About
I am standing for the state seat of Lockyer as I have lived in the area since 1998, working at the Gatton campus of the University of Queensland, which is in the Lockyer seat. Previously I lived in the Bayside area.
I have been involved with the poultry industry and attended most of their conferences since I first started studying the behaviour and welfare of laying hens in 1999. This has given me an insight into the problems and concerns face by farmers, particularly poultry farmers.
I am standing as I believe the people of the Lockyer region deserve to have their regional concerns voiced in the parliament. Recently our community has been heavily impacted by floods, then compounding that a raft of responses. In this time we need well thought out and coordinated responses, which comes back to planning and preparedness. I want to address some of these issues.
Town planners have in the past, and are continuing to allow housing to be built in flood prone areas. We need to act on the recommendations of the flood enquiry as soon as possible. It may be possible to prevent such extreme events as experienced in this area including the tsunami at Grandchester. Climate change is predicted to make flooding a more frequent occurrence near the coast, so action is vital.
Another major issue in this region is the planned gas and gas fracking mining, which will seriously damage food producing lands and water aquifers. Gas pipelines are planned to run through this area and to Ipswich. A gas fired power station is planned for Gatton only a couple of kilometres from people’s residences. Along with the gas mining projects, a network of gas fired power stations are planned throughout Queensland as well as NSW. Not only does it damage farmlands, it delays transition to renewable energy by 20 years. If Australia and the rest of the world delays this long, run-away global warming will be unavoidable with all its attendant consequences. The Katter Australia party is campaigning against gas mining, but their aim is simply to make sure farmers are adequately compensated. They will do nothing to saving farming land.
Transport is another major issue that affects this region. We need to plan now for when petrol becomes unaffordable. We need feeder buses to railway stations, better and more cost effective freighting. We need bicycle paths so people can safely use this as an alternative transport. Electrified rail needs to be extended at least as far as Gatton which is a rapidly growing region – with both a gaol and expanding University in the region. This rail should be extended as far as Toowoomba to allow it to develop into a regional city. Because the cost of aviation fuel will also rise, so very fast rail should be being developed to connect our cities.
I want to stand up for this electorate and the people of Lockyer, so I urge you to contact me or the Ispwich-Lockyer Greens.
