http://aspirecq.com/?p=51
The direct flight from Mumbai was about to touch down on the new tarmac at the Alpha International Airport. Disembarking passengers were directed to a large shed where custom and quarantine officers who themselves had only just flew in a few hours beforehand processed their arrival documentation. The ignition switches on the coaches waiting outside the shed were turned on to start their air-conditioning units in readiness for the trip direct to the accommodation camps. The passengers 28 day working shift at the nearby mine sites were about to begin.
There’s something really wrong here. Over 1.2 million Australians are unemployed. 2.2 million are underemployed (Roy Morgan Research figures). Yet the federal and state government seems agreeable to flying in overseas workers to fill jobs, and not just mine jobs.
Assuming our federal and state politicians do not address the real underlying problems and allow this band aid fix of fly in fly out (FIFO) international workforce we need our CQ Champions to be vocal, prepared and persistent in making the best of the situation. If an international airport is to be built in CQ, let’s build it where it can be most beneficial for Central Queenslanders, not the mine owners. I think Raglan over Alpha would be a wiser long term location. With a connecting bullet train track from Gladstone through Rockhampton, Emerald and out to Alpha (with later stages to Uluru) to help transport workers (and later tourists) to work sites would again be a wiser long term decision, if Central Queensland’s future is really being considered not just the mine owners. “Where’s the money going to come from, after all the state is broke”, will be the howls. Well some mining companies have indicated that they are going to build airports, rail and port facilities to get our coal to overseas markets. Instead of letting the mine owners dictate how and where they are going to do this we need to enforce our sovereign rights. And this is where Central Queenslanders have to stand up to demand this. As it appears we’re too far away from Brisbane and Canberra, with them just glossing over details before making decisions. And if the decision doesn’t work out they’ll just send more band aids until the resource boom ends. Need proof, look at what’s happening to Central Queensland harbours, rivers, farmland and infrastructure buckling under the growing demands of a non ratepayer based workforce.
$500 million the state government will give to the Gold Coast to host the Commonwealth Games, a South Bank 2 for Brisbane is a state election promise, not a local Brisbane council one.
Enough; we know where the bulk of this money is coming from; it’s time that CQ yelled ‘enough’. The resource boom does bring problems, but it also brings opportunities. Central Queensland must make the most of these opportunities, not just the south east corner. A collaborative approach with the mine companies and state/federal government doesn’t mean we have to bow to them. Our kids and grandkids need to be considered with the decisions being made, not what is the quickest and easiest solution.
CQ Champions please stand up because you are needed, and the CQ media please help them to be persistent in their calls, band aids just aren’t enough. Let’s not have history indicate this was the opportunity CQ wasted.