Media Release

KAP Leader and Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter today described the loss of 80 railway jobs from Mount Isa to Townsville a “shattering blow to rural Queensland”.

“These communities need these jobs and this economic boost to stay alive.

“Yet the State Government is determined to kill these small towns,” Mr Katter said.

Mr Katter was also joined by Les Moffitt, the Northern District Organiser from the Railway, Tram and Bus Union, who said that there will be a lot more pain inflicted on Queenslander’s due to the Government privisation policy.

“We are very concerned about the flow on effect in our Queensland communities; in particular Charters Towers has lost 37 jobs, now that is 37 families in a small western community that have lost their livelihoods,” said Mr Moffitt.

Mr Katter said he was very concerned about the future of rural Australia, with the State Government sacking people and removing essential service after essential service in regional communities.

“With these jobs disappearing, small towns soon find that the essential services will centralise to Brisbane, the local dentist vanishes and secondary schools close.

“If is almost as if the LNP State Government wants to destroy our country towns, leaving only economic dead bodies behind.

“Hughenden, Charters Towers and Cloncurry all use to have 100 railway employees each.

“When the Bjelke-Petersen Government was in power we kept 40 employees at the loco sheds in Hughenden because former Premier Bjelke-Peterson said ‘these small towns need these populations’.

“How come we could afford jobs in rural Australia and the current LNP State Government cannot?

“The LNP says they have to sack all these people, yet they own Aurizon - it is corporatised.

“Added to that, they are paying their CEO over $6 million dollars a year,” Mr Katter said.

“Yet, in the same month that they sacked nearly 100 people in the mid-west, they found $5 billion to build yet another tunnel in inner city Brisbane.

“And for an extra two minutes of recreation for those Queenslanders that live in inner city Brisbane, the economy of all these little towns is being destroyed.

“The current Queensland Premier comes from Tasmania, he wouldn’t know how to find his way to Hughenden,” Mr Katter said.