While it is good news to see premature death rates from cardiovascular disease have continued to decline, the fact is this leaves us with a larger, ageing population who are living longer lives with the burden of heart disease and other chronic conditions.

An ageing and unwell population is an increasing concern for us as a community.

It places a burden not only on the person but also their family, carers and the health and hospital system.

One move to keep Queenslanders well and reduce the pressure on our health system would be an increased focus on preventative health, so people can reduce their risk of heart disease and age with wellness.

We want to stop the heart attacks before they happen. It is also good news from the report that we are smoking less and walking more – these actions will reduce your risk of a heart attack.

Programs like My Health for Life, 10,000 Steps and Heart Foundation Walking are great preventative health initiatives and well supported by the Queensland Government.

Continued support for programs like this will help us to reduce health risks like being overweight, inactive or eating unhealthy foods. They will make a big difference to Queenslanders’ quality of life.

The report also tells us that 2 out of 5 older Queenslanders have high blood pressure and 1 in 3 have high cholesterol.

This is a stark reminder to see a doctor and get your heart health checked.

Left untreated, they are putting you in the express lane towards a heart attack.

A focus on the prevention of these risk factors just makes sense. Ultimately, we all want to not only live longer lives, but healthier, happier ones as well.

Stephen Vines

CEO, Heart Foundation Queensland

Labor’s callous decision to close Queensland’s last remaining agricultural colleges will impact our regional economies and devastate communities.

Closing colleges in Longreach and Emerald is more proof that Labor does not rule for the regions and doesn’t care about struggling rural communities.

Labor’s Agriculture Minister Mark Furner is apparently oblivious to the fact that our agricultural industry generates more than $20 billion each year and supports more than 300,000 jobs.

The future of the industry at its contribution to Queensland’s economy relies on skilled employees from ag training colleges. That’s now at risk without training for the next generation of Queensland producers.

My brother attended Emerald ag college and I know how well it set him up for a successful future in agriculture.

It’s a disgrace Labor has deliberately run the colleges into the ground so they can justify their eventual closure.

Labor axed local control of the colleges, reduced funding and refused scholarship plans from the industry.

The Queensland Agricultural Training Colleges are not what they once were, but the LNP knows this can be reversed with funding and political support.

The LNP’s strong track record for supporting bush communities was made clear when we completed a comprehensive review of the colleges and set about rebuilding them after years of neglect from Labor.

We turned around enrolments, introduced local control boards and reformed the colleges’ operating deficits seen under Labor.

The Coaldrake Report was an exercise in privatisation and Labor’s decision to close these colleges is out of touch and out of line.

Labor has never wanted our ag colleges to succeed and it’s failed to help them adapt to the agricultural sector’s changing needs.

Deb Frecklington

LNP Leader