'd like to hand over to the Deputy Prime Minister.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well thank you, John Glanville, thank you Amanda Camm, thank you George Christensen. And what this shows today is that George Christensen isn't stopping after the election. He says continuing on his great work, his great advocacy and not just for Mackay, but indeed for the entire Dawson electorate. And whether it's Urana Dam, whether it's the Foreshore Development, whether it's the community hub, whether it's the Mackay Ring Road, George Christensen is getting on with the job of what he was elected to do. The job that he's been doing since 2010, making sure that jobs, that investment, that young people, that all people within the Dawson electorate are catered for. This regional deal idea that George Christensen is now lobbying for is going to be so important for this area.
We've got three pilot regional deals at the moment throughout Australia. We've got the Barkly Regional Deal, Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory where there are struggles for that community. There's an economic downturn and Tennant Creek is needing of a regional deal to get it up and about. We've got a regional deal at Bundaberg-Hervey Bay called the Hinkler Regional Deal, which is addressing particularly high youth unemployment, and we're hoping that that particular investment and encouragement by the Federal Government makes sure that the youth unemployment – at the moment above 20 per cent – is pushed very much down with this pressure- downward pressure on youth unemployment. And of course we've got the other regional deal on the New South Wales-Victorian border at Albury Wodonga, where the economy is going very, very well, and we want to see by that investment how we can make it even better.
So three regional deals, all with different economic circumstances, but they’re the pilot regional deals and we're now looking at what else we can do based on the success of those three regional deals, which aren't long in the genesis – they've only been going for a few short months – but we've invested many millions of dollars into each and of every one of those three communities and we'll be monitoring them very closely. But George Christensen, during the election campaign, if not a little bit before, began fighting for a regional deal for the Mackay-Whitsundays. And with the help of local councils, local Chambers of Commerce, local business people, farmers, everybody, he wants to make this happen. He wants to see a regional deal for this area, which will create enthusiasm, opportunity, optimism, investment, and mainly jobs.
This is what it's about. Whether we build water storage infrastructure, whether we put money into CBD precincts, community hubs, those sorts of things, that's one thing. But when we can build on that and bring it all together, with all three tiers of government working cooperatively and collaboratively for a greater outcome, then we can really have something special here in the Mackay-Whitsundays. So I'll be working very closely with George in coming months to see what we can do as a Federal Government, as the Liberal-Nationals Government, to make sure that we drive investment, that we drive job opportunities, and that we drive certainly this opportunity for a Greater Whitsundays-Mackay Regional Deal.
QUESTION:
I mean, it sounds great on paper. What does it actually mean?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, what it means is three tiers of government – local, state, and federal – come together. We announce some projects for development. So, you know, projects like the Foreshore Development, how are we going to progress that? How are we going to progress that through the three tiers of government? The Urana Dam, what does that actually mean building that particular water storage infrastructure for the wider region? And then you get the community hub, now that was a more than $6 million investment. So we take that particular project, and we see how we can enhance it even further. But then we handpick other particular projects that might have been talked about for many years – in some cases, decades – and we see if we can invest in those particular projects with the help of local, state, and federal authorities to see if we can actually invest in those and build those up from the ground up, to make sure that they actually happen. Not just get talked about, but actually happen.
So that's what George does. You can count on George Christensen. He sees something, he sees an opportunity and he invests his time and energy into making it actually happen. And that's why the Mackay region returned him, that's why Dawson returned him with a thumping increased majority, because they know that when George goes to Canberra, he just doesn't sit there with his feet under the desk, he actually works hard for the people he represents. He works hard to build jobs and opportunities for the people of Mackay, for the Greater Whitsundays, and for all of Dawson. That's the sort of bloke I know. I've come to know and trust him. I've come to know that when George Christensen puts his mind to it, he delivers. And so whether they’re job infrastructure projects, whether they're getting more services, whether they're getting, perhaps, decentralisation happening at an even greater rate here in this great area of regional Queensland, well that's what George Christensen is going to be fighting hard for.
QUESTION:
So how much money is the Federal Government willing to put on the table to make this happen?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well in other regional deals, we've put tens of millions of dollars on the table to get it up and running, to look at particular projects. Sometimes half a dozen in each particular area, and we've really invested heavily and made sure that it actually happened. But we need the help of state government, we need the help of local authorities. Really delighted that John Glanville from GW3 is here today. He's also somebody who wants to see this up and running. And Amanda Camm is also, you know, she's always making sure that if it means jobs, it means futures, if it means an investment then her and her council are going to be pushing hard for it.
QUESTION:
So would it be like an equal three-part deal? Would you all put in the same amount of money?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well that remains to be seen, and the Federal Government is always willing to invest in areas that are willing to invest in themselves. And, you know, when you've got somebody fighting- a member like George Christensen, then it's possible to make things happen. You know, I'm really delighted that up here, in this particular area, I've got three great members working hard. And I mentioned Ken O'Dowd, I mentioned Michelle Landry. You know, they’re people who really know how to fight for future and investment, and they'll be certainly working hard to ensure that the people who put their faith in them to- and made sure that when they were returned to Canberra, they're always going to be fighting hard. And George will do just that.
QUESTION:
And yeah, can we just get George … Just on the regional deal, working with the state government, Julieanne, Member for Mackay, ran pretty hard against you in the Federal Election. Are you confident you’ll be able to work with her?
GEORGE CHRISTENSEN:
Oh yeah look, we’ll be able to work with the state government and put politics aside. I think that the reality is that the Federal Liberal-National Government has worked with state Labor governments, with state Liberal-National governments to deliver these regional deals in other parts of Australia. I mean Townsville, Townsville got a city deal that was with the Liberal-Nationals at the helm federally and Labor at the state helm. So, you know, it can be done. There’s got to be willingness I guess from all parties to contribute and as we- this is very early days yet of course. I mean I’ve only actually gone and spoke to groups throughout the region and Councils in the last fortnight. I’ve only officially written to them yesterday inviting them to put their ideas forward and inviting some of them to consider becoming part of a working group. You know, so again very, very early days and I don’t want to dictate – this is not something driven by Canberra, it’s not something Michael McCormack’s imposing on us as the Regional Development Minister. This is something that has to be built from the ground up, you know, not from Canberra, not from George Street in Brisbane. Locals have got to decide what a regional deal’s going to look like.
And really, as I said, the focus is going to be how we can back in traditional industries, grow new ones and I guess expand fledgling ones. And that feedback on how we’re going to do that is going to come from locals – from regional mayors, regional councils, regional industries and the community. And when it comes then we’ll have something on paper with a lot of numbers behind it to bring to both Canberra and bring to both the state government. And that’s when we’ve got to come in as politicians, federal or state, pushing for what the community, what the region actually wants. And that’ll be an onus on me, it’ll be an onus on our state MPs here, whether it’s the Member for Mackay or Member for Whitsunday or Member for Mirani.
But what I can say in terms of that process, we’re probably looking at really the first quarter of next year before we have anything hard to present to government, a final document, because there’s going to have to be a lot of consultation, a lot of economic analysis that goes into it. Because we don’t want this to be just hodgepodge slapped together, we want to actually be in the best position to get funding and that means, you know, you have to do some serious number crunching behind the projects that you want to show that that investment by federal and state governments is actually going to have a serious sort of economic return for the region. But that all places well for both federal and state budgets, having this project sorted out by the first quarter of next year. It also places us very well for a state election, and I notice that with visits by the Premier and the Deputy Premier and today the Transport Minister at state level, obviously the seat of Mackay, the seat of Whitsunday and the seat of Mirani are of great interest to them and that's good. We would hope that some funding would be flowing for this project as well.
QUESTION:
You just mentioned Mark Bailey was in town …
GEORGE CHRISTENSEN:
Yeah.
QUESTION:
… apparently he’s committing $70 million to the second stage of Mackay Ring Road …
GEORGE CHRISTENSEN:
Excellent.
QUESTION:
… does that mean it’s fully funded now and that a great thing, obviously?
GEORGE CHRISTENSEN:
Well obviously the Liberal-National Government federally – in fact the Minister behind me, Michael McCormack – last year announced $280 million going towards the Mackay Ring Road Stage Two project which really we should start calling the Port Access Road because that's what it is, the Mackay Port Access Road. I've been calling for a contribution from the State Labor Government for a long, long time. I'm very glad that today – after obviously we've sealed the deal with- at the federal election – and now this is something that we will be delivering as a Liberal-National Government that the state Labor Government has come in to contribute their contribution, that means the project can now go ahead.
I hope that, along with announcing the contribution, that they have a time frame in mind. What we'd like to see is a seamless transition from the Stage One of the Mackay Ring Road into the Mackay Port Access Road. Obviously as well we've contributed funding for the Walkerston Bypass at a federal level. There was money committed some years ago by a few federal transport ministers ago – Darren Chester for the Walkerston Bypass and I note that Minister Bailey is also going to be talking about the timing of that. And I think that'll be very pleasing to Walkerston residents, so you’re getting those heavy trucks out of the main street of Walkerston. I know that Michelle Landry who’s the Member for Capricornia and represents Walkerston is very strong on that issue. But for the whole region it creates freight efficiency which improves the economy, improves production and creates more jobs. So that's great news for the whole region.
QUESTION:
Speaking of funding, I know you’re fully aware of the crisis point that we are at in the region with at-risk and high-risk accommodation in domestic violence, domestic and family violence. Have you had a chance to speak to the Acting Prime Minister about the funding that’s needed in the region?
GEORGE CHRISTENSEN:
Oh, look, I’ve been speaking with a lot of local groups about this issue, about a range of different social issues in the region. One of the issues of course is crisis of accommodation, particularly for domestic violence victims, but- you know, it’s crisis accommodation for a lot of different sectors. I’ve been speaking, not only with our women’s centre here, and the Domestic Violence Resource Centre about this problem, but many other local community groups as well. I know the Deputy Prime Minister is aware of these issues and to that end, you know, while we are going to be, I guess, principally looking at economic drivers as part of this regional deal. One of the groups I’ve invited to be part of the working group is actually the Regional Social Development Coalition headed by Councillor Karen May. And having them at the table obviously presents that community development, social development aspect to it, where issues like crisis accommodation, and any other social development for a region can be brought to the table as part of a regional deal. In fact, that could be one of the things that we look at. We’ve got to remember that while you can have all the economic drivers, if you don’t have an area which has community services that the community expects to be there, if you don’t have that liveability aspect, people aren’t going to want to move to a region. Now we have a great deal of liveability in the Mackay region, but it can be enhanced. It can probably be bettered in many of the rural areas like the Isaac Regional Council and the Whitsunday Regional Council. And that’s one thing that we will be working as part of this regional deal.
JOURNALIST:
The Mayor of the Isaac Council says that the Federal Government hasn’t made one single commitment to the Isaac Shire?
GEORGE CHRISTENSEN:
Well, I don’t represent the Isaac Shire but I know that that’s not the case. There is a lot of money going in there, particularly in Peak Down’s Highway upgrades, and a range of other projects throughout that region, and certainly Roads to Recovery with roads being the biggest issue for many of these rural councils is important. We’ve boosted funding for that over recent times. But sure, every regional area wants more investment, and again, that’s why I’ve already made contact with Mayor Anne Baker to actually invite her to be a part of this. She, I’m sure, will be part of it. And the Isaac Regional Council will be part of it. And, you know, their wants, their needs, will be put forward as part of this regional deal. This is going to be a true regional deal, not just something that’s Mackay city centric. We all know that, even though all of us here, the locals, live in Mackay city. We want to see our whole region grow. Isaac Regional Council is where the Bowen Basin is, Whitsunday Regional Council has some of the Bowen Basin, it’s got the port at Abbot Point, of course, great tourism sector. Mackay’s also got its ports- collectively, we can actually join together and show that this region punches well above its weight in terms of the return to the nation, and therefore is deserving of investment by Federal and State Governments into projects we identify as part of the regional deal.
JOURNALIST:
If interest rate is cut today, is that a sign the economy is weakening?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well what I would do is to banks to encourage them to pass on the interest rate cuts just as the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has said this morning, it’s incumbent upon banks to pass on the cut. I know these moves aren’t made with just perchance. They’re made with deliberate and considered and measured thoughts about where the economy is going. I know the Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe very well, I went to school with him, back at St Michael’s Regional High School at Wagga Wagga. So I know these moves are made with every thought of the economy. But what I would do is encourage banks to – as Josh Frydenberg, the Treasurer said this morning, just this morning – pass on the cuts to customers.
JOURNALIST:
Would The Nationals be putting up their hand to fill the Senate seats that will be vacated by Arthur Sinodinos?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, by convention it is a Liberal Party seat, Arthur Sinodinos occupies a Liberal Party seat in the Senate, and therefore that by convention would be a Liberal Party successor to replace Senator Sinodinos.
JOURNALIST:
Have you supported Barnaby Joyce and Eric Abetz’s push for the Human Rights Commission and Fair Work Ombudsman to investigate Israel Folau’s sacking?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, what I do support is laws into religious freedoms, and what I do support is the fact that the Federal Government is going to make sure that that’s one of the first orders of business when Parliament resumes- when Parliament actually begins, for the forty-sixth Parliament in July, and make sure that we get those religious freedoms in place.
JOURNALIST:
Is that a yes or no answer for that one?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, there’s never any yes or no questions of any particular question there- you know, the fact is what we want to make sure is that the Israel Folau case, and cases like that in the future, are considered as part of the legislation going forward. Of course, this happened before. Parliament can resume and return to Canberra. And I know that Israel Folau is considering his legal options going forward, so we’ll let that determine and that play out where it needs to. The fact is for these sorts of cases going forward, they’ll come under the religious freedoms laws, which hopefully will be passed after due consideration in the Parliament when it resumes next month.
JOURNALIST:
And what do those plans look like, in terms of legislation?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Oh look, I’m not able to start determining exactly what needs to happen or what doesn’t need to happen. But I know that Philip Ruddock has conducted an exhausted review, the Federal Government has carefully considered those. We’re putting forward the legislation at the moment, and drafting it through Christian Porter, the Attorney-General. And when Parliament resumes, we’ll be putting that legislation in its proper form through the proper processes, into the Parliament.
Thank you very much.