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Good morning everybody,
 
With a generous introduction like that I'm inclined to say thank you and goodbye. Thank you, Cathy.
 
I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land upon which we meet and I pay my respects to elders past, present and also emerging. 
 
I'd like to acknowledge Townsville Enterprise for the work that they're doing. 
 
I'd also like to knowledge all my shadow colleagues who are here in such strong numbers and of course all of the mayors of north Queensland. Sometimes I feel I haven't been to Townsville unless I've caught up with Jenny Hill to get my visa stamped. 
 
Now, you of course obviously can see with Cathy, she's a fierce champion of the region but I know all of you are.
 
And I think that her colleagues, both LNP and Labor, have learned that Cathy O'Toole never, never, never ever gives up. I think even Clive Palmer is working that out.
 
Now, you are busy people. You've got limited time, you pay the nation's capital a compliment by coming here to advance the case for north Queensland.
 
I'm very pleased that you brought yourselves and more importantly, your ideas to the nation's capital. 
 
You do come from a very remarkable part of the nation. North Queensland is not only a beautiful place, it's full of remarkable communities and fantastic and wonderful people. 
 
From Townsville to Palm Island, Ingham, Charters Towers and all the destinations in between, there is a very strong sense of local identity.
 
As has been said, the region has its ups and it has its downs but I am a complete believer in a bright future for north Queensland. 
 
We're interested in the plans you have for your communities. And I also have to say here, I  mean it refers specifically to local government, local government is the level of government closest to the people.
 
I know that when I travel around and we seek the good ideas, I always start with talking to local councils and of course, the local development and economic and business bodies informing the plans for the region.
 
I do believe fundamentally in listening and I have to say, when I think about Townsville and all of my visits there and other parts of north Queensland, one of the things that I understand best about the region is the need to be on the ground. 
 
Now I know that when I'm on the ground, I like to go to the IMC steakhouse in Palmer Street, very hard to go past that. 
 
There's something about the way that Townsville restaurants lay out the slabs of meat, I imagine it must be what it's like when you look at expensive jewellery and you're presented with it to buy. 
 
And then of course, the next morning when I go to Townsville, you get yourself up early in the morning to go for a run. I always plan to run up Castle Hill and I have actually have done that, once. 
 
I normally just sort of meander along the Strand, slow enough so that the passers-by can say hello. 
 
And then of course, when you go to Townsville, you pop into 4TO, you get grilled by Pricey. 
 
I think he's done at least 28 mango seasons up in the district, probably longer. 
 
So I get it. I get that it's a great community, I get that it's full of ideas, I get it's full of opportunities.
 
But I actually do occasionally think that when I visit north Queensland, people there are actually wondering, does the nation's capital get them? 
 
I think Australians - and you don't have to be a north Queenslander to fit the following description - I think they're sick of the Punch and Judy show which is Canberra.
 
The LNP get up and say something, we attack it. We get up and say something, they attack it and in the meantime, people in north Queensland say - are they paying any attention to us?
 
And that's why I understand, when people look at the mainstream political debate in this nation, that perhaps it is appealing sometimes to have ‘outsider’ candidates, people who are seen to be beyond the standard politics-as-usual business.
 
But I've got to say, and this is the first point I want to make this morning before I get into the issues for north Queensland. It may be superficially attractive for people in north Queensland and indeed other parts of Australia, to start looking for the politicians who bag the whole system, who look for the easy scapegoats. Politicians who promise that you can go back to 1960 as if there's been no change since then and they'll never ever have to deliver. 
 
Now I want to make it clear, whilst I lead the opposition - on one hand, I get that we're sick of politics as usual but on the other hand, I'm not going to propose just simply bagging the whole system and trying to pretend to people that they can turn back the clock 60 and 70 years to a time which is long and truly departed.
 
I actually think that what we need in this nation is to move beyond the personalities, move beyond the easy headlines and look at the fundamental issues which drive communities.
 
I intend, and my team intend, to make the next election a contest of policies, a contest of ideas.
 
Who's got the best plans for the people? 
 
Now when I look at that, I don't automatically assume that people will just tick the box for Labor. I don't take anyone's vote for granted. 
 
What we ask from the Australian people is the judgement of the Australian people. 
 
If you agree that politics-as-usual is unsatisfactory, but if you agree as leaders, that simply getting up and saying you can turn back the clock and bag one minority of Australians or another minority of Australians and say: ‘That's all we need to do’.
 
And if you agree that policies are far more important than gossip and personalities, then what I ask from you is your judgement.
 
Not automatically your vote but your judgement about who is going to do the best for the region. 
 
Now that's why I want to go to what I think five or six of our great ideas for your region are and why I ask you to exercise your judgement. 
 
We have led from the front on the critical issue of water security for your region. 
 
When people ask me what's important, for example in Townsville and the surrounding area, I say it is water security.
 
A year ago, we committed $200 million for the hydroelectric power station at the Burdekin dam. 
 
I'm very pleased that the Palaszczuk Government has been moving in the same direction. 
 
We've said that we want to put $100 million towards stage 2 of your region's water security strategy. 
 
So that's one issue. 
 
We get the importance of water security and if we want the support of people in the region, water security is one of the most important issues for us. 
 
But we've also pledged $75 million to widen the access to the Port of Townsville. 
 
At the moment, barely 5 per cent of the container vessels sailing in Australian waters can access the Port of Townsville. 
 
This needs to change and when you look at tourism, it's the same story. 
 
Since the Quayside cruise terminal opened in 2013, Townsville shops and restaurants have benefited from the visiting passengers. 
 
But if the access channel remains at its current narrow size, by 2020, three of every five cruise ships will have to go somewhere else. 
 
Back in the 2015 Budget, the current Government set up the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund. 

The money has sat unused ever since then. 

So what we intend to do, and Jason Clare who is here today has been working hard on this policy, is that we intend to put a billion dollars into what we call our Northern Australia Tourism Infrastructure fund. 

We want to make sure that visitors can visit your part of Australia and they get the best facilities, they stay as long as they possibly can and they keep returning because of the positive experience.

And when I talk about infrastructure, what we intend to make clear as well is if there's Commonwealth money attached to infrastructure projects, we're going to require that one in every 10 people working on these projects is an Australian apprentice.

And this goes to what I think is another priority beyond infrastructure tourism and water security, it is TAFE and training. 

We intend to renovate campuses, and we are able to because we're not giving tax cuts to big banks, provide the upfront fee payment for 100,000 apprentices across Australia in the first three years of a Labor Government.

We don't want young people to have to move to Brisbane or Sydney or Melbourne to learn a trade or to find an apprenticeship. 

But what we're also going to do, one of the most common refrains I hear in north Queensland is people feel that everything is going up except their wages. So we are going to restore the penalty rates for the nearly 13,000 people in Townsville who've had them cut.

Arbitrarily cutting penalty rates doesn't help an economy, it just closes wallets, it closes purses. 

When you look at retail and hospitality, they're two of the biggest employers in Townsville. And when you stop to think about it, when people on $40,000 and $50,000 have a arbitrary pay cut, that doesn't inspire confidence in expenditure it just dries up cash in the community. 

Of course we understand, that if you want to talk about wages and how people are going, equally fundamental to north Queensland is health care.

We overcomplicate politics in this country - we look at all the big stories. The fact of the matter is, that when you reduce politics for Australians to what really matters, it's about your family and it's about your health. 

We understand that when we properly fund medical institutions such as the Townsville Hospital, and make sure they get the full funding they need, that improves quality of life for all of the people who use these services. 

Now I understand that we're in opposition, and one of the great frustrations of opposition is every day you see opportunities that could be being acted on and we feel they're not being acted on. 

What we can do though, as an opposition, is put things on the agenda. North Queensland is in a sweet spot at the moment when it comes to national politics.

The national political debate is very close. It is very close. That means that if an opposition has the right ideas the government must follow or be left behind at the next election. 

What I understand is that if we have positive policies which we put out to the nation, the government if it wants to keep the votes of these same people to whom we're putting the positive policies, they need to match them or better them. So that is why your visit is very timely.

The outcome of the next election is by no means clear in either direction. But what it does mean is that for well-organised communities, with well-structured, well thought out, future-focused policies on communities and businesses in your region, you'll have the attention of both sides of politics. 

And what I want to make clear is if you like the proposal to widen the channel, if you like proposals about putting more money into water security, if you think it makes sense to make sure that we put more money into TAFE for example, then what can happen is that if we make these choices, if we make these commitments then it can put pressure on the Government to match them before the next election. 

And if you think that what I'm saying sounds a little idealistic, that the Opposition puts up policies and the Government tries to match them, just remember what happened with the funding for the new stadium. 

Cathy O'Toole had just been preselected. I think it was just around the time that Mr Turnbull had rolled the man he replaced and Labor's fortunes were not very high. 
But we came out then, at the end of 2015, and said we would put in money to the stadium in Townsville.

And of course the Government, sort of a bit arrogantly in my opinion, thought "Oh we don't need to worry about that policy, we've got everything under control." 

We made the running. We said there should be a top-class facility for the Cowboys. We set the agenda and by the time the election got into its final week, hey presto. So widespread was the support for this particular policy, that the Government had to match our commitment, and now the work is underway. 

So I want to put to you this morning in conclusion, there's eight months or so to the next election. You are smart being here in Canberra putting your ideas forward. 

If you have a common set of claims from amongst the communities of north Queensland, agreed priorities which are unequivocal, well thought out and well structured, then this is the right time for you to be here putting the case.
If you ask me what I think the important priorities are for north Queensland, in no particular order, but in regards as a sort of collective agenda, this is what Labor understands:

• Water
• Energy 
• Tourism 
• Health care 
• Infrastructure 
• Education 

Making sure that when we have Defence contracts and big Commonwealth contracts that local businesses get their fair share of the action - and that goes for all of the infrastructure
And also making sure we're inclusive, the more we can close the gap with our first Australians the better it is all around. 

And I think the particular proposition which people don't think fully realise about your part of Queensland is you are a defence community. So we need to make sure that veterans when they demobilise have the best possible support. 

So I think if we can work that list of items, that agenda for change, I have no doubt that Townsville and indeed the other towns represented here can do well. 

When you put all of that on top of resources and agriculture, I think there's a great economic story, there's a great quality of life story, there's a great inclusive story, there's a great story about fairness for north Queensland.

I love coming to your part of the region.

And it's not particularly well-known and I'm not sure if it qualifies me as a north Queenslander, but my parents when they first got married back in the mid-60s, Dad was a seafarer, mum was a teacher. The first place that they lived after they got married was Townsville. And my twin brother and I, whilst we were born in Melbourne, I think that process started in Townsville. So I love north Queensland!

Thanks very much everyone.