GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S SPEECH: Address-in-Reply

Mr LINDSAY   (Herbert) (7.05 p.m.) -Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and congratulations to you on your appointment. I appreciate the chance to make this speech at the first opportunity. Mr Deputy Speaker, you would be hard pressed, as most members here would be, to name the most widely known Aboriginal name in politics. Although for some time many could not pronounce the word, it became a household talking point earlier this year. The word you are all thinking about is also the name of a suburb of Australia's largest tropical city, Townsville. It is the name of a Queensland state electorate. The word, of course, is now part of my state's history-Mundingburra. Mundingburra and its new state member, Frank Tanti, will be remembered for a very long time.

Mundingburra, too, is very special to me. As a Townsville city councillor, I have represented that suburb for the past 11 years and I now represent Mundingburra at the federal level. As you all know, Mundingburra recently changed the government of Queensland. It focused the national spotlight on the capital city of northern Australia. Today, I again direct the national spotlight to Townsville.

As the light of this national forum reflects on this glass icon, I ask honourable members to reflect on its significance. This is the 1996 award given to Australia's community of the year. This award proudly belongs to Towns ville. This year, Townsville is the brightest star in Australia. From what I am about to outline to you, you will conclude that the city has begun a period of major growth and economic development.

In the life of this parliament, Townsville will be the fastest growing regional centre in the country. It is very likely we will see a population growth of more than 10 per cent within three years. This is a commercial, Mr Deputy Speaker, with substance. Ministers and members alike need to know and understand that Townsville will be Australia's brightest star for some years to come. Its future is supported by mineral deposits of world significance, by marine science, earth science and tropical medicine research of world significance, and by a government infrastructure such as Australia's largest defence base.

Confidence is on the rise in Townsville and North Queensland. Australia as a whole stands to benefit enormously from the massive injection of capital into the economy of North Queensland that is expected in the near term. The President of the Townsville Chamber of Commerce, Mal Missingham, has provided me with a list of 12 projects committed for completion over the next three years. Together, these 12 projects represent nearly $1 billion worth of investment flowing right now in the Townsville pipeline.

The more business leaders I talk to and the more meetings I attend with the Commonwealth Department of Transport and Regional Development, Townsville Enterprise and the Townsville Chamber of Commerce, the more certain I am that Townsville is at a major development crossroad. Townsville is a city on the move.

Townsville already has a nickel refinery and a copper refinery. A start on a major zinc refinery is only a matter of months away. When completed, the Korea Zinc project will be a $1 billion development in our city-probably the largest single Korean investment outside of Korea. There is a clear message here for both the government and the people of Townsville. In a sense, Korea Zinc is an acid test for North Queensland. The success of this major development will, in effect, be a signal to other companies wanting to invest in North Queensland. A number of major Korean companies are closely watching how Townsville smoothly handles the building of this refinery. Townsville is in the box seat to attract much more substantial Korean development.

However, Townsville and North Queensland need the joint cooperation of the local, state and federal governments to capitalise on the abundance of industry, business, economic and tourist projects that have already been or could be initiated in the region.Locally, the Townsville and Thuringowa city councils have the prime responsibility to immediately address the issues of availability of suitably zoned land, the timely provision of water and waste water services and the giving of attention to waste disposal issues. In particular, water and land issues need immediate attention. In addition, I have asked both local authorities to consider establishing a sister city link with Korea. I have advised the mayors that federal funds are available to assist with this. It is an inexpensive `must do' project.

The state government, for its part, must urgently approve the construction of a base load power station for the city, and it must also ensure that rail and port infrastructure will meet the needs of the coming development. The federal government can contribute through customs and immigration policies that reduce red tape and through contributions to national infrastructure to serve the region. This government can also take the lead in organising local high-level trade missions to Korea. I have already spoken to Australia's ambassador in Korea in this regard. There is, for example, also the potential to export cattle feed from the Burdekin to Korea.

The new projects I speak of will provide thousands of jobs-thousands of jobs-new road and rail access to the Townsville port, many new secondary industries and value added production generating many more export dollars for our country. But Korea Zinc is not the be-all and end-all for Townsville, nor can we afford to rely on it to be so. We need to look at the spin-off opportunities from downstream mineral processing.

For example, sulfuric acid is one of the major by-products of zinc processing; it is also one of the primary elements in the production of chemical fertilisers. The development of a chemical fertiliser plant will open up a potential export market worth millions of dollars on a yearly basis. With copper and nickel refineries already established in the region, the capability is there, with the inclusion of a zinc refinery, to expand into the production of alloys and other strategic metals.

As well, Townsville is on the doorstep of the Bowen Basin gas deposits and the Pentland coal reserves. Development of these resources would result in a petrochemical industry being established. However, research funds are needed to ensure the efficient extraction of gas from the coal reserves. James Cook University in Townsville is ideally placed to undertake this research.

I now turn to the need to improve port access. It is clear that a new road-rail access servicing the industrial developments south-east of the city must be provided. The current favoured proposal is to build a new dual link, crossing Ross River near its mouth and extending south-east out of Townsville. This $75 million project provides direct access to the port with minimal impact on existing residential development.

However, there are several matters our community needs to think about. For example, if the fishing fleet were relocated lower down the river, the need to provide an opening rail and road bridge would be eliminated thereby reducing the costs and river traffic delays. Secondly, a strong case could be made to return all port authority land-except for a dedicated road-rail corridor-on the southern bank of the river to an environmental park. Thirdly, I believe that the existing port access for Queensland Nickel and the northern beaches needs to be preserved.

Townsville is also looming as a centre for major advancement in airfreight operations, particularly of perishable goods. The Burdekin and Bowen areas of north-east Queensland produce one-fifth of the state's fruit and vegetables; the vast majority is earmarked for domestic markets. Presently, the exported produce from the region is predominantly handled by southern ports in Brisbane and Sydney, despite the proximity of Townsville's all-weather airport.

There is a business opportunity for the establishment of cold storage export facilities at Townsville airport. For this to be realised, facilities at Townsville airport would have to be upgraded. An export coordination centre, runway improvements and the airport's handling facilities need to be addressed. Of course, all this takes money, but the benefits extend well beyond airfreight.

The RAAF would benefit from these improvements as they would enable the base to comfortably accommodate heavy military transport aircraft, particularly those arriving from the United States. This is a commonsense approach, as RAAF Townsville will have the task of supporting the army's third brigade and the nation's operational Defence Force situated in Townsville.

Improvements would also be a perfect stepping stone to better international airport facilities at Townsville airport. The major jump-off points for international airlines have always been Brisbane and, in recent years, Cairns. The standard of air service, however, between Cairns and Townsville and between Brisbane and Townsville should be seriously re-evaluated and money invested in feasibility studies for these necessary upgrades for Townsville airport. In this respect, the tourism industry in the Townsville region would also benefit enormously.

Moving on to live exports of another kind, Townsville stands to benefit from the great progress made in recent years in the area of live cattle exports. Live cattle exports are the only shining light in an Australian beef industry that continues to suffer from drought and low prices. This growth has been directly linked to growth in the demand for beef in South-East Asia-specifically, Indonesia and the Philippines. As Asia's taste for beef grows-and it has been growing rapidly-the demand for packaged, processed and frozen beef will also increase. In areas of Australia where live cattle exports are made from, this has also resulted in growth in frozen and packaged beef exports. Townsville can help fill that demand.

With the new port access in place Townsville residents should have no fear about issues of amenity. Cattle can be railed directly from the Charters Towers district to the port without having to be held in the city. A North Queensland live cattle export enhancement program, initiated by the North Queensland Beef Research Council, is nearing completion. NQBRC have been working closely with the North Queensland Economic Development Board, the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and the Australian Meat and Livestock Corporation on that project, the aim of which is to improve grazier and buyer live cattle market education and initiate direct trade delegations to South-East Asia. The program will help pave the way for further growth in North Queensland for live cattle exports, and Townsville is perfectly situated to capitalise on this growth.

As I mentioned at the beginning of my address, Townsville is Australia's brightest star. But it is not just because of the big picture and the grand development element. Queenslanders are parochial at the best of times, but the citizens of Townsville and the twin city of Thuringowa take the cake and I am honoured to be able to represent them. Being parochial and proud of who we are and where we come from is central to our identity.

Footy fans in this House will know that the North Queensland Cowboys joined the Australian Rugby League last year. Now, the Cowboys did not have the best of years by any stretch of the imagination; perhaps they were playing the wrong code. But that did not stop the fans from turning out in droves week after week to see their team in action-win, lose, or draw. In their first year in the league they averaged the third highest home ground attendance figure in the 20-team competition-a great effort!

The Townsville Suns were the 1993 National Basketball League wooden-spooners, but that did not stop the supporters from coming in game after game to pack the home court stadium to the rafters. The Townsville Suns are approaching their 42nd sold-out home game in a row. This is an NBL record. Thankfully, this season is looking much brighter for the Suns. I wish both the Suns and the Cowboys all the very best.

We take great pride in our achievements and this is by no means restricted to the sporting arena. We are always there for one another as a community. There is no better example of this than the VP50 festival, the major reason why Townsville was named Australia's community of the year this year. Townsville's celebration attracted thousands of veterans, visitors, official guests and media from around the world, and was recognised as the centrepiece of the nationwide Australia Remembers campaign. Indeed, it proved to be the genesis of the campaign. Back then, as a member of the Townsville City Council, it was with enormous pride that I watched as the community-old and young-worked hand in hand with business and government and rallied together to make VP50 the enormous success it was.

Now, we must once again rally to bring Townsville and North Queensland through to the next century. We must rally the support and cooperation of the community-of small business, big business and industry, and the local, state and federal governments-to realise the tremendous economic and investment opportunities that are within our reach.

In preparing for my address today I went back through the first speeches of my predecessors who have represented Herbert. One constant theme clearly stood out in those speeches and that was that it was high time that Townsville, Herbert and North Queensland received the recognition and due attention from the federal government that they deserved. In March 1962 the member for Herbert, Ernie Harding, found it necessary-and I quote from his first speech-`to ask for a fair deal for Queensland generally and for North Queensland in particular'.

Since my election as the new member for Herbert I am pleased to be able to say that perhaps I do not have to repeat many of the pleas of my predecessors. Townsville is already receiving close federal attention, and I thank the honourable member for Mackellar (Mrs Bishop), the honourable member for Berowra (Mr Ruddock) and Senator Grant Tambling for visiting Townsville and delivering on this government's commitment to greater community consultation.

Drawing on a theme from Duke Bonnett, the member for Herbert from 1966 to 1977, visits such as these show the people of northern Queensland that the government recognises our handsome contribution to the progress of this country. It is good to see, too, that the Queensland state government is also taking steps in this direction. Queensland Premier, Rob Borbidge recently opened a North Queensland office of the Premier in Townsville.

But I have also found out that a member's job does not just stop at the big picture scheme of things. Individuals still have concerns and problems which need to be addressed. To conclude, I would like to relay to the House a brief story.

It was a Friday morning and the phone rang-as phones tend to in members' offices-and it was an elderly lady in quite a deal of distress. Her sister-a lady in her late eighties-had fallen ill at home while caring for her bedridden spouse. The couple were fiercely independent people and did not want to be a burden on anyone, so they failed to tell anyone of their situation.

It was a week before the sister became aware that they should have help. She tried all the usual agencies but received the stock answer, `If they don't agree to receive help, then there is nothing we can do.' In desperation, the sister finally rang my office. Lyn Richardson took the call and immediately understood that direct action was needed. She got straight on the phone, dialled up the Blue Nurses and said with all the authority in the world, `This is Lyn from the federal member's office. I have two people who are desperately ill and we need to get them into hospital today.'

The arrangements with the families and the agency were made. A couple of hours later the couple were in hospital under care. The medical staff who attended them said that had they stayed at home unattended over the weekend they would have probably died.

A federal member's office can open a lot of doors and cut through a lot of red tape. In this situation I am convinced it saved two lives. As much as the federal member's job is to represent the community and to serve the nation as a whole, we simply cannot afford to forget the individuals. None of us can be in our electorate offices all the time, but that does not mean that we still cannot offer that individual service.

Two people are still alive today who might otherwise not have been and, indeed, it is a joy and a wonderful thing to help others. However, one victory is not enough. Many other battles remain to be fought and the potential rewards for Herbert, North Queensland and Australia are enormous. My message today is: come to Townsville to invest and come to stay, to live and to work. Come and be part of Australia's Community of the Year.

Before concluding, may I recognise the love I have for my family: my wife, Margaret; my son, Mark; and my daughter, Kylie. Margaret and I are tremendously proud of our family. Mark looks set to become Australia's best young field geologist and Kylie wants to be the first female Prime Minister of this country. I thank my family for their advice and support. Together we work hard for our community and I am pleased and proud that my mum and dad are with us today. Mr Deputy Speaker and members, thank you for your courtesy in listening to my speech. I look forward to working with you all in the life of the current parliament.