Media Release

Dear Editor,

We certainly know when there is an election coming up, when attacks start to appear in the press aimed at the KAP Party. We thank Mr McCullough for stating that we have done nothing in the electorate of Kennedy – It affords us the opportunity of positive reiteration of our productivity.

Some of our achievements across the electorate, from the coast to the border to the Gulf, include:

• about $300m for Cloncurry-Camooweal in the previous six years (by comparison, my LNP counterpart in Leichhardt secured around $70m or $80m over 12 years);
• over $60m (2010-2013) for councils in Kennedy under the Roads to Recovery program;
• $11m available for completion of the Hann Highway;
• $8.2m for the Cloncurry truck bypass;
• $2.4m to complete the Cloncurry Community Precinct;
• $11m for Mt Isa housing for our visiting doctors and nurses;
• $17m for Mt Isa’s Laura Johnson nursing home;
• $2.7m for Mt Isa’s RFDS upgrades;
• $5m for Julia Creek senior’s housing (as well as $577,000 to build locum doctor accommodation);
• $4.4m for the Hughenden Aged Care facility;
• $10m for irrigation development in the Mid-West, centred mostly on Richmond;
• $420m for concessional loans and $99m for welfare payments for struggling farmers (a wonderful adjunct for the Gulf country though far from solving our problems);
• $2.5m for a commercial report on generating renewable power at Pentland, west of Townsville; and
• around $1,000m in the past three years for our coastal national highways.

On the $320m retained for the CopperString transmission line to Mount Isa, thanks to the likes of Mr McCullough and his ALP State Government, and I might add the incoming LNP Government, the subsidy was rejected and the CopperString proposal shelved.

We have gone to a gas fired power station – which I predicted is prohibitively expensive. The price of this has jumped from $2.3GGJ to $9.5GGJ.

At least four mines stated they could not go ahead without grid system power and reasonable transport costs.

The ALP half privatised the railway, the LNP are completing the job. Privatised rail charges will go through the roof and of course there is still no electricity – thank you Mr McCullough and your ALP friends.

You write to the newspaper but you do not read it. If you did you would know our initiatives with the Indonesian Ambassador secured the setting up of meetings with him and the Cattleman’s Crisis Committee. This resulted in the reopening of the Indonesian market; there was zero help from the ALP/LNP Governments. This will bring $600m a year into the economy of the Gulf Midwest, Mt Isa region.

We are negotiating for the development of the phosphate Iron ore resources Nth West of Mt Isa and fighting a daily battle to reduce the 457 visa workers (taking plum mining jobs from Australian workers) and FIFO mining, which was fathered by your ALP Government. It was banned under the Country National party.

Irrigation projects for the Midwest shall be announced after the meetings over the few weeks. The LNP and the ALP tied up the progress with yet another inquiry, white paper, green paper, fish and chip paper and they call this progress?

Sincerely,
Hon Bob Katter MP
Federal Member for Kennedy