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TREASURER Josh Frydenberg will hand down the federal budget next week and we will learn how much money will flow for infrastructure, upgrades and other programs in Ipswich.
Ahead of the budget, the QT asked all of the cityâs elected representatives what they believed to be the priority projects in their patches.
As the fastest growing city in Queensland, Ipswich desperately needs the infrastructure to keep up the expected population growth with the total number of residents set to more than double to 558,000 in the next 20 years.
Hereâs what they said:
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR BLAIR SHAYNE NEUMANN (LABOR)
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IPSWICH veterans are being given the opportunity to have their voices heard as part of two separate Senate inquiries into the Totally and Permanently Incapacitated pension and Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefit scheme.
The inquiries were established in March this year following significant outcry from the veteran community.
Blair MP and Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Shayne Neumann said it was now vital that those affected by the TPI and DFRDB spoke up.
“Many older and disabled veterans in my electorate of Blair and surrounds have raised these issues with me and they feel the Morrison Government has completely ignored them,” Mr Neumann said.
Local projects tip hat to wartime heritage Ripley Valley State Secondary College principal, Brendan Krueger and Blair MP Shayne Neumann inspect the plans for the school s memorial.
News Natalie Fletcher
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Four new projects have been approved under the Saluting Their Service grants program to commemorate Australian wartime heritage.
The projects aim to recognise Australian Defence Force personnel who have fought for our country.
The Moore Soldiers Memorial Hall Association has been granted $10,000 to establish a peace garden at the hall in dedication to ADF members who served during World War One.
Mount Crosby State School Parents and Citizens have been granted $2,000 to install two new flagpoles in the school’s memorial garden.
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IPSWICH Mayor Teresa Harding has definitively ruled out running for the federal seat of Blair and another battle with incumbent Shayne Neumann for a place in parliament.
Cr Harding, who was elected as the city’s first female mayor last year, unsuccessfully ran as the LNP’s candidate against Mr Neumann in the 2013 and 2016 elections.
It’s understood there was a push from within the party for her to run again in the upcoming election with the added profile as Ipswich’s new mayor after 18 months of administration. Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding.
The LNP has yet to announce its candidate.
Suicide rates among veterans who have not been in combat and the impacts of military culture and hierarchy must be examined in a royal commission, advocates have warned. What we do know is that many that have taken their own lives have not even been deployed, she said. Military suicidality is about the institution and a lot of the time about the abuse of power within those institutions. Ms Morris, from Griffith University, said it would not be as simple as focusing on a mental health issue. It is about culture, but it s about the structural arrangements within the organisation that allow that culture to thrive, she said.