Hinkler MP Keith Pitt says he’ll continue to support cashless card

Successful LNP federal election candidate Keith Pitt had still not declared a victory by Monday evening, but he did speak out about the term ahead, a flood evacuation route and an investigation he thinks should be held into one of his opponents.

Hinkler MP Keith Pitt spoke about his win on Monday after being re-elected at the 2022 federal election.

While Mr Pitt had still not declared victory, he said he hoped to continue delivering on the commitments he made to the electorate, including CCTV cameras for Hervey Bay and continuation of the cashless card.

“A Greens Labor Government will be bad for our country, but it’s the decision of our Australian people and it’s democracy at work and I congratulate the new Prime Minister, Mr Albanese,” Mr Pitt said.

“Money is in the budget to deliver those commitments and if we do not receive them, it’s because they’ve been cut by the new Labor Government.

“We’ll continue to fight for what matters.”

The cashless card was a significant issue in the election, with some residents calling for the card to be scrapped, a promise Labor hopeful, Jason Scanes made in his election campaign.

Mr Pitt said while Australia was now under the power of a Labor Government, there would still be hoops to jump through to have it scrapped altogether.

Hinkler MP Keith Pitt speaks to media for the first time since the 2022 federal election.

“It is a legislative position that the trial will come to an end at the end of this year,” he said.

“To change that would require the new Labor Government to put in new legislation into the Parliament, both through the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“I think the results of the election are as clear as they were in 2019. It is strongly supported by the community, it makes a difference and that’s why, within Government, the coalition delivered.”

Paradise Dam was a hot topic leading up to the election, with the Federal Government making a commitment of up to $600 million to cover the State Government’s “shortfall” and ensure the $1.2 billion rebuild progresses.

Mr Pitt warned that the Albanese Government would be in trouble if it fell back on the joint funding commitment.

“That commitment was also made by Labor, the money is in the budget and in fact it was money that was budgeted some time ago and we knew that we would meet that funding, it is committed,” Mr Pitt said.

“If it is taken away, there would be an enormous amount of trouble for the Labor Party.”

Mr Pitt said he would continue to support the idea of an evacuation route for flood affected residents, and the flood levee was never highlighted as an issue on his Labor rival’s campaign.

“Labor never made that commitment during the campaign, even though they were asked a number of times, they made generic commitments about a pool of money but I still think the evacuation route in North Bundaberg is incredibly important,” he said.

‘There’s up to 10,000 people who would utilise it, and we know we can build roads and bridges successfully and I’ll continue to fight for that because I think it matters.”

One controversial aspect of the federal election was Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey’s campaign as an Independent.

Mr Pitt said some ratepayers had come to him with the comment that the Mayor should resign, and that they were were concerned Mr Dempsey was using ratepayer money to fund his campaign.

He remained tight-lipped on whether he thought the Mayor should resign, but offered an alternative.

“Firstly, it was ratepayers who made that call, that is what they put to me,” Mr Pitt said.

“Right across the campaign, I’ve heard similar views and similar thoughts from ratepayers in the region, but I think there are serious questions to answer,” he said.

Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey ran as an Independent at the federal election 2022.

“I think the ratepayers definitely have questions that they want answered and right up until Saturday night I had people approaching me saying what they saw of the Mayor was wrong and there should be a serious and thorough investigation into whether the ratepayers funds had been utilised for this campaign... .

“Other mayoral candidates were upfront, pre-selected in terms of the Liberal National party and were publicly endorsed.”

Last month, the NewsMail asked Team Jack and the Bundaberg Regional Council CEO if ratepayer funds were used to fund Mr Dempsey’s campaign.

Both parties did not confirm nor deny they had, but campaign manager and Bundaberg Council Chief of Staff, Michael Gorey confirmed he himself had temporarily stepped away from his job with Bundaberg Regional Council and that the work was all done “in his own time” and “with his own resources”.

“Yes, I am confident that council databases have not been accessed for the release of the information,” CEO Steve Johnson said.

Mr Pitt said the first thing he wanted to do as re-elected Member for Hinkler was to thank all of his supporters.

“To continue to thank not only the voters who provided their support at the election on the weekend and the pre-poll, but to all of our members, our supporters and the people who worked on booths in absolutely atrocious conditions on Saturday,” he said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more humbled than to see former Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss in a raincoat, in the cold, and the pouring rain handing how to vote cards for me in Hervey Bay.”