Marlborough land grab protest meeting a show of force

The community’s packed public hall was a lonely place for government spokesman and Northern Australia Minister Matt Canavan to be, as speaker after speaker denounced the proposal to take prime pastoral land out of production, which they said would sound the death knell for their small, vital community.

Three local state ALP MPs – Rockhampton’s Bill Byrne, Mirani’s Jim Pearce and Keppel’s Brittany Lauga – were happy to tell the 250-strong crowd they were digging in to the trenches to fight the decision to acquire thousands of square kilometres as part of a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between Australia and Singapore, to enthusiastic applause.

Suggestions were made to strike one of the world’s greatest beef events, Beef Australia, from Rockhampton’s calendar, in recognition of the potential loss of thousands of head of cattle from the landscape, in an emotion-charged afternoon.

It was Stanage Bay landholder Pip Rea who suggested this as well as replacing Rockhampton’s four iconic bulls with a Singapore Army catafalque.

She also laid down the challenge to Senator Canavan, whose base is Rockhampton, to fight for local constituents.

“Are you going to fight for us, or will you simply be the mouthpiece for the government,” she asked. “Put your money where your mouth is, turn words into action.”

The senator’s big picture message of the importance of the alliance between Singapore and Australia and the need to maintain good relations with northern neighbours was largely lost on an audience concerned only with survival.

They demanded a yes or no show of support from Mr Canavan, who spoke plainly in return, saying his government would take the advice of the Department of Defence into account, alongside concerns of the affected community.

The government has commissioned a KPMG socio-economic study into the proposal and hopes to have the terms of reference finalised by the end of January.

Senator Canavan assured the meeting the impact of the proposal on small towns such as Marlborough would be included in the terms of reference, and said he hoped it would be concluded by mid-year.

Commenting on the uncertainty being experienced since people received advice that their land may be resumed, Mr Canavan said he didn’t know how an effective study could be done without first making people aware of a proposal.

Asked whether an expansion was necessary, he said it would be irresponsible not to take the Department of Defence’s advice.

“I haven’t made a final decision’” he said. “I will take a number of things back to government, particularly whether we can make Shoalwater Bay sweat a little more, and accommodate greater numbers.”

He agreed to support the meeting’s only motion, to work towards bringing senior government and defence representatives to a meeting in Marlborough.

Federal representative Michelle Landry was overseas on a pre-arranged personal trip and was not present to answer the many criticisms of her perceived lack of support for affected constituents.

It was left to Senator Canavan to explain that before last year’s election the government had received advice about “arrangements that would lead to expanded areas at Townsville and Shoalwater Bay”.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald on May 6, 2016, former trade minister Andrew Robb sealed the deal to “significantly deepen economic and defence ties with Singapore through an expansion of the countries' free trade agreement and a major boost to the number of Singaporean troops training in Queensland.

It was said to be aimed at elevating ties with Singapore to the same level as Australia-New Zealand relations.

Speakers on Monday suggested that if the effect of the deal on their lives had been known then, it was unlikely that Ms Landry and fellow LNP MP Ken O’Dowd would have been supported by local voters, and the government would not have been re-elected.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was also in attendance at the meeting, and while her counterpart, Senator Canavan, noted that outcomes of the socio-economic study and decisions resulting from that would come from cabinet and not the parliament, she said the proposal didn’t make sense.

“I’m not in government; I’m one of 76 Senators, but the farmers here say there’s another option.

“I’ll put that up when I know about it.

“Matt’s not against this; this is about working together to get the right answers.

“Give me other answers – suggest alternatives.”