Transport and Planning
THE PETRIE TO KIPPA-RING RAILWAY MUST BE BUILT. The current plans will turn Murrumba into another Logan City traffic mess. See why: Briefing Note re Lucas Proposal, Letter to Paul Lucas and 10 good reasons why the railway should be built.

Fix bottlenecks like the Rothwell Roundabout and the Elizabeth Avenue/Anzac Avenue intersection to improve traffic flows. The current T2 lane road works will do little to reduce car hold up times at these intersections. I believe that the best solution is to provide an overpass at the Rothwell Roundabout, like the ones on the Gateway Motorway so that traffic flowing from Redcliffe to Deception Day in the afternoons does not have to be held up at the roundabout. The run on lane from Deception Bay Rd onto Anzac Avenue eastbound should be lengthened so that traffic can merge more easily.

Similarly, an overpass that allows traffic turning right from Anzac Avenue into Elizabeth Avenue to flow on without stopping at the traffic lights would substantially reduce hold ups in the morning peak hour.

Queensland' s future needs transport and planning policies to deal with rising petrol prices and global warming issues. Alternate energy and bio-fuels are key factors. They will help to disconnect us from the inflationary effects of rising oil prices. They are not the only answer. Alternate energy vehicles that do not produce greenhouse gases need to be encouraged too. Hybrid and electric vehicles should only pay a nominal registration fee. This would be largely covered by the reduction in fuel excise subsidy the Queensland Government currently pays. We wiould all share the environmental benefits

New housing must be more water efficient and energy efficient. Demand reduction for power and water is as important as finding new sources. There needs to be an extensive retrofit subsidy scheme to improve older houses' water and energy efficiency.

Grid connected solar power systems on homes need not push the price of homes up. Energy providers like Energex could fund the installation of the systems and bill the customer for electricity used just as they do now. Excess electricity produced can be fed back into the grid. In this way every time a new house is built we would be adding extra generating capacity and reducing average greenhouse emissions.

Similarly grey water and effluent treatment systems should be encouraged in all homes so that water is used more than once and we reduce the flow of treated water into our rivers and coastal waters. I support much of the Beattie Government's Water Grid initiative.

Health
Get rid of the blame avoidance culture in QLD Health . Even the best medical people make mistakes. While they will always be personally accountable, we need to stop blaming them for errors caused by the system. We need to change the health system culture from blame and avoiding blame to problem solving. Compare the Health System with the aviation industry. Both are complex systems and face factors that mean failure may have catastrophic results. The aviation industry has a culture where all problems are reported and solved before they go looking for someone to blame. The airline system is delivering its services with added value every year. This is what we need in the health system.

Over recent years we have continued to throw more and more money at the health system without fixing it. We need to spend more on health to meet rising demand but we also need to fix the underlying problems in the health system itself.

More community level health facilities especially for mental health. This has proven results in other countries. Stress and depression are major blights on our society affecting many and of great concern for our youth. Many citizens with mental illness end up in our criminal justice system needlessly. All public servants in frontline customer service rolls need awareness training in mental illness so that they do not confuse behaviours exhibited by mental illness sufferers with threats.

Another Hospital to serve the growing communities in North Brisbane and Pine Rivers. The population is growing rapidly here and travel times to alternate hospitals especially for emergency services is a symptom of long standing neglect. Those times will only get worse with the worsening traffic situation. Possible sites could be Brendale or Murrumba Downs both of which have excellent transport access to the whole area from Aspley to Mango Hill.

Education
Free quality Public Education is a fundamental building block of our society and economy. We must give educators the tools to be able to achieve this and then make them accountable for the results. Each student needs to have their individual progress tracked against what is expected for their year level every year. Where a student is falling behind it should be addressed immediately with greater availability of remedial teaching and support for tutoring outside school. In addition English and Maths in high schools needs to incorporate regular brief monitored literacy and numeracy skill testing to help identify students who need remedial teaching or tutoring. It is not acceptable that any students leave school without literacy and numeracy skills that are functional in the real world.

More skilled people for our economy. The first recognized work qualification after leaving school should be subsidised or better still free as an investment in our future. This could be anything from machine operating licences to a trade or university degree. This subsidy should be made available to anyone regardless of age so that mature workers without qualifications can also obtain recognized skills.

Government Accountability
Voters should have more power to direct governments. I support citizen induced referenda and recall of parliamentarians. Parliamentary wage rises above the CPI should require a referendum.

Reform FOI
The protections against disclosure in Freedom of Information need to be reduced. Governments use this to hide their incompetence through misuse of the commercial in confidence and cabinet document provisions.

Better facilities for youth
We need facilities that meet today's youth interests that will help them be better people. We need to show them we value them. Safe facilities for motor sport and a youth facility offering relevant activities to today's young people are important.

The PCYC is a excellent organisation but has not had the funding to keep facilities and activities up to date with the interests of today's young people. I propose a youth facility located on public transport routes and co-located with a Police Beat to encourage rapport between Police and youth. It should have professional management but also offer traineeships to service the various activities so that young people can gain employment and work skills. It should include:

• A fully sound-proofed hall to allow activities such as alcohol and drug free clubbing, concerts, dance and performing arts activities, band rehearsal areas and recording facilities.


• Gender separated gymnasiums.
  
• A comfortable hang out area with video game and large screen TV facilities
  
• Computer facilities to allow young people to surf the net or do some study while still retaining contact with their friends.
  
• Fully equipped training rooms to allow education programs and group activities such as craft groups.
  
• Casual restaurant facilities with an emphasis on healthy eating.
  
• An indoor half pipe skate facility.

I also support the retention of Lakeside Raceway as a club motorsport facility with the addition of driver education programs and motocross riding facilities. Providing such facilities is proven to reduce anti-social behaviour on the roads.

Authorised Terry Shaw 33 Dohles Rocks Rd Kallangur for Where's Our Railway