Well, they’re not fair dinkum. There is enormous opportunities for regional Australia to benefit from a shift in the economy. Just today, Annastacia Palaszczuk’s in Maryborough, in Queensland there, announcing an expansion of rail manufacturing, a significant expansion of jobs there at Downer EDI at the centre of Maryborough’s economy. And that’s an example of whereby the former LNP government under Campbell Newman made trains overseas, not in Australia. And that costs Australian jobs.
The significant opportunities that are there to expand in jobs. We had an extraordinary decision by Keith Pitt, as the minister, to reject the Kaban wind farm proposal there on the Atherton Tablelands. And in the end, in spite of the fact that it was recommended by the board of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, he rejected it. It’s 250 regional jobs and the Queensland government had to step in to support that project, because it was vetoed, a loan of $280 million for the wind farm.
The National party also are never on the side of workers when it comes to issues like same job, same pay for miners. They’ve been in court backing in the company, the federal government, which undermines that permanent, secure work that people need to live in these regional communities. And I just think that there’s a big wake-up call coming for the National party with their rejection of any change in terms of policy dynamic, but in reality, what they’re doing is rejecting jobs and allowing change to be shaped by big corporations, not in the interests of people. We need an economy that works for people, not the other way around.
