08 May KAP calls for supercharged QLD economy

Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) MPs have today called on the Palaszczuk Government to bolster the state’s flailing economy by supercharging Queensland’s advanced manufacturing industries and immediately investing in viable infrastructure projects to save and secure jobs.

KAP Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter said Queensland’s economy had been rocked by the COVID-19 shutdown and was haemorrhaging jobs, and now a contraction in the North’s mining and manufacturing sectors was eroding what economic confidence remained.

He said more than 1,000 mining and manufacturing jobs in Townsville and North West Queensland were at immediate risk, and government intervention was urgently needed.

“There is a lot of talk, especially federally, about stimulating industry and the economy throughout and post-COVID-19, but the question is will money be thrown around as part of cheap, vote-buying exercises on little things around the place?” Mr Katter said.

“Or will it be big, future-defining moves that keep industry, jobs and the economy charging ahead after this crisis?

“We are very aware that across Queensland, there was a decline in the advanced manufacturing industry prior to the crisis so right now, we are calling on the government to arrest those previous difficulties and also come on board to progress this sector.”

Mr Katter said radical change was needed if vital jobs were to be saved and secured well into the future.

“We need radical change in the government’s approach to these issues; not policy announcements, not talk-fests and certainly no more glossy documents,” he said.

“The State Government needs to put its hands in its pockets and adjust the royalty settings for these manufacturers.

“We want tangible action – show us how you are going to stimulate growth and actually build something physical that will pay us, as the Queensland people, dividends well into the future.”

As part of the state’s broader COVID-19 recovery strategy, the KAP has called for the Palaszczuk Government to urgently:

offer incentives and subsidies to the state’s advanced manufacturing industries, including a revision on royalties

provide financial support and fast-track approvals for all viable infrastructure projects that will improve industry confidence (such as the CopperString 2.0 project, which needs
$15 million in order to sure-up private investor confidence and progress).