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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-28 Daily Xml
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QUEAMA, MR JEFFREY

Ms BREUER (Giles) (15:56): Today I want to pay tribute to a man I call a friend, Mr Jeffrey Queama, who lives in Oak Valley. Mr Queama is not very well at present, and I thought I would use this opportunity to talk about him and the important role he plays in the Oak Valley community, and has played for many years.

I was delighted, at the weekend, to see him on television in Message Stick talking about Maralinga and the Anangu of the area. I was also very pleased to see his wonderful wife, Hilda Moodoo, who has worked alongside him in the community for the betterment of that community and its people and shaped it into the great place it is, which is one of my favourite places. I mention Mr Queama because he is one of those unsung heroes who works so hard and never gets any acknowledgement for the work that they do.

Oak Valley went through a terrible time in the last few years. Mr Queama and others were accused of all sorts of awful things, including bullying, misappropriation of funds, etc., and this was caused by a white administration at the time, and it was an awful time for all those people involved. But Mr Queama, who is a very important wadi in that area, stuck firm and helped overcome and lead through the mess that occurred.

His calm, firm and inspiring manner convinced me to go in to bat for the community, and, thankfully, things are now back on track, they are working well, and it has a very positive future. I know that Mr Queama and Hilda look after the children in their community and make sure they are cared for and safe. I know that they ensure the old people are we all cared for. They ensure that the services are there.

Mr Queama has been on numerous boards, including the NRM board, and he is passionate about his land and land management issues. He has played a valuable and important role in the Maralinga handover and the history of the area. He has played a very important role in all of that. In fact, if he was in a white community he probably would have been nominated for an Order of Australia by now. My thoughts are with him and his family at this time. I want this parliament and this government to know what an important man he is and what a valuable community member he is. I thank him and congratulate him for all his work and effort over the years, and I wish him and Hilda well.

Today I also want to express concern at the situation at Olympic Dam and the impact of the recent mine accident on the community there. Production, of course, has been cut to a quarter. While I still believe that Olympic Dam has a great future, certainly—and I am not concerned about that—there is a short-term impact of that accident, particularly for contractors who are working there. I am concerned that their jobs will be lost, that contracts will fold, and that people have to leave that community. I certainly hope that it can be resolved quickly and normal production resumed.

Mining has played an important role in my part of the state. I am very proud to be part of a government which has had a major impact on mining in this state. We have gone from four to 11 mines from when I first started, and we will soon have 16 mines. The PACE program has been vital in this and has involved much exploration, and the benefits have paid off to all of our state. It has changed the outback from when I was elected. There was little work, communities were shrinking, people were leaving. Now we have hope and we have jobs for the future, even for our Aboriginal communities; there are many jobs involved for them.

It has had a major impact on the Spencer Gulf cities of Whyalla, Port Augusta and Port Pirie. There has been a real estate boom, particularly in Port Augusta and Whyalla. There is a downside, however. House prices have gone up and rent costs for public servants, including police and teachers, have risen. In fact, currently it is difficult to attract police to Whyalla because of the high rents they have to pay compared with what police officers are paying in other cities, including Port Lincoln. I will be talking to the ministers about this issue, because it has an impact on recruitment to our area—which is always difficult, but particularly difficult at present.

However, we have had great results in the mining industry, and I can go into the election campaign feeling very proud of the government's record. I pay credit to minister Holloway, who has been behind mining—pushing and helping—which has made a vast difference to our Outback areas. I also pay tribute to Treasurer Foley and Premier Rann and other cabinet ministers who have been involved in this matter. We can be very proud of our record because we have made a major difference to the Outback, and we can confident about our future.

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