For too many Australian families, the dream of owning a home, finding an affordable rental or simply getting a place at the local school is becoming harder to achieve. At the same time, our roads, hospitals, schools and other essential services are struggling to keep pace with a rapidly growing population.

Mr Willcox said that the Liberals and Nationals’ Australia-First Migration Plan, which was announced this week, will cut net overseas migration to 100,000 a year for the first two years, before levelling out at around 160,000 in year four.

As of October 1, consumers will no longer be charged a surcharge to use a credit or debit card. For many who like to know the cost of their meal before they head to the front counter, this will be a welcome change.

However, the charge has not disappeared. The cost of processing these transactions has not gone away.

Community groups across Dawson are being encouraged to put forward their ideas for projects that could strengthen local communities, with grants of up to $20,000 available through the Stronger Communities Programme.

Federal Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox MP, is calling on local community organisations, not-for-profits and groups to think about the projects they have been wanting to deliver and put forward an Expression of Interest.

George Orwell imagined a world where the state did not merely control what people said, but sought to control what they could think.

More than 75 years after Nineteen Eighty-Four, we have something Orwell could never have imagined: almost every Australian carries a device that puts the world’s information in the palm of their hand. We can reach across the world, hear different views, challenge what we are told and make up our own minds.

Yet the Albanese Labor Government is now proposing to put itself between Australians and that information.

Labor calls its proposal a ‘Digital Duty of Care’ and says it is about keeping children safe online.

Federal Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox MP, has welcomed the Coalition’s Fuel Price Shield, which would automatically halve fuel excise when global oil prices surge, delivering an estimated 27 cents a litre in relief at the bowser.

Under the Coalition plan, the Fuel Price Shield would be triggered when the two-week average closing price of Brent crude rises above US$100 a barrel, with the measure expected to save motorists around $15 on a typical tank of fuel.

There is no question that immigration into Australia is out of control.

The government’s numbers are too high, and standards are too low.

A sustainable migration program must consider our capacity to provide housing, healthcare, infrastructure and the essential services everyone relies on, and Australians must come first.

But Labor’s decision to target Working Holiday Makers Visa holders is not the answer.

These people filling vital gaps in our workforce are not the cause of Australia’s housing crisis. In many cases, they are living in accommodation provided by the very businesses that employ them.

A coral reef, a cane field, a Bowen mango, or even a cheeky Queensland croc could soon be lighting up the exterior façade of Parliament House.

Creative kids in Years 5 and 6 across Dawson are being invited to submit an artwork for a spectacular projection on the Australian Parliament House frontage during the Enlighten Festival 2027.

Veterans across Dawson have won a major victory, with the Labor Government forced to scrap its proposed $5,000 cap on allied health services after months of pressure from veterans, their families and the Coalition.

I welcome the commencement of new overtaking lanes at Goorganga Plains, which will deliver an important safety improvement for motorists travelling between Proserpine and Mackay.

But we cannot lose sight of the bigger issue facing this stretch of highway, flooding.

The latest announcement confirms that while construction is underway on the overtaking lanes, the major flood resilience works are still only at the design stage.

That is disappointing.

The Coalition will move to stop taxpayer money being used to help investment funds acquire Australian agricultural land for carbon projects, and scrap Labor’s Net Zero laws that are making Australians poorer.

The move would prohibit the Clean Energy Finance Corporation from providing funding or financial assistance to entities acquiring agricultural land for the purpose of establishing tree plantations to generate carbon offsets.

Federal Member for Dawson Andrew Willcox has welcomed the Coalition's plan to direct $1.5 billion from its $5 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund towards rural and regional Australia, helping unlock up to 120,000 new homes across the regions.

Mr Willcox said the announcement was particularly important for communities such as Mackay and Townsville, where housing supply remains under pressure and the cost of renting has risen sharply.

The Government promised its new capital gains tax changes would leave superannuation alone. Now the Financial Services Council is warning the fine print could expose $372 billion of Australians’ retirement savings to higher tax, potentially raising more than $55 million a year.

A hidden super tax.

The Nationals are moving in Parliament this week to repeal Labor’s new firearms laws and abolish the Albanese Government’s National Gun Buyback Scheme.

Nationals MP and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud is introducing the Firearms Legislation Amendment (Repealing Unfair Gun Laws) Bill 2026, with Dawson MP Andrew Willcox seconding the Bill, to call on the Albanese Government to repeal its unjust firearms legislation.

The Bill will reverse the federal firearms and importation laws rushed through Parliament by Labor earlier this year.

Every Australian family sitting around the kitchen table knows the reality, our standard of living is under severe pressure. Since the Albanese Labor government took office, Australians have experienced some of the steepest declines in living standards in the developed world.

Starting in April 2027, the government will abolish the extra private health insurance rebate built specifically to keep healthcare affordable for retirees on fixed incomes. Right now, older Australians receive a higher rebate tier to offset the loss of a regular wage. Labor is scrapping that support to help cover its own budget deficit.

The next generation of regional sporting legends is locked, loaded, and ready to take on the best in the business, with 59 young athletes from across the Dawson electorate securing crucial financial backing to support their dreams.

Under Round 4 of the Federal Government’s Local Sporting Champions program, these dedicated competitors have each received grants of between $650 and $750 to assist with the skyrocketing costs of competing at elite levels.

The decision by Alinta Energy to withdraw the proposed southern section of the Mt Challenger Wind Farm project is a major victory for local residents in Kelsey Creek and Proserpine, Federal Member for Dawson Andrew Willcox MP said today.

Following months of strong community opposition and six months of LiDAR wind monitoring, Alinta Energy officially confirmed the removal of wind turbines from the project's southern zone.

If you put your hard-earned cash into a locked safe every single week for decades, you expect the lock to hold. You certainly do not expect the federal government to turn up years later with a crowbar, trying to force it open. Yet, this is exactly the kind of financial trespass that people across our electorate are concerned about right now.

Federal Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox MP, has welcomed thousands of resource sector leaders, contractors, and innovators to Mackay for the 2026 Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition (QME). Held at the Mackay Showgrounds, QME is the largest regional mining event in Australia.

When managed with care and vision, migration does not just grow an economy; it truly enriches our nation.

It weaves new threads into our national fabric, bringing fresh ideas, vital skills, and a rich heritage that communities display proudly across regional Queensland. From the Italian and Maltese pioneers whose grit developed the region’s cane farms to the industrious international workers supporting our local agricultural sector, regional Australia understands the immense value of a targeted, functional immigration system.