ADDRESS TO LIBERAL NATIONAL PARTY QUEENSLAND – STATE COUNCIL Gold Coast, 23 November 2019

E & O E

Thank you very much, Karen Andrews. I deeply appreciate that introduction.

We’re on top in the cricket and that’s where we want to be as Liberal National Party members. I do acknowledge the role David (Hutchinson) has played in leading this great Party; and I of course acknowledge Gary Spence too for the efforts he went to. I see sitting beside him Larry Anthony, my great mate and the National Party Federal President.

Thank you again Karen for that very kind introduction. Karen did mention the fact that I sat with her for quite some time in the Federal Parliament, but not as long as I sat beside George Christensen. Now when I sat beside George Christensen the two of us were quite incorrigible. There were a number of times when we were both asked to leave the said Federal Parliament. That never happened when I was sitting next to Karen Andrews. So you can work out the difference. But let me tell you, both are great colleagues; both are great advocates, just like each and every LNP Member of the Federal Parliament, like each and every LNP Senator.

Don’t we have some great Members here in the Queensland State Parliament! But we need more. Haven’t we got some great candidates. I know we haven’t quite filled all the positions yet, but when we do, when we have all those positions filled – each and every Federal Minister, Member and Senator will get right behind those incumbents, those candidates and Deb Frecklington to make sure we win the October 31 2020 election. It’s not just for the people who vote for us but for all of Queensland.

We have to win it; we will win it; we must win it. It is absolutely there for our taking. We have to be disciplined. We must make sure that we stay the course, and we have to get right behind Deb and the team and get them home (applause).

Karen is right about the federal election: We were always up against it. Bill Shorten thought he was a shoe-in – such that there are very well-founded rumours that they’d even packed up the house ready to move into The Lodge. But I never lost faith. I know Scott Morrison never lost faith. And I know there were many many people in this room who always believed, who always knew that we had the right policies. They believed in the people that we had running. They believed in their ability to bring us home.

I thank each and every one of you – those people who stood on those polling booths for that very long time when we had the pre-poll that went for seemingly three months! It is a tough time. We had the right policies; we had the right vision; we had the right Budget plan delivered by Josh Frydenberg on April 2…and Queensland helped bring that home.

As you have just heard from Karen - without that effort, without those people on the ground, and that’s each and every one of you fantastic members, we could not have done that on May 18, and we wouldn’t be in Government now. Can you imagine – I know it’s said when you change the Government you change the nation; if we had changed the nation on May 18, it would not be the great nation it is today because already the plans and policies of Labor would be rolling out, put in place, and the biggest loser out of that would no doubt have been Queensland. Mark my words.

We recognise the role that each and every one of you played in that decisive victory. I had never lost the faith, nor Scott, in being able to deliver that. I do thank Queensland for helping that victory. It was a great victory. So many people have stopped me in the street and said what a great relief it was on May 18; they might not normally have watched the election but they sat up and watched that night, and they celebrated whether it was in Brisbane or right throughout regional Queensland because they knew that Party which had demonised the resources industry, that Party which did not have a plan for our farmers, nor a policy for nor faith in regional Queensland or for South-East Queensland or for Brisbane – that Party was told to pack its bags. It can wait hopefully for another 10 years before it can even get close again.

The people backed us in, and we’re now delivering, and certainly this week. While I appreciate it was difficult to stand beside some of those people who we don’t necessarily always get on with, it was important to bring forward infrastructure for Queensland. It was important to make sure Queensland benefited from the infrastructure roll-out that we have: $100 billion, a record amount of money. Queensland should also be benefiting from that investment in your future in road, in rail, in making sure we have the right regional airport policies.

I was with Caroline Wilkie, outgoing CEO of the Australian Airports Association, on the Gold Coast just this week. She said her proudest moment – she said ‘I shed a tear’ – was when the $100 million for regional airports was announced. She said she knew that in nine years in this position, of having a say in regional aviation and airports generally, that this was the crowning achievement because the Federal Liberal Nationals Government had backed us and backed regional aviation. When regional aviation is strong, so too is the sector.

It’s the same with regional Queensland. When regional Queensland is strong, so too is the State, When Queensland is strong, so too is our country.

We are backing regional Queensland. We are backing this State. We will continue to do so, and we will continue to back Deb Frecklington and her team (applause).

With the return of the Government, of course, there were the tax cuts – not just the individual tax cuts that were so well deserved but also making sure our policies are backing small business. We know small business always takes the risk; we know that if small business get a break they invest this back into their own company, into their most important resource and that is their people. That’s why the tax rate is the lowest it has been since 1940, and it’s going even further down from 27.5% now to 25% by 2021-22.

The $30,000 instant asset write-off has been welcomed by business all over Queensland and all over the country. Business knows that when it gets a bit of a tax break it can invest back into its own business – that’s what business people do. And those hard-working people who back themselves and invest in their own people, invest in their futures – they need the support of the Federal Government and we’re giving them that support.

The only businesses Labor knows are those where they run a picket line out the front. We want to make sure businesses have confidence in themselves and confidence from Canberra to support their endeavours to back themselves in.

That’s why we also backed our resources sector. For far too long it has been demonised by those who would want to see it closed. When you look at, just for argument’s sake, the coal mining industry – backing itself with the 54,000 jobs it creates and that’s just direct jobs; $62 billion of exports and two thirds of our energy supplies – why wouldn’t we want to back an industry like that?

I’m surprised this conference isn’t bestowing life membership on Bob Brown and his convoy applause) – maybe something like an urgency motion to have that happen? But if he wants to come again, prior to the State election, we should welcome him. We are not going to be told, in regional Queensland or Queensland generally or anywhere else in the country – what we should and what we shouldn’t be doing as far as backing our resources sector is concerned.

We want to back it all the way – those people provide so many jobs, so much hope, so much of our energy needs and so many of our export opportunities that we should continue to exult them, to celebrate them and to back them all the way.

Our Government wants to create jobs, jobs and more jobs. And we’re doing that. We’ve already helped create more than 1.4 million jobs. We heard from Karen Andrews that certainly in the technology sector there are so many opportunities which perhaps even 10 years ago were not even thought of, that are being created now. We’re investing in those sorts of opportunities, in those new fields of endeavour, whilst never forgetting the traditional aspects of creating job opportunities.

We’re getting in behind them. We will continue to do so and Queensland will continue to lead the way.

It’s unfortunate to hear of anything closing in the regions, and it was with great disappointment that I heard Unilever wants to pull nearly 100 jobs from Toowoomba, barely two years into into a deal with the Weis family. Now I don’t eat the individual mango Weis bars by the bar, I eat them by the box, and I’m really really saddened to hear that is happening. The fact is we want to get behind regional Queensland. Certainly we have the policies to do just that.

This year’s federal Budget broke new ground in making sure we had an unprecedented $100 billion of investment in infrastructure – in road, in rail – and I certainly want to make sure we build the dams this country needs. If drought has taught us one thing, it is that we need to get on with the job of building dams, building water storage infrastructure (applause).

It has been maligned for way too long and it is amazing to think 16 of the last 20 dams built in this country since 2003 have been built in Tasmania. That was the island, that was the State of the great Franklin protests. They are getting on with the job because they see the value in building dams.

I was at Scottsdale in north-east Tasmania not that long ago where we started building that project. It’s only an 11,000 megalitre storage, so it’s not that large;  it’s not even opened or commissioned yet; but already it has more than 5,900 megalitres in it. The local people backed themselves to the tune of $12 million.

So when you have people in Stanthorpe wanting to back Emu Swamp Dam in to the tune of $24.3 million, and you have a Federal Government willing to back it to the tune of $42 million with $5 million for enabling roads, I can’t see why it took so long to get the Palaszczuk Government kicking, dragging and screaming to the table – but at least they did, and we will make sure that particular storage facility is built with shovels are in the ground next year.

We want to get on with the job of building all the other water storage facilities that are so needed in this very dry State. It is very dry at the moment. I appreciate Deb Frecklington and David Littleproud are out at the moment looking at fires, looking at what they can do in that regard, and praising our hard-working firefighters. The fact is there are thousands of people as we speak out monitoring, putting fires out. Queensland is very much in the state of alert. We do acknowledge those volunteer and those full-time firefighters for what they have done and that we have been able to reduce the loss of property - any loss of property is sad and unfortunate - but at least it hasn’t been on a widespread scale we’ve seen elsewhere in this country. That is in no small part due to the very professional effort of the firefighters, the volunteers that we have in this State, and that they have been assisted by people from elsewhere, even New Zealand. In the worst of times we see the best of Australians and the best of Queenslanders. We think of those efforts and we praise our firefighters for what they are doing and we draw lessons from what is being done.

Certainly when Deb Frecklington and her team are in Government after October next year, I think we need to put in place policies which will ensure there is minimisation of fuel load build-up, more fire breaks, more fire trails. I know we have the sensible people in this room to ensure we have the right policies, and that’s why I love these State Councils – as we saw in that debate about Airbnb just a few moments ago, you are not frightened to get on your feet and speak your mind.

I think that’s the difference between Liberals and Nationals against any other Party that claims to have all the right ideas: Everybody is welcome to come to the microphone to speak their mind but we come to a consensus, we come to an agreement and then we fight hard to lock it in and make sure it becomes policy. I think that’s the great thing about these conventions, these conferences and these State Councils: the fact that people are welcome to express their ideas, they are not bullied, they are not muscled up by CFMMEU officials, they don’t have to toe the union line – and when you do speak your mind and when you do reach an agreement on something, we then get in behind it and we fight hard to achieve it. I know that’s the difference between Liberals and Nationals and any other political Party or operation that seems to think they have the right ideas.

When we do go to the election next year, I know it is going to make such a difference having a Queensland LNP Government here and LNP Government running the nation. It is going to make it so much easier for our representatives, for our Governments, to work together side by side, shoulder to shoulder, to bring about a better Queensland.

That’s the aim. That’s what we need to achieve. I ask you, I implore you to do everything in your power over not even 12 months now before that vital ballot day. Yes we will perhaps have our differences sometimes between Canberra and Queensland but let’s put those aside, let’s make sure we get behind Deb and the team and the fantastic new candidates we are going to see come forward. Let’s make sure we post a winner in every sense of the word.

When it comes to building dams, I’ve praised Deb for her Bradfield 2.0 idea. I want to make sure whether it’s Rookwood and Ken O’Dowd and Michelle Landry, whether it’s Urannah and George Christensen, whether it’s making sure we fix up the mess that is Paradise Dam – we must get in behind building more water storage infrastructure. There is no greater challenge that we face today - there is no greater opportunity - than making sure we prepare for the drought that will inevitably follow this one. This is the first time we have actually had a Government in Canberra preparing for the droughts of the future by building water storage infrastructure, by putting in place the Future Drought Fund which will go up to $5 billion, which will have at least a $100 million drawdown each year to address a drought problem in any particular corner of this country.

It is a big country. This is a big State. At any one time there is always some part of Australia, part of dare I say this State, which is feeling the effects of a prolonged dry spell. I know how David Littleproud’s people in the Maranoa – John McVeigh as well - have been affected for so long by drought. They will get through it. They are a resilient bunch. There’s no question that they know when the chips are down, other Australians will come to help them, just like they did when we had that dreadful North Queensland flood and storm situation. I have to say the Prime Minister put his hand up, made sure there was money in their pockets within days not weeks, no questions asked. When we returned to Cloncurry, when we returned to Hughenden and caught up with Jane McNamara, I know the relief on those people’s faces – that we got through that situation because we had people in Canberra, a person at the top in Scott Morrison, representatives in and around, making sure we addressed the issue when it happened. That is the sort of leadership you need, you want and most of all you deserve.

I know road projects are important and that’s why I’m pleased that as part of bringing forward the infrastructure spending, the Bruce Highway is going to benefit from that as will the M1 Motorway. I was with Angie Bell at the Gold Coast light rail announcement - we are extending that line to Burleigh – I know what a difference that is going to make. When somebody came over the street and up to me, I put out the hand, she said ‘No no, I know who you are, I just want to talk to you about the announcement.’ I thought here we go, here’s another one going to have a bit of a crack. She said: ‘Finally, finally, finally we’ve some action on this which has been so long in the waiting.’ She said: ‘Thank you, so much.’ Thank you Angie Bell for getting in and advocating for that, and delivering it.

As I speak, in comes Scott Buchholz. What a legend he is! I’ll give you a bit of a rap, Scotty, because all of the road announcements we have done are predicated on making sure we have better road safety measures. When the Budget came down and we invested so much more – in the order of spending more on infrastructure in the order of $23 billion to $25 billion – all of the money that is going into roads, that component going into roads, had a road safety aspect to it.

We know regional people are far over-represented in the road toll statistics. We now have a Minister with Road Safety in his title, around the Ministerial table, and everything we do when it comes to building better roads has that road safety component in it because we need to drive down the road toll. Of course it should be zero; that’s the ultimate aim; and we need to make sure that when we build a road we build it to the right specifications. We have a great advocate in Scott Buchholz, making sure every aspect of that is addressed.

Ladies and gentlemen, I just want to again say thank you: Thank you to those candidates who put their hand up and didn’t quite get there on May 18; thank you to those candidates who will again put their hand up and will run for a State seat in the October election next year. Thank you to the incumbents who will support them all the way. Thank you to each and every one of you, those grassroots members of our wonderful Party. Certainly we could not do what we do in Parliament without your efforts. We say thank you.

I implore you again for your support, no matter at what level it is – whether it is handing out, whether it is just getting in behind a candidate, whether it is getting to a microphone and putting some policies forward to State Council – whatever it might be, you are making a difference for and on behalf of the Liberal and Nationals Parties. We know that here in this State you are one big happy family. We know that in this State you are going to get right behind Deb and her fantastic team – those candidates, those incumbents, that belief, those policies which will bring this election home next year. We need it in Canberra; we need a Government we can work with; we need a Government that knows how to manage the books. LNP Governments always know how to make ends meet. They have a vision for the future; they have a plan, a blueprint for success.

We have a great administrative team behind you, led by Dave, Cynthia and Cameron. We have the right people. We have the right policies. We just have to work hard. We have to have imagination. We have to have a belief. We have the dream. Let’s make it a reality.