Your vote counts: Matt Burnett, Labor candidate for Flynn in the 2022 Federal election

Here’s what ALP candidate for Flynn, Matt Burnett, thinks about key issues such as the cost of living and healthcare, and why he says Labor has a better plan for Central Queensland’s future.

Tackling the cost of living, providing secure jobs for our industrial workforce and accessible healthcare are among the Labor candidates’ top priorities.

Currently on a leave of absence to contest the Federal Election, the Mayor and long-time councillor for the Gladstone region is keen to take his experience and advocacy in local government all the way to Canberra.

Here’s how Mr Burnett responded to the questions we put to all seven candidates vying for your vote in Flynn.

Gladstone Regional Council Mayor and Labor candidate for Flynn, Matt Burnett. Picture: Supplied

What are the three issues that you believe matter most to voters in the Flynn electorate?

1. Cost of living – groceries are going up, petrol’s going up, power bills are going up, childcare’s going up. Under this government, everything is going up but your wages.

2. Secure jobs – in Central Queensland, we’ve seen manufacturing jobs go overseas and job insecurity run rampant. Not only has the LNP done nothing to boost manufacturing locally, they’ve also made it harder for casuals.

3. Health – it’s harder and more expensive than ever before to see a GP in Central Queensland and the cost of crucial medicine is out of reach for a lot of people. Anthony Albanese and Labor have a plan for a better future. We will strengthen Medicare, make medication cheaper, make childcare cheaper, cut power prices, create secure local jobs, make more things in Central Queensland, and put the care back into aged care.

How will you address and seek to resolve the increased pressure of cost of living?

Cost of living is the number one issue in communities across Central Queensland.

Under the Morrison Government, the cost of seeing a GP has gone up, rent has gone up, groceries have gone up, petrol has gone up. Everything has gone up but wages.

Labor will strengthen Medicare, making it easier to see a doctor and bring down the cost of medication. We will create good, secure, local jobs by investing in fee-free TAFE and more university places, and by making sure workers doing the same job get the same pay.

We will make child care cheaper so working families can get ahead, and we will make more things here in Central Queensland by investing in our manufacturing sector.

Under Scott Morrison, we’ve seen more jobs and industries go overseas. Labor will boost manufacturing in Central Queensland.

We will also bring down power prices through our Powering Australia plan, which will cut power bills for families and businesses by $275 a year for homes by 2025, compared to today.

How will you make house prices and rent more affordable, increase public housing and reduce the number of homeless residents?

We have a housing crisis in Central Queensland. It’s harder to buy, harder to rent and there are more homeless in our community than ever before.

After nearly a decade in government, housing affordability has only got worse under the Liberals and Nationals.

There is no easy fix, but it does require leadership from the Federal Government.

An Albanese Labor Government will establish the Housing Australia Future Fund which will build 30,000 social and affordable homes right across the country.

We will develop and implement a National Housing and Homelessness Plan, working with the states and territories, local government, and other key stakeholders to address the severe housing crisis.

Labor is also going to make it easier for regional Queenslanders to buy their own house, by providing a government guarantee of up to 15 per cent for eligible first home buyers, so locals with a 5 per cent deposit can avoid paying mortgage insurance – in Central Queensland that will mean a saving of up to $13,300.

And for low- and middle-income earners in Central Queensland, Labor will provide eligible homebuyers with an equity contribution of up to 40 per cent of the purchase price of a new home and up to 30 per cent of the purchase price for an existing home.

With the focus of Flynn often being on Gladstone, what are big projects and issues you will address in more remote parts of the electorate?

Primary Care in CH: We have committed $2.8 million to build the Central Highlands Allied Health Clinic.

There are too many heartbreaking stories of residents forced to take the long and expensive six-hour return trip to Rocky or fly to Brisbane just to seek allied health care such as speech pathology, occupational therapy and physiotherapy.

Not only that, but some locals are waiting up to 6 months for psychological appointments. In this day and age, we shouldn’t be waiting until it’s too late to get locals the wrap around care that they need.

I’ve been working with the team at the Emerald GP Superclinic for months to deliver better health outcomes for locals; this announcement means more doctors, more medical professionals on the ground in Emerald delivering those services that are much needed.

The funding will provide facilities for dozens of trainee medical professionals annually across 10 practice rooms, allowing them to conduct their placements in Emerald and service patients across Blackwater, The Gemfields and the whole Central Highlands. The twin-building facility will include practice rooms, a large measurement and assessment room, along with dedicated training facilities.

Inland Rail to CQ: I’ve supported the Inland Rail to Central Queensland for years because of the benefits it would bring to Gladstone through exports and new jobs. As the Member for Flynn, I’ll be fighting for the benefits to come to all of Central Queensland because I want to deliver more jobs in more industries.

For towns like Biloela, Moura, and Theodore it’s not just jobs in construction. It‘ll mean jobs in operations, jobs in manufacturing, jobs in agriculture, jobs in transport, jobs in resources, and jobs in exports.

So, I’m proud to be a part of a Labor team that supports the funding of a business case into the extension of Inland Rail to Central Queensland.

Fixing the NBN: An Albanese Labor Government will secure more Australian families and businesses quality, high speed internet by expanding full-fibre NBN access to 1.5 million premises.

Under Labor, 90 per cent of Australians in the fixed line footprint — over 10 million premises — will have access to world-class gigabit speeds by 2025.

Labor will also keep the NBN in public hands, keeping internet costs for families affordable while ensuring improvements to the network. Reliable, quality, high speed internet is not a luxury or a nice-to-have.

It is essential 21st century infrastructure. Labor’s expansion will particularly benefit regional Australia, which has been left behind by the Morrison-Joyce Government, by providing up to 660,000 additional homes and business in our regions with access to optical fibre.

Do you support the Mt Morgan water pipeline project and do you support the rehabilitation of the Mt Morgan Mine by Heritage Minerals?

I absolutely support both projects. Unfortunately, the LNP doesn’t.

On the first day of the campaign, I announced $3.5 million for detailed design, approvals and construction support services for a pipeline, which is an essential next step in providing a long-term water security solution for the community.

This is a commitment that the LNP has refused to match. Mt Morgan needs water security and they need their representatives to step up for them. Scott Morrison and the LNP have done nothing to fix this crisis.

I also support the revival of the Mt Morgan gold mine because I support job creating projects in my community.

The Mt Morgan gold mine has the potential to bring secure, local jobs to Central Queensland as well as providing critical minerals to both create things here and export.

Labor backs projects like this. That’s why we announced $1 billion from our National Reconstruction Fund will be dedicated to value adding within the resources industry

I will be speaking to my Federal colleagues about the importance of this project for my community.

Do you support Gladstone being reinstated as a “Distribution Priority Area” for doctors and what other commitments will you make to health services in Flynn?

I support reinstating Gladstone as a Distribution Priority Area.

Under Labor, we have a plan to get more GPs into Central Queensland, by expanding the overseas trained and bonded doctor access to Medicare, ensuring more GPs work in outer suburban and regional centres, including Gladstone.

Labor will do this by designating regional centres as Distribution Priority Areas (DPA) for these GPs.

Labor has also committed to making medications cheaper reinstating bulk billed regional telehealth psychiatric appointments, building the Central Highlands Allied Health Clinic, and establishing a bulk-billed urgent care clinic in Central Queensland, to help ease pressure on our emergency departments.

Over nine long years, the Morrison-Joyce Government has repeatedly cut and undermined Medicare, cutting more than $2.6 billion from the health care people rely on.

We can’t risk another three years of Scott Morrison’s cuts and neglect of our health system.

Do you support net zero emissions and do you endorse the shift to hydrogen and other renewable industries emerging in Gladstone?

I support net zero and the jobs it will create in Central Queensland. Our energy system isn’t the State of Origin – you don’t have to pick between resources and renewables!

I want more jobs in more industries, including the hundreds of secure jobs that will be created through establishing a hydrogen industry right here in Gladstone.

Scott Morrison had three years to get on board the hydrogen train, but true to form he waited for it to leave the station before acting.

I was proud to turn the sod on Andrew Forrest and Fortescue Future Industries Gigafactory in Gladstone and am proud to be part of a Labor team that has committed millions of dollars in funding to develop our local Gladstone Hydrogen Hub and supply chain ecosystem.

Our Powering Australia Plan means two things for Gladstone. First, it means cheaper power bills for families and businesses, bringing cost of living down.

Second, it means thousands of secure manufacturing jobs can be created in Central Queensland, because cheaper power bills mean manufacturers can afford to set-up shop in Australia.

The LNP are too busy infighting about net zero to seize this opportunity. Rather than capitalising on our regions huge natural advantages and delivering new jobs and industries, they’ve played politics for nine years.

They’re saying one thing in Gladstone and another thing in Melbourne and all it’s doing is holding back the local jobs that will be created in renewables and manufacturing.

Do you support traditional industries in Flynn such as coal and gas?

Absolutely – you can’t be the Mayor of Gladstone without supporting coal and gas and the jobs they provide.

Coal and gas have a very important role to play in our energy future and will for many years to come.

Nothing in Labor’s Powering Australia plan or any other policy will make our traditional industries less competitive. As I said before, you can support renewables and resources, it doesn’t have to be either or.

While Hospitals are a state issue, residents are telling us it is unacceptable that Gladstone Hospital is a level three facility, without and ICU unit, will you lobby for upgrades to the Gladstone Hospital?

We need to ease pressure on our emergency departments. That’s why Labor will fund the Central Highlands Allied Health Clinic and Central Queensland bulk-billed Urgent Care Clinic, to ease pressure on our hospitals and make it easier for people to see a GP.

I have secured funding commitments as the Labor Candidate for Flynn, and as the local MP would work closely with the State Government to deliver for my community.

Has Scott Morrison handled this term as Prime Minister well and do you think Anthony Albanese would be a better Prime Minister going forward?

Over the last three years, we’ve seen Scott Morrison refuse to take responsibility and never show up in a crisis. It’s never his job. During the bushfires, during Covid, during the floods, it was never his job and he always blamed others.

Here in Central Queensland, we have manufacturing jobs going overseas, rampant job insecurity and labour hire, and it’s harder than ever to see a GP. Petrol’s going up, rent’s going up, groceries are going up.

But according to Scott Morrison, fixing this is not his job.

I believe that we need a leader that shows up in a crisis and takes responsibility.

I know and trust Albo, and I know he understands the pressures CQ families are facing right now.

Albo was raised by a single mum in council housing and he understands what it’s like to do it tough.

That’s why Labor has a real plan to bring down cost of living. Our plan means cheaper childcare, cheaper power bills, cheaper medication, making it easier to see a doctor and making it easier to buy a house.

Labor wants a better future for Central Queensland.

Should people in Flynn put independents and minor parties above the major parties, and why?

A vote for an independent or minor party is a vote for the LNP. Labor is the only party that has ruled out deals with minor parties.

Labor is the only party with a real plan to help Central Queensland families get ahead and, unlike the LNP, we deliver on our promises.

What makes Flynn different to other electorates?

The people. We’re a resilient bunch working in the broadest spectrum of industries in regional Queensland.

I’m a born and bred local and am so proud of our region and its people. I would be humbled to be given the honour to represent them down in Canberra.