The 55th Queensland State Parliament will commence this week and Member for Nanango, Deb Frecklington says she’s looking forward to getting back into this important aspect of her role as the local member.
Mrs Frecklington said the week will commence with some official ceremonies, but Members will be back to the important business of debating key issues affecting Queenslanders.
“Parliament sitting is an extremely important part of my role which allows me to focus on my constituents and issues of importance to our region,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“In fact, during my first term, I was able to make 95 speeches to parliament, most of them about our amazing community groups, individuals and businesses which are working hard for our area,” she said.
Deb said that this first week of the new Parliament will see the Members debating a “Confidence Motion” which will test Labor’s numbers on the floor of the Chamber.
“Because Labor are a Minority Government, Members are given the opportunity to either speak in ‘Confidence’ of the new Government or speak in a motion of “No Confidence”.
“The last time this occurred was in July 1998 for the Beattie Government and that debate lasted until 3am in the morning. I think the same may occur this time as well,” she said.
“Obviously I’ll be speaking with my colleagues in a vote of “No Confidence” in the new Labor Government. And in this regard, I’ll be representing the Opposition in my new role as the Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, highlighting the achievements our former Government during our three year term, and our concerns about the policies Labor are putting forward that will affect our primary producers,” she said.
Member for Nanango, Deb Frecklington says she’ll be ensuring the Electorate of Nanango is top-of-mind and that previously committed projects are honoured by the new State Government.
Mrs Frecklington says she especially wants to gain a commitment for the South Burnett Clubhouse, which was part of her Election ‘Action Plan’.
“The South Burnett Clubhouse was a fully funded and budgeted local commitment I made during the Election and I’m calling on Labor to honour this project,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“One of my major goals has always been to secure better mental health services for people in regional areas. The proposed ‘South Burnett Clubhouse’ offers a model of care which has a proven track record, providing intervention service that assists people who experience mental health problems,” she said.
“This project will be similar to the current, and very successful, Toowoomba Clubhouse which provides people with mental illness vocational training and work experiences, helping them connect with treatment, rehabilitation and re-establishment in the working community,” she said.
Deb said she is also hoping that four other key projects will also be confirmed, including upgrades to the Kingaroy and Nanango Police Stations and the refurbishments to the Kingaroy and Nanango Courthouses.
“These are multi-million upgrades to key infrastructure in both Kingaroy and Nanango, and I have already requested that confirmation be given that they’ll be progressing without delay,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“Under the former LNP Government we achieved so much for the Electorate of Nanango, as they recognised that the region desperately needed attention and funding injections for key infrastructure and projects,” she said.
“You can be assured that I’ll be fighting for ongoing commitments for the Electorate of Nanango to make sure our region is not overlooked by this new State Government,” she said.
“Locally, I’ve been straight back into continuing my work with all the communities around the Nanango Electorate. In particular, I’d love to hear from as many community groups as possible to find out more about local events and the assistance I can offer. As always, I am keen to hear about any State issues which need to be brought to my attention,” she said.
“One of my first priorities has been to visit as many schools as possible to congratulate our new school leaders for 2015. It’s been a pleasure to attend the leadership ceremonies and see so many eager young faces ready for a new school year,”
“I’ve also taken the opportunity to attend as many local events as possible let people know that I’ll be working hard over the next three years so I can keep delivering for our regional communities,” Deb said.
Photo: Member for Nanango, Deb Frecklington announced the South Burnett Clubhouse as one of her key priorities during the recent election. She says she’ll be fighting for the funding to be honoured by the new Labor Government. Pictured – from l to r Tim Saal of Rural and Remote Mental Health, Luke Terry of Toowoomba Clubhouse, the then Agriculture Minister, John McVeigh, Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington, Louise Judge of Centacare and Cheryl Dalton of SB Care.
Member for Nanango, Deb Frecklington says she is extremely disappointed in Labor’s move to axe the LNP’s hugely successful Wait Time Guarantee.
Mrs Frecklington said even though the Wait Time Guarantee only had the chance to take place over one month (February), our local Hospitals had outstanding results over this time.
“This was Australia’s first elective surgery guarantee, and was modelled on the health systems of Scandinavia. It started on 1 February, but unfortunately under Labor, will not continue,” Mrs Freckington said.
“At Kingaroy and Toowoomba Hospitals in February, 100% of patients received their surgery on time across all categories – urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent,” she said.
“It just doesn’t make any sense why Labor would want to scrap Australia’s first surgery guarantee, especially when it was delivering for patients,” she said.
“While I know a lot more had to be done, waiting lists in our region had decreased. For example, the dental wait list at Kingaroy went from eight years down to two years, which I think is an excellent achievement,”
Deb said that at no point before the election did Labor indicate the policy would be scrapped and she says the move goes against their promise to be consultative and honest.
“I will be working alongside my colleagues when we return to Parliament next week to request the new Health Minister, Cameron Dick, reconsider his decision to deny patients access to this guarantee. We will be moving a Parliamentary motion to keep the surgery guarantee. The LNP will not stand by and let Labor put patients at risk,” Deb said.
“I also will be highlighting what an excellent job the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Board have done over the past three years. Our LNP Government introduced the local health boards in 2012 as one of our first priorities and it is essential they retain their independence,” she said.
Member for Nanango, Deb Frecklington, says residents of the Somerset are the winners with three important local bridges in the region to be upgraded through the recently announced Australian Government Bridges Renewal Programme.
Mrs Frecklington said of the 14 bridge projects announced in Queensland, three of them are located in the Somerset and will be funded to the value of nearly $2million.
“This is fantastic news for the Somerset region and I would like to thank the Federal Government for introducing the Bridges Renewal Programme to help improve our road networks,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“In particular, these upgrades in the Somerset will replace old, failing timber bridges with concrete bridges to ensure residents have more reliable access and produce from farms and local factories can pass safely along quicker routes to help improve productivity,” she said.
The bridges to be upgraded include:
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss said that $53.36 million in federal funds is being pumped into local Queensland bridges—matched by funding proponents—to improve the state's road network.
“The Bridges Renewal Programme is designed to bolster productivity of Australia's local bridges, to better serve communities and drive greater efficiency in road freight and traffic movement,” Mr Truss said
“It's a classic win-win situation. That's why the Coalition Government identified local bridge upgrades and repairs as a national priority,” he said.
The Australian Government is committing $114 million over Round One of the Bridges Renewal programme, committing a total of $300 million over five years from 2014–15.
Photo: Member for Nanango, Deb Frecklington has welcome the announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss to fund $2million in upgrades for three timber bridges in the Somerset region.
