House of Representatives
Tuesday 16 March 2021

I don't know where to start with that! There is something for everybody when the member for Mackellar speaks in this chamber! First of all, he said that JobKeeper is a form of welfare that is enslaving businesses. I just want to remind the member for Mackellar of the criticism of what his government has done: 'Ending JobKeeper is signing a death warrant for our industry.' Was that the member for Oxley saying that? Was that the member for Macquarie saying that? No, it was tourism operator Roderic Rees on the front page of our local paper The Courier Mail yesterday. How dare the member for Mackellar criticise and condemn industry and business leaders for speaking out against what his government is doing. The article goes on to say of Mr Rees:

With his workforce virtually halved, he had a blunt warning for others in the industry who were fearful of what might happen once JobKeeper winds up.

"There's a cliff face coming, make no mistake about it," …

"Get ready to start haemorrhaging money. All your subsidies and your safety nets are gone.

"I'm going to watch a lot of my friends' businesses go broke.

The member for Mackellar is big on lectures and big on responsibility, but he's actually not delivering for people by not creating jobs and not supporting industry in our country. We on this side are supporting industry and are supporting small businesses.

I thank the member for Macquarie for putting this MPI on the JobKeeper payment on the agenda today. What was your MPI going to be about today—not respecting women? What was your MPI going to be about today—cutting support for industry?

The minister at the table, Minister Pitt, in his contribution once again slagged off the state government for keeping Queensland safe. No wonder there was an 11.1 per cent swing in the state seat of Hervey Bay in his own electorate—the LNP completely wiped off the face of the earth. No wonder there was an 8.8 per cent primary swing in the state seat of Bundaberg—wiped off the face of the earth in his own electorate. Keep telling the voters in your own electorate that you wanted borders open—keep telling the voters in your own community that you didn't want to keep them safe. You know who told them that she wanted to keep them safe? Our Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk. You may have been rubbishing her, but the people of Queensland don't agree with you. No wonder the LNP were thrown out of office at the last election. They had no hope. Their vote went backwards, and the member for Hinkler is still carrying on, saying that he wants the borders open. He's still carrying on about the dozens of times the economy would have been smashed if the member for Hinkler had had anything to do with Queensland state politics. The economy would have been destroyed if you'd opened the borders, as those opposite wished, during the last election, and he is saying 'rubbish'. We will be reminding the voters in Hinkler at the next election that it was he who wanted the borders open. He wanted his community to be kept at risk. Well, I'm glad that we have a strong premier. Didn't you get the message from Western Australia? Didn't you hear the message on the weekend? Start opening your ears—

Mr Pitt interjecting—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Llew O'Brien ): The minister will cease interjecting.

Mr DICK: and listening to what the community wants. I'm glad that we're here today talking about these critical issues.

There are 172,000 Queenslanders crying out for help. In my own electorate, 5,000 workers are expected to be thrown on the scrap heap, with JobKeeper ending at the end of the month. That means $2.4 million a week in support will be ripped away from our local economy. The member for Mackellar might call it welfare; I call it money going to the mums and dads of the small businesses in my community.

I've met with many workers and businesses who have done everything right, and they've suffered because of a health crisis that's out of their control. They're only going to suffer more because those opposite are shrugging their shoulders, refusing to do their jobs and create meaningful policy. What have we got as an alternative for the people of Queensland? Half-price airfares. The member for Hinkler is here. Why wasn't Hervey Bay listed? Why wasn't Bundaberg listed? Did you fight for them? Did you ask for them to go on the list?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Oxley will address the chair.

Mr DICK: Through you, Mr Deputy Speaker: did the member for Hinkler ring up the tourism minister and ask if they could be included? Silence. Did you ring up and see if your tourism operators could be included in that?

An honourable member interjecting—

Mr DICK: Absolutely not. He's got confidence in them, but he won't help them. On this side of the chamber, we will continue to speak about the thousands and thousands of businesses that are going over the cliff in a matter of two weeks. It's not good enough to criticise them. They need help and support, and you should start doing your job.