January 29, 2015
The Local Government Association of Queensland has warned voters against electing a hung Parliament at Saturday’s State election.
The LGAQ said today such an outcome was likely to “endanger the task of ensuring timely and sustainable infrastructure planning and building programs for the regions”.
President Margaret de Wit said a hung Parliament would likely mean increased uncertainty for regional communities relying on continued infrastructure investment to underpin their economic growth.
Based on the stated policies and messages of the two major parties during the election campaign, Cr de Wit said she was more confident local government could work to implement the infrastructure commitments of a returned LNP government.
“But I say that on the condition that it demonstrate genuine respect for the sector by working with us to ensure better long-term planning and funding for local infrastructure investment,” she said.
“What local government definitely doesn’t want to see after Saturday is the chaos that a hung Parliament would bring to the State.
“Regional economies will always remain vulnerable to bad decisions made in George St and a government with no clear majority or mandate will all but guarantee those decisions will multiply.”
Cr de Wit said local councils were keen to work with whichever party won government on Saturday.
“But the policy key for local government will always be about certainty, about planning and about infrastructure investment,” she said.
