Press conference, Ipswich

SHAYNE NEUMANN [MEMBER FOR BLAIR]: Good morning. I'm Shayne Neumann, the Federal Member for Blair, the local MP for this area. I'm joined by Senator Anthony Chisholm, who's the Assistant Minister for Regional Development, and Deputy Mayor Nicole Jonic, and the local councillor, Cr Andrew Antoniolli. We're here to announce a fantastic initiative and congratulate the Ipswich City Council for their foresight in relation to the Ipswich CBD. Can I just say, cities are built on tolerance, technology and talent, and Ipswich has got a lot of great talent here in the area in relation to the arts community. We're here in front of the very popular Ipswich Art Gallery, and we've got the Civic Centre just over here, and the Community Gallery as well. 100,000 people visit this gallery every year, one of the most visited regional galleries in the country, and of course, it's a recipient of two works from the National Gallery at the moment, on loan in our Sharing the National Collection, and it's been a great hit. Well, I'm very pleased to say that the council has been successful in a Federal Government grant of $3.8 million under the Urban Precincts and Partnerships Program. Now, what will that do? It will make a big difference. It will help the council in their planning for the remediation of this particular building – it's an older building – and also the redevelopment here of the gallery and the redevelopment of the Civic Centre, looking at cycling, looking at commerce, looking at green space in this area. And this shows that the Albanese Labor Government is building on the infrastructure commitments that we've made in the electorate of Blair, from the Toogoolawah Gateway Project that we announced and the Mount Glen Rock Walking Trails Project, nearly $5 million for the Somerset Council just a few short weeks ago. We're announcing this $3.8 million to the Ipswich City Council today. This will make a big difference in our local community. It's good for commerce, it's good for jobs, it's good for the arts community, and it's good for the environment as well. I'll hand it over to the Assistant Minister to talk further about the project.

ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: Thanks, Shayne, and it's good to be with you in Ipswich and I acknowledge your hard work for this area and your passion to deliver for this community that does see extraordinary growth in population and a lot of people who want to come and live here. We know to keep up with that growth, we've got to invest in infrastructure, and Shayne’s mentioned some of the road projects and other community infrastructure that we do. But what you can't neglect is arts and culture. And Ipswich in this region has a proud history when it comes to arts and culture, and we want to ensure, as part of the Federal Government, that we're continuing to invest to ensure that those people who come here and those who live here still get to enjoy that arts and culture, but they shouldn't just be in the big cities, they should be in places like Ipswich that have a good art gallery, and people want to come and spend time here, whether it be locals or those who are visiting. So I'm really pleased that the Federal Government, as part of the Urban Precincts and Partnerships Program, will contribute $3.8 million to the vision that the council have set out. Thanks to the Deputy Mayor and Councillor Antoniolli for being with us today. I acknowledge that Ipswich City Council have a real vision for what they want to deliver on to make this community great from a lifestyle point of view, and arts and culture play an important part of that. So, really pleased to be here with the Federal Member, Shayne Neumann, announcing this project, and we look forward to working with the Ipswich Council to deliver on this and make this community an even better place to live. I'll now hand over to the Deputy Mayor.

NICOLE JONIC [IPSWICH DEPUTY MAYOR]: Thank you. I'd just like to thank the Federal Government for this announcement, this $3.8 million for our city centre. It will help us revitalise the project, and it helps council to make our projects shovel-ready. It will boost our art gallery with fantastic attendance and our civic centre, and it will also help our precinct just come together and flow. And that's what our residents need. We focus on the liveability of our city. And again, thank you. Thank you very much.

JOURNALIST: Deputy Mayor, will it sort of be like a continuation of Nicholas Street into the square too, so it's like one big, connected kind of place?

JONIC: Exactly, yeah. It's that walkability, that connectability, to our arts and culture and city park, to make it so that people, when they come to visit, they can come and see the art gallery, they can try our cafes, they can go and watch a show, and it's all in the precinct, which is just going to lift it up, and with the urban greening as well.

JOURNALIST: While you're here as well, what happened on Tuesday, if that motion comes before the council again in regards to the media policy and what the mayor says would have gagged her, will you be supporting that motion?

JONIC: It's been laid on the table to a future meeting. So I intend to work really closely with my fellow councillors between now and then, so that we can come together and work on a positive outcome. People want to hear about positive things in Ipswich because there is so many positive things to celebrate, and that's what we're here to do today.

JOURNALIST: Why did Paul Tully introduce that motion?

JONIC: I have no idea what Paul Tully has to say, but you need to contact him.

JOURNALIST: He's not responding to media. Is that okay for a councillor introducing a motion like that not to respond to media about something that's quite big and controversial?

JONIC: We're here today to celebrate this fantastic announcement. So let's celebrate our city and all the positivity especially this. [Inaudible]…

NEUMANN: We’ll hand over to Andrew now to talk further about this project. He’s the local councillor.

ANDREW ANTONIOLLI [IPSWICH COUNCILLOR]: Yeah, thanks, Shayne. And thanks, Anthony, very much for your presence here today. You know, our industry has been the foundation of our city. Our industrial innovation has been, in many respects, something that people still talk about. We are the birthplace of Queensland Rail here in Ipswich. But it's arts and culture that tell the story of the city, and I would really like to thank the Federal Government for their contribution towards our arts and culture here in Ipswich through this project and through this money, because at the end of the day, this city has a proud, fantastic history to tell through the story of our arts and culture. So we look forward to the fulfilment of this vision through this money, and we thank very much the Federal Government for that contribution. Thank you.

JOURNALIST: Andrew, what will change here? What's planned with the precinct?

ANTONIOLLI: Well, certainly this precinct alone, it has some limitations, particularly with respect to people with disabilities and inability to move around, walk around, because it isn't compliant. So we certainly will be working towards those sorts of things, yes.

NEUMANN: Yeah, and just on that, Tony, we're talking about the fact that there's vines and plant vegetation that's impacting on the building. There's a maintenance schedule that the council is working on. In addition to that, there's of course some improvements in development in this centre. The Civic Centre was built back in the days when Gough Whitlam was Prime Minister and Bill Hayden was the local MP for Oxley. I got two lots of millions of dollars’ worth of funding to maintain and paint and, you know, refurbish that. But the Civic Centre is not big enough for Ipswich now. So the growth in population is such that we need to look at the redevelopment here. That's why the council's got a great vision, and that's why the Albanese Labor Government is supportive of that vision across Ipswich here. It's a great initiative. I really want to commend the council. This is a demonstration of the council's vision in terms of economic development. But we've got great artists – everyone from Glenn Smith to Rob Butler to Tallman and Sally Harrison – three of whom are on my wall in my electorate office with their wonderful artwork.

JOURNALIST: Senator, some questions from the Gold Coast in regards to light rail. What is Labor's position on having light rail to the Gold Coast airport?

CHISHOLM: We're continuing to work constructively with council and the State Government in that regard. We've obviously got a proud history in terms of the Federal Labor Government and what we've supported in regards to light rail on the Gold Coast. We understand, like Ipswich, the Gold Coast is a growing region, and we'll continue to work constructively with the Council and State Government in that regard.

JOURNALIST: The idea of light rail on the Gold Coast was to always connect to the airport, the second biggest in Queensland. Without that final fourth stage, has essentially billions been wasted?

CHISHOLM: I was on the Gold Coast recently and I saw a number of people using the light rail, so I've got no doubt it's made a difference to the community there. But obviously it would make sense longer term for it to be connected to the airport. I know that where it goes down to the north of the Gold Coast, it is making a significant difference around connectivity there. But there's obviously always a lot of projects that need support in South East Queensland, particularly when we do have such high growth. As I said, we'll continue to work constructively.

JOURNALIST: What are your thoughts on Burleigh becoming a bus depot and buses taking an increased load compared to light rail?

CHISHOLM: That's not something that I'm aware of. I'm happy to come back to you with a bit of detail.

JOURNALIST: Shayne, the- obviously it's been a tough week for the council. What's your thoughts on what happened this week with the council trying to gag the Mayor?

NEUMANN: Well, that's your perspective of it. Look, it's very important that we have a council that's united and visionary. Today, we're providing funding for the council's vision. So I'm just delighted to work together with the council to make sure Ipswich is a great place in which to live for individuals and families, that we get the infrastructure we need and deserve, that we get a sustainable environment here in Ipswich, and I'm delighted that we made this announcement today. I'm really pleased with the vision of Ipswich and I'm very pleased to work with the local council.

JOURNALIST: Can Ipswich Council ever be united while Paul Tully is still on it?

NEUMANN: Paul Tully is a democratically elected figure, as is Andrew and Nicole behind me. Of course, it's up to democracy to prevail in relation to these types of matters. But I'm going to work with whoever's been elected. We've got to respect the democratic wishes of the people of Ipswich. And all of these councillors and the Mayor have been democratically elected. I would encourage them to work together for the benefit of the city of Ipswich, and I'm confident they can in the future.

JOURNALIST: You were in a party that went through a lot of infighting between 2007 and 2013. How do you recommend they resolve some of this drama that's going on at the moment?

NEUMANN: Well, in the words of Winston Churchill, it's always better to jaw jaw than war war.

JOURNALIST: Nicole, do you support the Mayor?

JONIC: Of course I support the Mayor. I support our Mayor of the city. She has a civic responsibility. She was democratically elected. And we all need to come together to resolve any issues that we might have.

JOURNALIST: Why is Ipswich then one of the only councils where the Mayor isn't on the LDMG?

JONIC: I'd have to take that on notice, that question. But …

JOURNALIST: [Talks over] Didn't you vote for that?

JONIC: …all the votes are democratic, and we don't want to de-rail today's announcement because it is really positive …

JOURNALIST: [Interrupts] But you're an elected official and these are questions that Ipswich ratepayers have. Isn't there a simple answer?

JONIC: Ipswich ratepayers want to hear positive things for our city and that's what we're here to do today. People out there are really, really struggling, and they don't want to hear about political infighting because of names getting listed first on the media statement. They want to hear about announcements like this and again, I just want to thank the Albanese Government for this, because it's going to really lay the foundation for council to get on with the work that we have planned to help celebrate our creative community and the community of Ipswich.

NEUMANN: Thanks very much.

JOURNALIST: Do you have a Blue Card?

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Sorry?

JOURNALIST: Deputy Mayor, do you have a Blue Card?

NICOLE JONIC: Of course I do.