Free Tools for First Years Expansion
$1000 in cost-of-living relief is on offer to thousands of First Year construction tradies across Queensland with the Miles Government expanding its Free Tools for First Years program.
The Free Tools for First Years program is being expanded to 10,000 eligible apprentices in trades including construction, plumbing, and electrical to get themselves set up for a big career.
Construction apprentices who started their apprenticeship on or after 25 May 2023 can now get up to $1,000 cash-back, meaning they get the tools they need to build more homes for Queenslanders.
This is all possible because the Miles Labor Government is making multi-national mining companies pay their fair share, with over 10,000 eligible apprentices helping to build more Homes for Queenslanders can now get up to $1000 cash back, meaning they will get the tools they need virtually for free.
This program will support our Queensland apprentices who may otherwise find the cost of tools a barrier to entering skilled trade occupations.
More apprentices with the ability to enter skilled trade occupations means more skilled, qualified, and licensed workers entering the Queensland workforce to fill vital roles.
New Emergency Services Hub for Macalister
I am very pleased to have made the announcement last week of the new Beenleigh Emergency Services Hub.
Speaking at this years Paddock to Plate lunch in the new Beenleigh State High School hall that I delivered this term, I was proud to announce that  construction of a new Beenleigh Police Station and Ambulance Station will commence next year.
The Queensland Government has secured vacant land on York Street to deliver this combined QPS and QAS precinct.
Our first response officers, responsible for our community safety, deserve the best facilities, particularly as their allocated strength is being bolstered over the next few years.
We have a growing community and our first responder capacity will need to grow with it.
A key 2020 election commitment of mine, the new Beenleigh Police Station project has been subject to a number of planning and design meetings over the last three years to ensure it meets the needs of the service, specifically taking into account the feedback of our serving operational police.
While the Queensland Police Service has yet to announce what specialist officers will be allocated to the new station, the design will take into account a number of recent recommendations on how police can accommodate the needs of victims of crime.
The Beenleigh Ambulance station is one of the busiest in southeast Queensland and the station facility needs to grow to accommodate the increased number of paramedics and vehicles that are forecasted over the next few years.
An Emergency Services Hub of this size will also trigger a traffic management plan to ensure that surrounding homes, businesses and organisation are not impacted by traffic and the Queensland Government will be working with Logan City Council to ensure the York Street and Kokoda Street intersection will have an upgrade to meet the needs of the local area.
I am proud of the infrastructure that I have delivered in our local schools over the past seven years, and as a former uniformed Logan police officer I am personally pleased to see our first responders now being given the most up to date facilities for them to continue to deliver and improve our community safety.
Satellite Hospital on the cards
We all love our GP but we also know how hard it can be to get in, especially last minute, which means people are often forced to go to the ED.
So, I’m launching a petition to bring a satellite hospital to our community here in Beenleigh so that we can continue to provide world class healthcare to locals closer to home.
Each Satellite Hospital has a Minor Injury and Illness Clinic and specialist outpatient services, helping locals access both routine and urgent care in the community without the need to go to the ED.
Best of all, all care at our satellite hospitals is provided by our mighty Queensland Health workforce at no cost to the patient, helping ease pressure on household budgets in a cost of living crisis.
People who need help that day but maybe can’t get into see their GP can go to a Minor Injury and Illness Clinic, which are run by qualified health professionals including doctors and nurse practitioners.
Open usually from 8am to 10pm, you can go for things that need to be seen that day, but aren’t life threatening such as simple fractures, a cut or burn from cooking, your child might have an ear infection, or a cough or cold.
More than 100,000 Queenslanders have received free healthcare at one of our Minor Injury and Illness Clinics since they started opening last year.
The other part of our Satellite Hospitals is specialist outpatient services which are scheduled through referral by the local Health and Hospital Service.
These services differ depending on the health needs of the community where the Satellite Hospital is located but could include services like kidney dialysis, chemotherapy, mental health services, ultrasounds and blood tests.
Since the end of July, almost 50,000 people have had an outpatient appointment at a Satellite Hospital, free of charge, and close to home.
The data shows they are working.
We have seen significant decreases of up to 26 per cent in non-urgent presentations (Cat 4 and 5) at our EDs where we have opened satellite hospitals.
Sign my petition by visiting melissamcmahon.com.au and join my campaign to deliver more local health services in Macalister.
Skilling Queenslanders for Work
It was fantastic to join the team for Eagleby’s Twin Rivers Centre to launch the new Miles State Government’s second round of Skilling Queenslanders for Work Program for 2024-25.
Since 2015, Twin Rivers has been awarded $7.25 million under this program. So far, they’ve provided nationally recognised training, skills development and job opportunities to 893 Queenslanders.
This includes: 21 community-driven project projects worth $7 million, $180,000 to employ nine additional trainees under the First Start program and $70,000 for employing former SQW participants as trainees under Work Start incentives.
An additional $1.81 million has been awarded to Twin Rivers to deliver three new S.Q.W. projects to assist 106 vulnerable Queenslanders as part of the SQW first funding round for 2024-25.
This includes two Work Skills Traineeship projects, to employ 20 local job seekers as trainees and is funded as part of the Queensland Mental Health Alcohol and Other Drugs Implementation Plan and the other project is worth $1.14 million to employ 46 local job seekers as trainees, representing the project with the highest value of funding for the round.
