This year will have its challenges, and the spread of COVID-19 (Omicron variant) in our communities is certainly a big start to 2022. The removal of border restrictions should bring some certainty for businesses and also those with family members across borders – a far cry from the outrageous situation in 2021 when people were locked out of their home state by arbitrary decisions made without notice or common sense.

I have been contacted by residents on Tamborine Mountain, Beaudesert and in various other parts of the Scenic Rim in relation to COVID-19 testing, especially the lack of testing centres in our region. There is no testing centre linked to Queensland Health between the Gold Coast and Warwick (east-west), a dire situation especially where the faster rapid antigen tests are in short supply. Queensland Health has completely messed up these testing arrangements, across the board, not only in our region – and their admission of not coordinating planning with private pathology providers until after the massive queues started is proof of this.

They had two years to work through these issues, and in more recent times it was clearly obvious from southern states how the virus would spread – but they still were not ready. While changes to guidelines about getting a pathology (swab/PCR) test mean far fewer people will require one, the fact is our region was completely left off the map for testing. If the Government is going to make these rules that pull people out of work and push them into isolation – with all the stress for families and businesses – they have a responsibility to make the system work quickly and efficiently so that if people are not sick, they can continue to work and go about their lives free of government-imposed directives to stay at home.

ANGST ABOUT OUR ROADS
The Labor Government’s backlog on repairs and maintenance is now nearly $6 billion – the equivalent of about four Toowoomba Second Range Crossing projects (this doesn’t include council roads). The backlog hasn’t just arisen overnight but over many years of underfunding and neglect. This backlog makes it harder to get any repairs done – even urgent things – because the backlog is so long. I have seen on social media a lot of comments about the state of Tamborine Mountain’s roads. I know it is frustrating, and I can relate to this because there are many shocking roads in the area I live in too. When it comes to the Mountain’s state-controlled roads, Main Roads is well aware of the problems – they’ve been told about them countless times by me and others, not just recently, but over the course of several years, including through a petition signed by hundreds of residents. I will continue to fight to get more dollars directed into our district, and a targeted package to give longer-term fixes to these problems.

SCENIC RIM ELECTORATE OFFICE
You can contact me by phone, toll-free, on 1800 813 960, or email scenicrim@parliament.qld.gov.au, so I can lobby on your behalf in Brisbane. In an electorate as large as the Scenic Rim, there are lots of issues and I appreciate your feedback that helps me do my job as well as possible.