Rockhampton MP criticises defence land grab rationale

He was one of a trio of local ALP politicians, Keppel’s Brittany Lauga and Mirani’s Jim Pearce included, who spoke at the public meeting in Marlborough on Monday aimed at a show of force against the proposal by the defence department to acquire thousands of hectares of grazing land.

“As the details have emerged it has become clear that the proposal is entirely flawed at every level,” he said.

“This is certainly not about the training of our troops and it would be completely false for anyone to try to hide behind the respect we all hold for our service personnel.

“As a former commander of Shoalwater Bay and someone who knows the area intimately, this is not about Australia’s military training needs.

“I defy the Australian Defence Force to justify this expansion in terms of ADF requirements.

“There is already significant capacity within the current boundaries of the Shoalwater Defence practice area, including for live weapons and amphibious warfare training.

“I would submit that the ADF needs are not a motivating factor here and that any argument to the contrary will not survive serious scrutiny.

“I have two and a half decades of experience when it comes to Shoalwater and I know that this expansion can’t be justified in terms of our defence capabilities.

“It is entirely about a nonsense foreign affairs agenda led by an LNP that doesn’t give a hoot about regional or rural Queensland nor the real long-term interests of our communities.”

“I am very familiar with the area of the proposed acquisitions and I find it difficult to see how heavy battle tank and other military hardware movements would be compatible with the soil types.”

Mr Byrne expressed concerns about environmental impacts and the cost to the local economy as well.

“If there have been any department of defence environmental assessments about the risks – and there have certainly been no advice provided or opinions given to date – the details should be made public immediately.

“The environmental impacts are of grave concern to a Queensland government that is doing everything in its power to protect the Great Barrier Reef.”

Vowing to fight alongside affected producers, Mr Byrne said the region had suffered the impacts of a record drought.

“The permanent loss of local cattle numbers will be felt immediately in the cattle processing sector and that will have long-term consequences for the local economy,” he said.

“Sixty thousand head matters. I have a record of taking a stand to support central Queensland’s value-adding meatworks and the permanent jobs they support. This proposal will harm the entire supply chain.”

Mr Byrne accused the Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry of deliberately keeping primary producers in the dark, distorting the announcement ahead of the federal election for her own political purposes.

“It is only relatively recently that the full implications of defence’s intentions have emerged and are being understood and that is a matter of grave concern to me,” he said.

“To my mind the department of defence and the coalition government deliberately withheld the full details of their intentions from the very start.

“In fact there was much fanfare about $1 billion worth of Singaporean investment in Shoalwater Bay at the start of the federal election campaign and much self-promotion by Michelle Landry on the back of the announcement.

“Given that contentious land acquisitions must have been part of the plan from the start I believe the process has been deliberately distorted for political purpose by Ms Landry to avoid critical scrutiny during the election campaign.”

Mr Byrne said his final point was a personal one.

“I have known many of the affected property owners for some decades,” he said.

“I particularly regard Lawson and Linda Geddes as outstanding Australians. They are fantastic people and their family has been farming at Couti Outi for generations.

“I would die in the trench to ensure people like Lawson and Linda remain on their properties on their terms and I give this commitment to do everything in my power to halt this proposal.

“I have no problem with sellers, but there should be no compulsory acquisitions.

“I will advocate for the property owners at every opportunity and against a plan that will destroy successful local businesses and wreck local communities.”