November 28, 2017
South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell has welcomed the State Election result, which appears to have returned Deputy Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington for a third term, and the Palaszczuk Government for a second term.
On Tuesday Mayor Campbell said he had already phoned Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Deputy Premier Jackie Trad to convey his congratulations.
He had also made a similar call to Mrs Frecklington.
The Mayor said the South Burnett Regional Council (SBRC) would directly benefit from the Palaszczuk Government’s re-election through its promise to extend the Works For Queensland grants program.
This program has delivered the SBRC a bonus $9.1 million in funding since it was introduced, and the State Government promised to tip an additional $200 million into it if re-elected.
Unlike other grants programs, Works For Queensland funding is “untied”. This means councils can use it for whatever projects they wish.
The Mayor said the SBRC has been using the money to tackle a backlog of important maintenance and upgrade projects it had been forced to defer in previous years due to lack of funds.
The region also stood to indirectly benefit from a number of other programs the Palaszczuk Government had introduced in its first term, as well as the promised $60 million upgrade to Kingaroy Hospital.
On the other hand, he welcomed Mrs Frecklington’s re-election as Member for Nanango and thought the swing in her favour was a reflection of how well-regarded she is locally.
The Mayor said he enjoyed a very good working relationship with Mrs Frecklington and thought highly of her as the region’s State representative.
While he regretted the LNP’s promise to invest $69.2 million into South Burnett road and bridge projects if elected to Government would now not occur, he praised Mrs Frecklington and the LNP for putting the projects on the public record.
“We need these road and bridge upgrades to continue growing our region’s economy, and as a Council we will continue to press the State Government to take action on them,” he said.
The Mayor will also ask for support from the Wide Bay-Burnett Regional Organisation of Councils where particular projects may also benefit adjoining council areas.
A proposed $50 million upgrade of the Mundubbera-Durong Road which would benefit North Burnett agricutural producers as much as South Burnett producers was one example of this.
