The Albanese Government has shown its contempt for regional Queensland once again in the Federal Parliament today.
Federal Member for Flynn Colin Boyce said that Prime Minister Albanese deflected when asked about the restoration of Paradise Dam and treated the issue as if it was a laughing matter.
"The Prime Minister hand balled the question to Minister Plibersek who could not answer it and could not provide certainty to agricultural industries around Wide Bay," Mr Boyce said.
"I invite Prime Minister Albanese and Minister Plibersek to come to the Flynn electorate and meet with the growers and the communities set to be affected by Labor's decision to cut funding to the restoration of Paradise Dam.
"Why is the Labor Government breaking another promise to regional Australia?"
Federal Member for Hinkler Keith Pitt said the response from the environment minister was disrespectful.
"Not once did the Minister mention the hard-working growers and producers in the Bundaberg region or mention the impact the reduced capacity of the dam has had on them already," Mr Pitt said.
"I'm not sure what Budget papers the Minister is looking at, but the table in Budget Paper No. 2 clearly shows funding cut from the National Water Grid Fund.
"Does this mean all Budget cuts are only actually deferrals? And they will be reinstated to the Budget?
"The Albanese Government doesn't care about the people of regional Queensland and have ripped away vital funding to restore Paradise Dam.
"The growers and producers waited years to learn whether the dam would be restored, then the Queensland State Labor Government announced earlier this year it needed to be replaced with a new wall, and the business case for this is not expected to be completed until the end of 2025.
"It's already been more than four and a half years, how much longer does the Bundaberg region have to wait for certainty around this project?"
