Treasurer Joe Hockey and Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch today congratulated 14 Queensland school students for winning a prize in the G20 Cairns School Art Competition. The students, from years prep to eight, were awarded at a ceremony at the Cairns Convention Centre today, where preparations are well underway for the weekend’s G20 Finance Ministers…
Treasurer Joe Hockey and Member for Leichhardt, Warren Entsch today welcomed news that the Cairns-based Tjapukai Indigenous dance group will perform for visiting G20 delegates. The group is based at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Park which has been operating for 25 years, allowing visitors an opportunity to experience the culture and way of life of the…
Last year, the Government identified around 1.6 million premises in Australia which had either very poor or no broadband connectivity. These premises have been – and will continue to be – prioritised in the NBN rollout. In the Far North, many regional users will get broadband via a new satellite that will offer services from…
**Read the full October 2015 edition of my eNewsletter** One of my favourite parts of my job is coming across people who are having a go, getting out and achieving things rather than sitting back and waiting for them to happen. I’ve encountered a few of these lately which I’d like to share with you. …
**Read the full 2015 October edition of my eNewsletter** I recently attended the graduation of 52 trainees from the Treaty Village Rangers Program at an event at Mabaduan Village on the South Fly coastline, just a few kilometres from Australia’s northernmost border. The program is a key element of the Building Resilience in Treaty Villages,…
**Read my full October 2015 eNewsletter here** Helped open the Cooktown Discovery Festival and launch of ‘48 Days- A Shared History' mural project, ably supported by my beautiful daughter Mackenzie, Cooktown Spoke at the 2015 Suicide & Self Harm Prevention Conference in recognition of the Dr Edward Koch Foundation’s 20 Years of activities, Cairns Launched…
**Read the full edition of my October 2015 eNewsletter** The northernmost part of Australia – comprising the Torres Strait Islands and tip of Cape York – is a remarkable area with diverse and culturally-distinct communities, fascinating history, abundant marine resources, stunning azure waters and white sand beaches. In August, the Prime Minister and other senior…
Ice poses the highest risk of all illegal drugs to our community because of the violent, menacing and irrational way people behave under its influence. At a recent community forum with the Assistant Minister for Health, Senator Fiona Nash, we heard that while ice use is not yet widespread in our region, it’s increasing at…
**Read my full October 2015 eNewsletter here** I’m really pleased to see grass-roots organisations getting support to carry out much-needed environmental work in our local bushland, waterways, parks and recreational areas. The Green Army has been very popular in FNQ, with multiple projects underway in the Cairns region, Mossman and Hope Vale carrying out yellow…
**Read my full October 2015 eNewsletter here** Supporting the mental and physical health and wellbeing of our elderly residents is vital. In recent months there has been a lot of discussion around the lack of aged care beds in the Cairns region in particular. It is a complex issue and one that is often misrepresented…
