Outdoor Recreation Policy Statement (Update)

Response: Australian Labor Party
Hon. Mick de Brenni

Dear Dom

Thank you for your email.

The Palaszczuk Government appreciates receiving your policy suggestions for the 2020 general election.

Your submission will be considered as polices are developed in the lead up to the election.

Following our swift, strong and effective response to the health challenges posed by COVID-19, the Palaszczuk government’s plan to accelerate economic recovery follows extensive consultation with business, industry, regional and community stakeholders.

The policy suggestions from business and industry groups and other peak bodies have been crucial in the development of the government’s plan that lays the foundation for our longer-term recovery, with a strong focus on partnerships, to deliver the best possible outcomes.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic first impacted Queensland, the Palaszczuk Government has taken a sensible and staged approach to economic recovery.

Our Unite and Recover for Queensland Jobs strategy includes a $50 billion infrastructure guarantee over four years and a $13.9 billion program of capital works for 2020-21.

Underpinning the plan is more than $7 billion in recovery initiatives to keep the economy moving and Queenslanders in jobs – ranging from targeted support for industry and small business, to cost of living relief for households.

The plan, and the Government’s investment, supports 55,000 Queensland jobs.

You can find out more information about the plan by visiting https://www.covid19.qld.gov.au/ and clicking on Queensland’s economic recovery plan.

The Palaszczuk government looks forward to continued engagement with you and thanks you again for your considered policy suggestions.

We will be in touch shortly with a detailed response.

Regards

Office of the Hon. Mick de Brenni MP
Minister for Housing and Public Works
Minister for Digital Technology and Minister for Sport

Response: Liberal National Party
John-Paul Langbroek

Dear Dom,

I write in response to your recent email regarding the LNP’s election position on Outdoors Queensland’s recreation policy.

I would first like to highlight that the LNP has a bold vision to make Queensland the economic powerhouse of Australia once again; the best place to get a job and get ahead. An LNP government will implement our economic plan for a decade of secure jobs, to get Queenslanders working again and drag Queensland out of the recession by stimulating the economy.

Unlike the Palaszczuk Labor Government, the LNP has a plan to boost Queensland’s economy. While it is true that economic uncertainty has never been so widespread in Queensland, it should not be forgotten that Queensland had the nation’s highest unemployment, most bankruptcies and lowest business confidence prior to COVID-19.

2020 has brought many challenges for Queensland, and indeed the nation. COVID-19 has placed many Queenslanders under various forms  of stress, and as a result we’ve seen a rise in mental health impacts, as recorded by various organisations. The importance of sport and being outdoors are both widely recognised for physical and mental health benefits, and consequently have been very important to many people this year, as they strive to deal with unprecedented pressures.

Outdoors Queensland has an important role to play in the continued development of outdoor spaces and activities for Queenslanders, and I wish you every success for your work. The LNP, in a Deb Frecklington LNP Government, would value your contributions and policy input.

Kind Regards,

John-Paul Langbroek

Office of JP Langbroek MP, Member for Surfers Paradise
Shadow Minister for Sport and Racing
Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs
Shadow Minister for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games’ Candidature
Tel: (07) 5600 2100
PO Box 80, Isle of Capri QLD 4217
www.jplangbroek.com.au

Response: The Greens
Michael Berkman, MP Maiwar

Dear Dom,

Thank you for your email of 24 September 2020, outlining Outdoors Queensland’s priorities for the 2020 Queensland state election.

For your reference, the Queensland Greens election platform for the 2020 State Election is online at: https://greens.org.au/qld/plan . Our long-standing broader policy platform is here: https://greens.org.au/qld/policies .

The Queensland Greens support a significant investment into government services and infrastructure as part of Queensland’s COVID-19 recovery. We have a fully costed plan to create thousands of good secure jobs and fully fund health, education and public infrastructure funded by making big mining corporations, banks and developers pay their fair share in tax.

As I’m sure you would understand, if the Greens find ourselves in a balance-of-power scenario there is an enormous list of competing priorities, and the final decision on any negotiated outcome rests with the party as a whole. Many of the priorities you have identified align with our agenda. Our Plan sets out what our priorities would be.

Free sport for kids
The Greens’ policy on Sport and Physical Recreation is here . We’ve also released an initiative to fund free club sport for every single child in Queensland: https://greens.org.au/qld/freesport . Our plan to fund free sport for kids would be the largest ever injection of funding for organised sport in Queensland history.

Right now the average cost of club sport in Queensland is $755 a year, and a family with three children can end up paying thousands of dollars a year just so their kids can play soccer or rugby. For many parents that’s just too much.

As a result, children from low-income families are close to 50% less likely to participate in sport outside of school hours. Free club sport would change hundreds of thousands of children’s lives for the better, save families thousands of dollars and inject hundreds of millions of dollars into our local community sports clubs at a time when they desperately need it.

Our plan would:

• Guarantee all Queenslanders under-18 a free season of organised sport every year by covering all registration costs, paid directly to clubs;
• Provide $10,000 grants to sports clubs to help upgrade facilities, recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and handle the extra registrations that will come with free sport; and
• Give parents $150 rebate for the purchase of sports equipment.

Free sport would make sure every Queensland child has the right to play organised sport regardless of their parents’ ability to pay and would increase participation by as much as 50%.

Fully funding our public schools
In relation to your requests about outdoor education, the Queensland Greens have a plan to fully fund Queensland’s public schools . Right now Queensland state schools only receive 88% of their total needs-based funding, while both independent and catholic schools receive over 100%. Queensland State schools are the most underfunded State schools in the country because the Queensland Government
only provides 69.26% of the benchmark funding levels – the worst proportion in the country.

We would commit $8 billion to fix this funding gap and make every school a brilliant school with smaller class sizes, better resources and higher quality education, including outdoor education. This plan would take the pressure off schools and allow them to deliver a fully rounded education with enough resources for outdoor education, sport and the arts.

Improving and expanding national parks and protected areas

The Greens strongly support expanding Queensland’s protected area estate including national parks, aiming for a total of 17% of the State. Queensland is well short of this international benchmark. I’ve been working alongside peak advocacy organisations to push the government to make the necessary investment to meet its own targets.

I was disappointed to see that the government’s recently announced Protected Area Strategy did not include measurable targets and fell short of the annual $135 million funding commitment which the Queensland Conservation Council and others have been pursuing.

As well as expanding the protected area estate, I strongly support improving accessibility in our national parks and making sure QPWS rangers have the resources they need to manage our natural assets.

We are happy to support the commitments you are seeking in your document.

Thank you again for sharing your priorities with us.

I hope that this information is of assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact my office on 07 3737 4100 if you would like to discuss this matter in more detail.

Kind regards,
Michael Berkman MP