MEDIA RELEASE SENATOR THE HON JAN MCLUCAS Shadow Minister for Mental Health Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness Senator for Queensland Whereabouts of the Northern Australia White Paper remains a mystery As we commence a new month in a new year, northern Australians remain in the dark about when the Abbott Government’s much-anticipated White Paper on developing Northern Australia will be released. A key plank of the Coalition’s pre-election policy, the Northern Australia White Paper was promised to be delivered within 12 months of the September 2013 election, but it’s now three months overdue and the Government’s silence on the matter is almost deafening. LNP’s North Queensland MPs Warren Entsch, George Christensen and Ewen Jones, and Senator Ian Macdonald, have talked up all the great opportunities for northern Australia, from agriculture and innovative new business opportunities to securing energy and water for the future, but people are left wondering what has come of it all. Hundreds of individuals and organisations spent countless hours writing submissions to both the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia (JSCNA), chaired by Warren Entsch, and the Northern Australia Green Paper because they believed their voices would be heard. The Government’s interim response to the JSCNA’s final report was a total non-event and while I’m sure the Northern Australia Taskforce is doing its job well, the Abbott Government needs to explain why the White Paper is taking so long. Messrs Entsch, Christensen and Jones have done enough chair polishing and must now stand up and demand Tony Abbott release the White Paper. At the same time, the Abbott Government needs to tell people right across Australia’s northern regions what financial and policy commitments it will be delivering to make the north of Australia a better place to work, live and do business. Tony Abbott and the Coalition made this commitment to voters in the lead up to the last election and must now deliver some tangible outcomes otherwise this whole process has been a waste of time. Tuesday 6 January 2015 Media contact: Melinda Eades 07 4031 6009 or 0408 743 457
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 02:54:55 +0000
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