{"id":231718,"date":"2019-03-27T16:22:44","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T06:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=231718"},"modified":"2020-07-22T09:55:48","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T23:55:48","slug":"we-lose-kenny-we-lose-the-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/03\/27\/we-lose-kenny-we-lose-the-election\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We Lose Kenny, We Lose The Election’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff, Member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd, Drought Envoy Barnaby Joyce and Cr Ros Heit at Boondooma Homestead on Tuesday<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 27, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Anne Miller<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Federal Government’s Drought Envoy Barnaby Joyce joined Member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd on the pre-election campaign trail in the South Burnett on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Mr Joyce had a simple message for the LNP party faithful: “We’ve got to get Kenny (O’Dowd) across the line, if we don’t we’re in trouble!”<\/p>\n

Proston-Boondooma LNP branch president Kathy Duff organised the get-together at Boondooma Homestead in the lead-up to the (most-likely) May 18 election.<\/p>\n

It was open to everyone, not just LNP members, but it would have been a very brave Green or ALP supporter who showed up.<\/p>\n

Guest speakers were Member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd, who scraped in on postal votes at the 2016 Federal election, and Mr Joyce.<\/p>\n

This time around Mr O’Dowd faces another tough test.<\/p>\n

The Labor Party is again fielding Zac Beers, who almost downed Mr O’Dowd last time, and One Nation are fielding experienced and high-profile candidate Sharon Lohse.<\/p>\n

“Kenny is the litmus test. We lose Kenny, we lose the election,” Mr Joyce told the circle of seated listeners.<\/p>\n

“We have to play the game here or we’re gone.”<\/p>\n

Topics covered included the necessity for the farming sector to “not only survive but thrive” and the much-discussed Bradfield Scheme to irrigate western Queensland.<\/p>\n

Mr Joyce said the only thing that stood between getting water into the Thompson River – “which would have a huge effect on the wealth of Queensland” – was “ourselves and the Green movement”.<\/p>\n

“We have to learn how to take them on and have the political zeal to push issues through,” he said.<\/p>\n

He listed achievements which he said were a result of National Party actions:<\/p>\n

These included:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • A quarter of a billion dollars in cash distributed to farming families through the Farm Household Allowance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • Nearly a billion dollars in concessional loans at 2.75 per cent<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
      • The establishment of the Regional Investment Corporation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          \n
        • The allocation of a million dollars per council for stimulus work<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            \n
          • The Roads To Recovery program which was allowing cash to flow through local economies as well as leaving a legacy of better facilities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
              \n
            • 25 per cent subsidy for water infrastructure for dams, pipes and troughs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                \n
              • $20,000 instant asset write-off<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                  \n
                • 100 per cent write-off for fences, water and silos<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                    \n
                  • Inland Rail project<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                      \n
                    • “Millions of kilometres” of dog fencing in western Queensland<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                        \n
                      • Free trade agreements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                        “These are all part of the National Party’s influence within the Coalition government, make no mistake about that,” Mr Joyce said.<\/p>\n

                        “When we started with the White Paper, they gave us $30 million. By the time we finished, we had $4 billion.”<\/p>\n

                        Mr Joyce said the worst thing that could be done to Queensland was to shut down the coal industry.<\/strong><\/p>\n

                        “I understand the concerns that people have, I really do,” he said.<\/p>\n

                        “But if you want to see what poverty’s like, that would be a great way to find out.”<\/p>\n

                        He said the Coalition wasn’t up against the Labor Party in the upcoming election, but a Green \/ Labor Party \/ Independent alliance.<\/p>\n

                        Mr Joyce said Labor would have to have a working relationship with the Greens\u00a0which meant policies that would “put us out of business”, such as the end of live sheep exports and the live cattle trade, changes to the road transport of livestock and “apparently cotton is immoral”.<\/p>\n

                        “If we shut down the cotton industry, we don’t have any cotton seed and if we don’t have any cotton seed (cattle producers) won’t have any protein or roughage for our feed mix,” he said.<\/p>\n

                        Mr Joyce said the Greens also wanted to “shut down irrigation” which would turn St George and Dirranbandi\u00a0into ghosts towns of “white poverty”.<\/p>\n

                        On the emissions reduction target, Mr Joyce said “there was no legislation that would have any effect whatsoever on anything to do with the climate, but we can send ourselves broke”.<\/strong><\/p>\n

                        Mr Joyce said this was already happening, with 20,000 people in Queensland going off the power grid because they could not afford their electricity bills.<\/p>\n

                        He said farmers could not irrigate because of the cost of power.<\/p>\n

                        “It’s immoral if you can’t pay your power bill,” he said.<\/p>\n

                        “That’s why we are so emphatic about building new coal-fired power stations to try and drive more supply into the market, so we can drive down power prices.”<\/p>\n

                        Mr Joyce also warned that a Labor Government could tax methane emissions, raising the spectre of a “methane” licence tax for cattle producers.<\/p>\n

                        “I apologise if I’m a bit out there at times,” he said.<\/p>\n

                        “People say ‘shut up’ but I’m not going to because if we don’t actually take these things on, we’ll get run over by them.”<\/p>\n