Queenslanders believe that if you work hard, learn a trade and build a business, you should be able to build a secure future for your family.

That’s the promise many workers in our energy sector have relied on for decades. Right now, that promise is under real threat.

This week, at one of our great little independent coffee shops, I met with a local electrician, who I’ll call “Dave” to protect his identity, and ultimately his job.

Dave’s story should concern everyone in Logan. Like many locals, he started with an apprenticeship and built a career helping keep the lights on in communities across the state.

Across our neighbourhood, and the state, tradies like Dave have built businesses employing skilled workers who help maintain the streetlights and energy infrastructure our community relies on every day.

But now that future is uncertain.

Government owned Eneregex contractors have been warned their “man hours’ will be slashed by 50%.  If that happens, businesses could close and hundreds of skilled Queenslanders like Dave could lose their jobs.

These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet. Logan locals like Dave are electricians, linesworkers and apprentices, people who’ve built careers maintaining the infrastructure Queenslanders rely on every day. But they're also dads and mums, they're our footy coaches, volunteers, mates and neighbours.

In the Queensland Parliament, Labor has already raised serious concerns about these changes, warning that decisions being made under the watch of the David Crisafulli LNP Government could wipe out good, secure local jobs, delay new housing, and hinder storm recovery on the energy network.

Contractors and skilled workers are now asking the same questions: Why are good local jobs being put at risk? Why slow down desperately needed new homes? Why let the skills move to other States?

Queenslanders expect their government to back local workers and support the businesses that employ them.

Right now Dave and hundreds like him hold good, secure jobs, the kind that support families, mortgages and our city. But perhaps not for long.

Logan believes in backing local industry and our local workforce.

The question now is whether the Crisafulli LNP Government believes in Queenslanders like Dave too?