Sean Dillon, Gregory MP (1) -Central Highlands primary producers (15 September)

0:00Rural Queensland today, let's start the show with the member for Gregory, Sean Dillon joining us. And last time we spoke to him, he was en route to the birdsville races a couple of weeks past and he joined me this morning. Sean, good morning and thanks so much for being with us mate. I'm not doing it as pleasure as always. Yeah, great trip out west. Crayo was probably a little bit back, but that was to be expected with the birdsville track loads, but overall a great couple of days in birdsville. Yeah, I mean, just quickly we'll touch on that. I mean, you talk about the tourism dollar. That has to be off the back of the fuel price and just the cost of living, which is a greater issue than what's happening in the bush. That's coming from some decisions being made federally. Mate 100 percent, we're seeing that at a pure tourism level and tourist events, but I'm seeing across my electorate in terms of camp drafts, football games, at this general turn out of the tourism dollar that we'll tourism, which is event based. We're certainly seeing a bit of a softening of even locals and it is a bit, yep, people

1:05have got to drive the price of what they're paying to survive every day is going up. So I think those large events like birdsville, whilst they were still great and well done that people there, I think they're just the same as a small event at common on the weekend, which was noticedably back as well. So, yeah, we're definitely seeing a flow and effect of a number of cost of living issues right across the board, whether it be fuel or all groceries or whatever that may be. So, yeah, definitely, we look forward to what is going to be a tough sum off of some of these tourism operators, but we look forward to seeing some of our tourism infrastructure funding delivered, which might kick off a bit of exciting opportunity in 2027 for all these people through the central west. And that's the big thing, isn't it? You know, we're hearing and talking about and seeing it a lot. So hopefully things can come down a little and that the prices at some point will soften

2:06and we'll get people back wanting to go regionally because it's such a big part of it. All in all, good race meeting though. I mean, it's iconic. You saw a bit of the country. How did it look? Oh, the country looked magnificent. It really did. And the best reflection of that is not necessarily the colours on the landscape, which of course to train, though, is enough, but the stock were in absolutely a maizey condition you'd say from, well, pretty well all the way from alpha, but definitely once you've got past sort of retreat, a retreat, sorry, retreat station heading towards Windora. You only knew that genuine, general country where the floods were this year. It's some, yeah, the cattle have absolutely top notch. They certainly did. Mate, there's a lot happening. We'll start. Let's start with some good news. Coming into the Emerald Sayards, you guys have had a big win on trialling a different class. It's a bit like Rome that you can bring three trailers into the Emerald Sayards.

3:07This has been a bugbear of a lot of truck drivers, a lot of grazes and something that has been looked at and is now being trialled in Emerald. Yeah, we met with the Queensland Lifestyle Transport and the Association and Council and stakeholders before the election and made a commitment that if we were successful at coming to office, we would look to see whether it was possible and what steps needed to be undertaken. And we've worked closely with Council who've consulted broadly within the community and we've commenced the 12th and 12th as of last Friday for the permission for Type 2 road trains to access in as far as Emerald Sayards. And that's going to make a massive difference. Initially, it's under permit hours, so 7pm at night until 7am in the morning. Come Christmas time. We're hopeful that that will be positive and will be received positively within. We're hoping to try between 9am and 2pm as well, additionally to 7pm which will allow for cattle to make care for you.

4:09And talking yesterday with Council, we're also looking at whether or the Council is looking at whether they could perhaps move the care for you at the Sayards to accommodate an extra hour in the evening. So working closely to minimise the number of truck movements, not by that essentially what it is. So we're looking at making the Emerald Downs Hill and moving two truck movements through for six decks to make it to the Sayards, moving through under permit. We think it'll be a win for the livestock industry. Obviously, the welfare of the cattle sitting out there on a holiday, the welfare of the driver and now obviously road safety as well. So is that coming from everywhere from the south, from the west and from the north? Like, will you be able to do that? I just say hypothetically, you're at Rollston or Spring Shore and you want to come that way or is this just one from the west coming in or from the north? This is just from the north at this stage, I believe, because those other routes are not currently gazetted for triple road trains. So the moment the triples can come down from the north to approximately 10km from Emerald

5:14or from the Sayards, we're saying that they can continue right through. There's still a number of issues around the future possibility of type 2s from those other directions, but most of the configurations from there are quite comfortable with B-dolls and 4X, the guys in the north are the sending cattle to Emerald that traditionally send them down in six deck lots, you know, Travis Towers, even as far as, as to your early creek enrichment of selling through Emerald Sayards these days, we'll just give them the opportunity to move that stock a long way in one configuration. No question. Are you, I mean, you're at Alpha, like people realise that it'll be a very handy thing for you to have to be able to do as well. When does that road get gazetted? Well, obviously you're fortunate if you're on the right side of Alpha on the northern side you access it by pulling on and you can do that. You've got to go around, but yeah, but that's a long way around, isn't it? A long way around, mate, yeah. And look, obviously I've said for a long time in politics, as a mayor and a council of

6:15that I genuinely believe we need type 2 road train access from Emerald to all the way west to Meritiser and then only missing link is the bit of Alpha. We've obviously got a number of upgrades, pleading to you for the range and between the range and Emerald. I'll be honest, there's not a time, Braden, I could point to Dobby, what I can do is I was continuing to point to the upgrades that we're doing to the cap highway as evidence that there's a strong chance. And it's not only for cattle, right? Like companies like Follumont, transport, Emerald carrying, all of our freight logistics that move general freight and things like stock feed from Emerald. It's way cheaper for people to do that in three trailer configurations up to 53 and a half meters and I think that's the long term goal. You can't just get into the south as well. The inland freight route has a billion dollars gazetted to or allocated to upgrade sections of that road and from Rhymer South, that's already a triple route. So we're waiting to continue to look at the road safety upgrades that would allow us to do that.

7:17Obviously those roads are in pretty poor condition at the moment. You know, from Springshort of Rolster, New Ingen, a lot of work needs to be done just to make it safe for what we've got on there. But we're definitely a long term goal is to continue connecting the points of the campus out of Emerald to be eligible for type 2 status. When you have that kind of thing happen and then you talk about like an inland hub that you've been working on, there's been a lot of work for trying to get produce and everything from Emerald. It really can be a focal point, can't it? We're going to talk with Kate Petal a little later, the Flinders, Shia Mayor. Your kind of councils and the kind of areas where there is a lot of produce, there is a lot happening and it really can make a difference if you have these kind of access. This is trying to unlock the central and unlocked north. They're the big points that come out of this. Yeah, 100% Emerald is an established grain growing area but the North West is fast,

8:21you know, I'm exposing the opportunities there as well. Moving whatever commodity we tend in the biggest configuration we tend saves truck movements which saves their road network and ultimately there's to make it safer and not withstand the longer configuration. I'm very sure that if we could upgrade enough highways in Emerald to access it from the majority of directions, I think it's probably a bridge too far to see the cap highway to Rocky Enten ever go. That way just purely on the volume of traffic, Delbo, I just can't see that. But certainly to the south and to the west, the opportunity that brings for an additional way out to the local economy and around Emerald is exciting and one that we should be definitely pursuing it all at every step of the way. I absolutely agree. Okay, you talk about how wonderful it is. You got to experience a pretty special night last night in Brisbane which the central Highlands has been doing for some time, which just absolutely showcases what a wonderful, wonderful

9:25area it is. Yeah, mate, the CHDC farm-defined dining event is an absolute must on the calendar. As I said, I've gone to the guys there. It's not often I could come to Brisbane and see Emerald and all of the, you know, there was photos of cattle that can feed light and saw them and cattle in the paddock at the Arcadia Valley and you just go, wow, like this is what our region does and the pride and the ability for people to back themselves through that central Highlands region is next level and the produce that we put onto the plates of people around the world is amazing to be able to showcase it to people here in Brisbane at Blackbird last night. Fantastic, you know, great steak. You know, everything like from honey right through to red meat produced in our patch and when first class chefs get their hands on that sort of quality product, they love it and they turn it into the showpiece night that it is. So we're hats off to CHDC and to

10:26me, Emerald, and all the crew there are doing a fantastic job in promoting the quality of work that our food and fibre producers and central Highlands do year in year out. It's just one of those areas that it is open to everything and it is just a wonderful, wonderful area and you write about just the promotion of it now. It literally is the central Highlands to the world, isn't it? There is nothing that can't be produced, it can't be exported everywhere that is so important to the economy and just helps out the whole area of the central Highlands. Yeah, definitely. I mean, citrus nuts, cattle, advanced wagyu, genetics, right through into the feed a lot at the in the case of AA's operation, cotton mung beans, chickpeas, grapes, I'll run out of the top and top over with dork or boring about the quality of what we do there. But it is, we're at the vanguard, obviously we're looking at further expansion into the bioenergy industry and we're

11:30already with coal, the opportunities in Emerald and what we do to not only feed the world but close them and keep the lights on is well above most local government areas, capacity to punch and we think they've done very well. But taking time and highlighting that and recognising the producers behind that is equally as important as selling a story and I think that's full credit to the CHDC for the work they do in both promoting but also allowing people to take five minutes and be proud of their achievements. Sean Dillon joining us this morning, this is rural Queensland today, we'll take a break, come back with more.