JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
CALLIOPE
THURSDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2021
SUBJECTS: Drynan Drive Upgrade; federal election and the Flynn electorate; climate change and the regions; Christian Porter.
MATT BURNETT, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR FLYNN: Look, it's fantastic to welcome Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers to Gladstone, to Calliope, this morning right here at Drynan Drive for this fantastic announcement, also joined by the Member for Gladstone, Glen Butcher, and representing Gladstone Regional Council Kahn Goodluck, Deputy Mayor.
Today, with Jim, I can announce that an Anthony Albanese Labor government will deliver $4.8 million to upgrade this intersection here at Drynan Drive and the Dawson Highway. So thank you, Jim, thank you for making that announcement here with us this morning. And of course, thank you to Glenn and Kahn for being with us as well. We know this intersection needs upgrade. It's going to be a partnership with the Palaszczuk Labor government in delivering an upgrade to this important intersection in Calliope on the Dawson Highway. We know that the Labor Government built the Calliope High School when the LNP was putting the land up for sale. It wasn't until Glen Butcher was elected as the Member for Gladstone that they took the land off the market and then built a high school for Calliope. We know that in partnership with Gladstone Regional Council and the State Labor Government, we've upgraded the Dawson Highway through to Banana and Biloela. We know that the State Labor Government in partnership with an Anthony Albanese Labor government will continue to provide upgrades to the Dawson Highway, not just here in the Gladstone region, but right through to the Banana Shire into Central Highlands. So thank you, Glen. Thank you, Jim. And thank you, Khan for being here this morning.
This is a fantastic announcement Calliope. And I know the locals in Calliope will welcome this announcement because it is the number one announcement for Calliope. It's our first funding announcement. And I'm very rapt to be here with everyone. $4.8 million will go a long way to completing this intersection. So I'll head over to Glen.
GLENN BUTCHER, STATE MEMBER FOR GLADSTONE: Thanks, Matt. And I also welcome Jim Chalmers, the Shadow Treasurer here, which hopefully in the short term will become the Treasurer of Australia. It's great to be here with Matt Burnett, a good mate of mine, who's now the candidate for Flynn, with Calliope where we are today, right in the heart of the community of Flynn. Kahn is also a good mate of mine as well, Deputy Mayor of Gladstone, who I know also is passionate about the regions and the support that's needed. That support comes in the $4.8 million announcement today, the first announcement from Matt Burnett, the candidate for Flynn, and the Shadow Treasurer today to help the State Government do the work that everyone knows needs to be done to this intersection of Drynan Drive. And that's to make it light up for those people, crossings for the kids to go across and more traffic control systems for those people that know this road in the morning is critical for them not only for their safety but for the commute throughout the morning. This has been the number one priority in the region for this community for a long time. We know the track record of the LNP in Calliope. One, they had the Calliope State High School up for sale, it was on auction and it was ready to go. Two, they have a candidate who put his hand up for the last state election to run a full term to support the communities like Calliope like Biloela, and has now walked away from those communities by putting his hand up and wanting to get out and get to Canberra. That's not good enough, this community deserves better. And that's why Matt Burnett today, with this $4.8 million announcement to get the light to Drynan Drive, is so critical for this community. And Matt knows this community, he knows all of these regional communities. And that's why he's put his hand up to support projects just like this for these small communities in the seat of Flynn.
KAHN GOODLUCK, DEPUTY MAYOR: It's great to be here with Matt Burnett in his capacity as the candidate for Flynn and also welcome the Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers and the Member for Gladstone, Glen Butcher. This is a project that's been critically important for the Gladstone Regional Council. We've been working on this project for a number of years working with Transport and Main Roads. And every single day we've got hundreds of kids that try and navigate their way across this road. It's a high flow traffic area. We've got trucks, we've got lots of cars, we've got members of our community that have to get across this road every single day. And it's going to be a fantastic safety upgrade for our community. And we know that $4.8 million will go a long way to ensure that this happens.
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Thanks very much guys, absolutely pumped to be here in Calliope today to make this announcement that an Albanese Labor government, with Matt Burnett as the Member for Flynn will contribute $4.8 million, working with Butch and the State Government, to build this $6 million upgrade to the intersection of Drynan Drive and the Dawson Highway. If the people of Calliope and Central Queensland want this intersection upgraded, they need to vote for Matt Burnett, as the Member for Flynn, as a really important and prominent part of an Albanese Labor Government at the next election.
This is one of the worst intersections in the region and it comes courtesy of one of the worst federal governments for Central Queensland in living memory. It’s a symbol of all of the neglect and all of the ways that the LNP takes Central Queensland for granted. If Scott Morrison gave a stuff about the people of Calliope, and the people of Central Queensland, then this intersection would already be funded. The State Government has kicked in, and we thank Butch for that. It's been designed, it's been costed. All that's been needed is a federal government to care enough about the people of Calliope, to care enough about the people of Central Queensland, to actually do something about it. That's what an Anthony Albanese Labor Government will be with Matt Burnett as a really central, really prominent, really persistent voice for the people of this community.
What this shows is what's possible when the local government, and I acknowledge Kahn here today, the local government, the state government, and the federal government should be working together for the benefit of the people of Central Queensland and regional Queensland more broadly. This is what happens when you work together, rather than pick needless fights with the Palaszczuk Labor Government, which is what Scott Morrison’s form has been. Now we have an opportunity here in regional Queensland, in Central Queensland and here in Calliope to properly invest in the people of this part of Australia to make sure that as the national economy recovers, then Central Queensland is a much bigger part of the story.
Today's announcement is all about local jobs, and better and safer roads for local people. That's what it's all about. But it's also about a Federal Labor Government, which would be on the side of the people of Central Queensland, and particularly here in Calliope. And so I'm really pleased to be here with you. I want to thank Matt for advocating so loudly and so persistently and so prominently for this project. I acknowledge Matt's advocacy. Also Anthony Albanese and Catherine King, our infrastructure spokesperson, for being so supportive of this project and understanding how important it is that we get these local jobs and these better and safer roads for the people of Calliope and the region more broadly.
Now, there's a broader story to be told here about the opportunities to work with regional communities. And just as it's true of local road upgrades like this one, it's also true of getting the jobs and opportunities and investment we need, which comes from cleaner and cheaper energy as well.
Now, the Palaszczuk Labor government, working with Twiggy Forrest, has shown the way. We can have those new jobs and opportunities and that new investment, in areas like hydrogen. If we actually do the right thing by local people and invest and make sure that the regions are the biggest winners when it comes to getting to net zero by 2050 and not the victims. The Business Council of Australia has made it abundantly clear that if we get that cleaner and cheaper energy, we get those jobs and opportunities and investment, then regional communities actually stand to be the biggest beneficiaries of getting to net zero by 2050.
Scott Morrison always puts the National Party before the national interest, we’re seeing that again now. We don't have to choose between Glasgow and Gladstone. We can do the right thing by regional communities and get those jobs and opportunities and investment if we do the right thing and get to net zero by 2050. The Palaszczuk Labor Government has shown the way here and what we need is a Federal Labor Government which will do likewise.
If only Scott Morrison spent as much time securing the jobs of the people of Central Queensland, as he spends securing the job of Christian Porter, then this region and this national economy would be better off.
ENDS
