Movember; Mount Cotton Driver Training Facility; Faith Lutheran College, Crossing Guard
Mr DOWLING (Redlands —LNP) (11.25 pm): Tonight I rise to commend all members who have taken part in the Movember campaign. Some men can wear a moustache. Sadly, I am not one of them.
I apologise for the sad growth on my top lip and assure members that it will be going very soon. Each year Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in Australia and around the world with the sole aim of raising vital funds and awareness of men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and depression. Men sporting moustaches in November—or Movember— are known as Mo Bros. The become walking billboards for the month of November and, through their actions and words, they raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation, ridicule and humour around the often ignored issue of men’s health. Tonight I encourage all members to consider thinking about their mental health and perhaps a colonoscopy. No-one ever died from embarrassment,but plenty of people have died from prostate cancer.
On an unrelated subject, I would also place on the record a concern locally about the future use of the Mount Cotton driver training facility. Just this week the Queensland Police Service has relocated its driver training activities to its new facility at Wacol. I would ask the Minister for Transport what the future holds for one of the best driving facilities in the Southern Hemisphere. The staff who live nearby and who work in that complex are very, very concerned about their future.
The site has been used to train police, fire officers, ambulance officers, Australia Post employees,students via the Rotary Clubs using the rider program, defensive-driving courses and drive days. What is to become of this site? What is probably required is for the minister to return certainty to the Queensland Transport staff who manage that facility and outline how that site will remain a vital and viable road safety tool in Queensland.
On a separate road safety issue, it has been brought to my attention—and I will be writing to both the Minister for Transport and the Minister for Education and Training about this matter and seeking some support—the need to have a lollipop person, or a crossing guard for the duration of roadworks in front of Faith Lutheran College on Cleveland-Redland Bay Road. The school’s parents and friends committee has raised this issue with me. Owing to the changing road conditions, the parents and friends committee is very concerned about how the students get across Cleveland-Redland Bay Road at Thornlands. I would be asking the ministers if they would support that proposal for the duration of those roadworks.