Abbott gets a Palm welcome to discuss jobs
PALM Island Mayor Alf Lacey has challenged former prime minister Tony Abbott to visit and host an economic forum for locals eager to create jobs.
Cr Lacey said Mr Abbott recently spent the day on Palm Island meeting residents to discuss the local school attendance rate.
“He was on Palm a couple of weeks ago as part of his special envoy role looking at a school attendance program rolled out here,” he said.
“I publicly called on him to return to Palm Island and give a special economic forum to see how we can help stimulate the economy, talk about new business ideas and prospering the island.”
Cr Lacey said he hoped Mr Abbott’s passion for education included an interest in what students could do after school.
“My point to Tony was what do the kids do after school?” he said. “Investing in the front end is fine, getting children to school, but when Year 12 finishes where do they end up if not back in the community.
“So I put the olive branch to Tony as the mayor of the town and invited him to come back.”
Cr Lacey said he believed the island could host start- ups, joint ventures and other pri- vate- public partnerships created local jobs.
“Mr Abbott didn’t say no to the idea, but I put it squarely on him, let’s not only talk about problems, let’s talk about our solutions.
“A special envoy can play a key role in the Palm Island community.”
Mr Abbott accepted an offer from Prime Minister Scott Morrison to become special envoy on indigenous affairs in August.
At the time Mr Abbott wrote to Mr Morrison and said he would focus on improving education and school attendance.
Mr Abbott did not respond to requests for comment on his visit to Palm Island or a possible return. that