July 25, 2014
Despite a few false starts, South Burnett mayor Wayne Kratzmann was always confident funding would come from somewhere to make the South Burnett Rail Trail a reality … but when the $2 million figure was revealed on Friday, he was stunned.
Looking equally pleased was Gympie Regional Council Deputy Mayor Tony Perrett.
The $2 million from the State Government will be used to develop a rail trail between Kingaroy and Kilkivan, although the finer details of how the money will be distributed between the two councils is yet to be worked out.
It dwarfs the $550,000 which had been promised by the Federal Government in the dying days of the Labor Government but which never eventuated.
Deputy Premier and Member for Callide Jeff Seeney, who travelled to Murgon to make the announcement, said the $2 million would be distributed from the Royalties For The Regions program.
He said the money would fulfil an obligation that had “gone unfulfilled since the railway was closed”.
“As the local Member back then, I negotiated with the then (Labor) Minister for Transport John Mickel about closing the railway,” Mr Seeney said.
“Closing the railway was a sensitive issue. It was something that we didn’t want to do. None of us wanted to do it. None of the councils … wanted it closed.
“At the end of the day we negotiated for $20 million to be spent on the Wide Bay Highway and we negotiated for … an amount of money to be spent on a rail trail, a bit over a million dollars, depending on who you believe because there were different stories around.
“But that money has never been paid and the agreement that had been signed had expired.”
Mr Seeney said the rail trail project would complement the South Burnett’s already vibrant tourism industry.
He said former rail corridors had a become a magnet elsewhere for hikers, cyclists and horse riders.
“I think we can develop the rail trail as an add-on to the tourism industry, something that will complement the wineries, the wine trails, the Bunya Mountains, the other things people come and see,” he said.
The Kingaroy to Kilkivan Rail Trail will be about 89km long, and has the potential to also connect to the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail and the Bicentennial National Trail.
“This could mean a continuous trail that connects Ipswich to the Sunshine Coast with a trail that traverses the picturesque regional communities of Somerset and the South Burnett,” Mr Seeney said.
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington said today’s announcement was exciting news for the entire region.
“This is one of the biggest announcements by our government for the South Burnett and one which will have a major positive impact on the entire region,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“It shows that we have been listening to the needs of the community and are delivering on a commitment which will make a real difference for local businesses and the community in general.
“I can’t wait to see the Rail Trail open to the public and bring people to the beautiful South Burnett. This is a fantastic result made possible by the government’s Royalties For The Regions program.”
Mayor Kratzmann said the trail would bring some of the small towns in the area “alive again”.
More than 40km of the trail will be in the South Burnett, and it will intersect the towns of Murgon, Wondai and Kingaroy as well as Tingoora, Wooroolin, Memerambi and Crawford.
“Without the State Government I don’t know where our council would be in 2014,” Mayor Kratzmann said.
“I had the honour and pleasure to bring down our Budget today. It has a 2.75 per cent general rate increase. Our service charges would have went through the roof without the State Government, without the $10 million we got for the Kingaroy Waste Water Treatment plant.
“That job is $25 million. We were looking at borrowing $25 million … without that $10 million I don’t know where we’d be.”
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For a government and council concerned about debt reduction funding business adventures to the tune of $2 million plus rate payer input seems ridiculous. How many rate payers can remember the national trail and the economic lift to local economies predicted to flow from that adventure. This has been long forgotten bar a few events such as Kilkivan horse ride but mostly consigned to history as a expansive novelty of the times. Can this money be utilized appropriately on real services across the shire. Yes indeed it can. As I have stated many times tourism is a burden this shire can ill afford and a industry that can not stand alone with out substantial public financial assistance.This $2 million directed to Kingaroy’s debt laden sewage or water treatment plant developments, will return value for money to rate payers. This is a high tax big spending council and government out of tune with financial reality and public affordability to pay for this whimsical flight of pork barrel fantasy.
Jack, was your mother scared by a Meter Maid or something? You bitch about tourism every time it is mentioned. In the absence of primary industry dollars (did you notice the floods / drought / cattle crisis etc) and the lack of local industry (not everyone can work at the mine or Swickers), what the hell is wrong with trying to attract outsiders to the area to spend their dollars and leave happy? Tourism creates JOBS. These workers, these businesses pay tax which more than compensates the government for the crumbs it tosses to the tourism industry. $2 million is an enormous amount of money if you are on welfare or the pension but to the government it is just chicken feed. But chicken feed that can have real local benefit. Stop whingeing and start praying that they don’t listen to you or this area will become a string of ghost towns.
Is this industry sustainable without continuous public funding, and should tax and ratepayers continue handing out funds to this industry if it’s not sustainable? Tourism-dependent businesses have every opportunity to pay for and develop these rail trails independent of public funding so why the need for continues public subsidisation. Present your business plan to the banks and convince them to lend the funding needed to develop this project. If it’s financially viable and banks lend you the capital then go for it.
Jack by that logic we would never have had a car industry. And what would happen to all the farms if all the government drought / flood / DPI support was pulled out? Let the farmers go to the bank. If they are profitable, the bank will fund them. And if not, we’d all starve.
And schools, and childcare …not profitable. Shut them down. Have you ever seen the police, ambulance or SES turn a profit? The government wants to make a profit out of hospitals and look where that has got us… Survival of the fittest makes sense if you are a lion in the jungle but it is no recipe for a stable and happy society.
There are a couple of other things you have also failed to think about. The rail trail is public land. You can’t “go to the bank” and get a mortgage over it. And the tourism industry not only puts dollars in workers’ pockets, it also improves the amenity of the area. I like living in a nice area, not a run-down dump. The run-down dump would be cheaper, less taxes, less rates but I don’t want to live there.
Tourism promotes itself as being many profitable businesses combined under the one umbrella or association. Are we to believe this association is incapable of banding together to fund projects such as this,being in their interest with out ongoing public financial support?
Tourism should not be confused as a service bearing no resemblance to schools childcare,public health or natural disaster funding but a collection of business interests.As for the farming community this is the situation they face today governments provide loans that must be paid back interest free or with a modest interest rates attached. Tourism relies on grants that are not required to be repay.
There must be a clear distinction between public benefit,business interests and the delivery of public funds. So is tourism a industry subjected to prudent business practices or a public services consuming public funds best redirected to more appropriate services with in our communities?
You seem to think there is a Tourism Pty Ltd somewhere that is collecting money. That is just crazy. “Tourism” covers a lot more than just individual businesses. It is keeping the beaches clean, putting fingerlings in the dams, putting up road signs and, yes, making the old railway tracks passable for walkers and riders.
The $2m for the rail trail is not being spent on “a business”, it is being spent on improvements to the area that we can all use if we choose to (and if you don’t, who cares?). If those improvements attract people from outside the area (ie tourists) who come and spend a few dollars at local shops, service stations, hotels, motels etc then that is a bonus. And a bonus THAT CREATES JOBS.
So in answer to your rhetorical questions: Tourism IS a public benefit. Tourism IS a service. Government dollars very rarely go directly to an individual business, and they certainly haven’t this time. The money will go to the two councils who will employ people (JOBS) to make the old railway corridor safe. You would only be happy, I suspect, if Mr Seeney had knocked on your door and handed the $2 million to you personally to spend as you see fit.
Businesses associated with tourism, governments, councils and the association itself promote as a industry hence the title tourism industry. To now claim otherwise when challenged proclaiming to be a community service, how very odd indeed.
Will the tourism association and benefiting businesses fund the ongoing maintenance of tourism projects. pay the public liability and other expenses or will all these be added to peoples’ rates bills? I doubt many tourism supporters will step forward voluntary to meet these challengers. Perhaps Mr. Seeney could distribute the $2 million evenly amongst all rate payers and if they desire they can donate that money to this not-for-profit industry association project.