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.

Community sporting clubs in Dawson are being urged to get their applications in for the newly opened Game On grants program, a vital initiative to help our local organisations cut costs and keep the lights on.

Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox, said that for many of our clubs, the burden of rising energy bills is a constant challenge that detracts from the real work of supporting junior athletes and maintaining facilities.

FEDERAL Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox, is calling on young people aged 25 and under across the region to step up, speak out, and have their voices delivered directly onto the floor of Federal Parliament.

The local MP has officially signed up for the 2026 Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign, a national initiative designed to amplify the ideas, ambitions, and unique perspectives of regional youth directly to the nation's decision-makers.

The Federal Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox, has warned that the Albanese Labor Government's heavy-handed rollout of new environmental laws on July 1 will paralyse local agricultural production, leaving regional sugar cane farmers trapped in a compliance nightmare and threatening the viability of local mills.

The Federal Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox, has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with local government leaders and the Coalition leadership in Canberra today to issue a blunt warning: the Albanese Labor Government’s radical cuts to emergency disaster funding will push regional councils into total financial ruin.

High school students across Dawson are being given a rare opportunity to step into the shoes of a federal member of parliament and bring the unique issues of their electorate straight to the floor of Parliament House.

There is a moment in life when private health insurance ceases to be an optional expense and becomes an absolute lifeline. For over three million older Australians, that moment is now. Yet, in a cynical act of budget manoeuvring, the Albanese Labor government has chosen this exact point of vulnerability to launch a targeted raid on the health security of our seniors.

Tax, the three letter word Labor loves most, goes hand in hand with the other three letter word Labor does best - lie.

The Federal Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox, has slammed the Albanese Government for an unacceptable ambush on regional communities, accusing the Commonwealth of abandoning disaster-prone areas to balance its own budget.

Every federal budget should be a structural blueprint for a nation’s future prosperity. Instead, Labor’s latest budget has delivered a grim ledger of broken promises, toxic taxes, and skyrocketing debt that leaves everyday Australians footing the bill.

The wounds, trauma, and broken bodies earned in service to Australia do not come with an expiry date, but they now come with a budget cap.

The Federal Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox, has condemned the Albanese Labor Government’s latest Federal Budget, labelling the decision to place a strict price tag on veteran healthcare a profound betrayal of the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our nation.

There was a time when walking into an Australian garage meant standing next to something we actually built.

For generations, brands like Holden weren't just names on a tailgate; they were proof that Australia possessed the sovereign grit to shape its own heavy industrial destiny.

When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lamented over the death of the Australian-made car, calling it a national "pity," he expects us to ignore the fact that his own government is standing over the body holding the smoking gun.

The law is supposed to be the ultimate shield for the vulnerable, yet in Australia it has become a weapon used to dismantle the hard-won boundaries of women and girls.

The recent Full Federal Court decision in the Tickle v Giggle appeal is a watershed moment, representing a ruling that should deeply alarm every Australian who still believes that common sense, safety, and biological reality matter.

Federal Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox, says the Coalition has announced a comprehensive plan to restore living standards, reward hard work, and protect the Australian way of life.

After four years of higher taxes, mounting debt, fewer homes, and falling living standards under Labor, the Coalition is putting forward seven key policies to restore prosperity. This plan is designed to reward hard work, restore the dream of home ownership, and ensure Australians are put first.

Labor’s Budget of broken promises and cuts has obliterated a fair go for Dawson, while doubling down on its tone-deaf reckless race to renewables and net zero fantasy.

The Prime Minister’s lies will increase taxes, lower living standards and cut funding to Dawson.

“Regional Australians in Dawson are the innocent victims of Labor’s all-out assault on aspiration,” Andrew Willcox MP said.

Federal Member for Dawson and Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability, Andrew Willcox MP, is encouraging visual artists from across North Queensland to apply for the Australian Parliament House Artist-in-Residence program.

The initiative, delivered by the Department of Parliamentary Services, offers a unique opportunity for artists at any stage of their career to go behind the scenes at the national heart of democracy.

As we head toward the next Federal Budget, the talk of "redefining" the economy through changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax is a red flag for every Australian. This is not about reform; it is a desperate attempt to fix a budget blowout by robbing Peter to pay Paul. In this case, Peter is the hard-working Australian who has sacrificed to build a nest egg, and Paul is a government that simply cannot stop spending your money.

Australia has officially secured the gold medal that nobody wanted, our nation now leads the major advanced economies in headline inflation while local families pay the price at the checkout.

Federal Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox, has today slammed the Albanese Labor Government after ABS data confirmed a staggering jump in headline inflation to 4.6 per cent; this leaves Australia with a rate 1.3 percentage points higher than our closest peers in the United States and United Kingdom.

The Coalition will more than double Australia’s minimum fuel reserves to 60 days and deliver at least 1 billion litres of new storage through an $800 million Australian Fuel Security Facility, building long-term resilience against future supply shocks in Dawson.