It is as if the Labor party had not paid a visit to the exotic, frontier land of Central Queensland, until after the election. Having gone on this intrepid trek to our homes, Labor discovered a new (to them) species of the “coal miner” and the “boilermaker”, living in their natural habitat of the “pub”, and drinking a yeast based mixture they call “beer”.

Having apparently learnt their lesson not to completely ignore us, Labor is now trumpeting the fact that they have picked candidates that might actually support our jobs.

Last week Matt Burnett, Labor’s candidate for the seat of Flynn, called for the Queensland Labor Government to approve the Acland mine (after 13 years of waiting) and save the 500 jobs there.

The approvals for this mine were a major issue at last year’s state election including here in Central Queensland. I led a convoy from CQ to support these jobs even though they were down at Oakey. Matt did not say boo about these jobs last year, but now that he wants a job for himself, he suddenly cares about other
jobs. Whatever Matt Burnett’s real views on coal though doesn’t matter because he will not be part of a team that supports coal. His bosses, Anthony Albanese, Tanya Plibersek and Penny Wong don’t support a long term future for our coal jobs.

Matt Burnett is Labor’s hi-vis token to try to trick us into thinking Labor has learnt the lessons of the last election. He pays lip service to the coal industry and then promises mythical “hydrogen” jobs. No one ever explains why coal miners need to lose their jobs so we can have a hydrogen industry.

The Labor party now stands for just different (probably lower paying) jobs. The LNP stands for more jobs, protecting the ones we have, while developing new industries too.

The LNP picked its candidate for Flynn this week, state MP for Callide Colin Boyce. Flynn is a seat made up of the people that work to make wealth for Australia. Our farmers, our miners, our factory and port workers and all the others that support these industries. Colin has been one of these workers, in the mines, on gas pipelines and as a grazier. He already has a strong record of defending these jobs as the state member for Callide even when it puts noses out
of joint in the LNP hierarchy in Brisbane. He crossed the floor to oppose red tape that would stop the development of new mines.

The big difference between Colin and his opponent Matt Burnett is that Colin is part of a team. The whole LNP team supports the coal, farming and manufacturing industries. Barnaby supports coal and farming jobs. So does Scott Morrison and Michelle Landry.

When you vote at a Federal election there are two things next to the box you tick. There is the name of the candidate and there is the name of the candidate’s team, or political party. It is best to have a good bloke as your local member, but it is better to have a strong team.

There are large parts of our bureaucracy and academia who want to put thousands of Central Queenslanders out of work. If they get their way our kids won’t have the same job opportunities we enjoy.

One man or woman will not defeat this laptop army, we need a team that understands our way of life to fight for the futures of our children.