90 second statement – Bundaberg Brewed Drinks

Mr PITT: I rise to thank Prime Minister Albanese. The Prime Minister came to my patch a couple of weeks ago to open the Bundaberg Brewed Drinks super brewery. The Prime Minister did a good job. He wielded the scissors with perfection! He gave a good speech, with perfect picture opportunities and a good media pack in attendance. It did give us local, state and national media exposure. But in the speech the Prime Minister missed a couple of things which I just want to help him with in terms of the record!

The $19 million provided to this project under the Regional Growth Fund was a coalition initiative, would you believe, Madam Deputy Speaker? That $19 million was announced back in October 2018. It was a very important policy package. Unfortunately, under this government, the Regional Growth Fund, the Stronger Communities Program and the Building Better Regions Fund are all gone, so there are no further opportunities in these packages, and that is a great shame. However, putting aside the politics of names on plaques and ribbon cutting and pick-offs and media opportunities, I’m actually incredibly humbled to have played a small part in helping to deliver a $157 million facility in our local region, which is operated, owned and invested in by a local family. Congratulations to Cliff Fleming and all of the team at Bundaberg Brewed Drinks. That’s someone I’ve had involvement with for many decades. They deliver over 200 jobs continually. They are a great exporter. They are an icon for Bundaberg, for Queensland and for Australia. Congratulations to them on the work that they have done.