Glenn Butcher officially takes ministerial role

Gladstone MP sworn in as Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing this afternoon.

Newly sworn Queensland Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing Glenn Butcher. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)

GLADSTONE MP Glenn Butcher was officially sworn in as Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing this afternoon following a State Government Cabinet shake-up.

Following the resignation of Jackie Trad due to an ongoing Crime and Corruption Commission investigation, Mr Butcher steps into his first ministerial position.

During the induction Mr Butcher said his new role would be to ensure the voices of regional Queenslanders were heard loud and clear.

“I know how critical it is being a minister in the Palaszczuk cabinet coming from regional Queensland in a place like Gladstone,” he said.

Mr Butcher said industry right throughout Central Queensland had continued on in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and he was the right man for the ministerial job.

“We will make sure those jobs are secure right throughout regional Queensland,” he said.

“The other part of my role is manufacturing, which I believe I will have a good fit for as I was a maintenance worker at a alumina refinery for 21 years before becoming the Member for Gladstone.”

Mr Butcher said the Queensland Government understands how critical it is to get regional communities back up and running after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We need to make sure we are prepared for that,” he said.

“Part of my role into the future and into the next six months will certainly be to ensure that we get manufacturing where it belongs in Queensland and that is back on track.

“We certainly will deliver on that, the premier has given me her full support to ensure that we can deliver, particularly in regional Queensland and particularly in manufacturing going forward.”