November 9, 2017
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington says claims by Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey and Labor candidate for Nanango Ben Rankin that works on the Boyne River Bridge are underway are “clueless”.
Mrs Frecklington said there was no money in Labor’s budget to build a new Boyne River Bridge.
“This is typical of a Labor Government. They really have no idea when it comes to regional infrastructure and regional road networks,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“There has been no announcement of funding by Labor for the Boyne River Bridge, or funding to widen the single-lane section of the Mundubbera-Durong Road.
“In fact, there is not a single cent in the Queensland Transport Wide Bay/Burnett State Network Investment Program (QTRIP) over the next three years for the entire North Burnett Region.
“That to me says there (wouldn’t) be a new Boyne River Bridge under a Labor Government for a very long time.
“I have viewed correspondence direct from TMR which states there is no funding for the Mundubbera-Durong Road – absolutely none.
“It is obvious this important network is a not a priority for a Palaszczuk Government.
“Under a future LNP Government, we’ll make it a priority to get both the Boyne River Bridge and the 11km single-lane stretch of the Mundubbera-Durong Road fixed.”
- External link: Queensland Transport and Roads Investment Program
- Related article: Bridge Already Underway: ALP
Its hard to discern the truth when two sides are contradicting each other without doing some research. Not that it will matter as Labor hold slim to no hope of taking Nanango. One Nation on the other hand….I have been very surprised by the amount of support I am hearing around the area for Douglas Grant. Deb might have a tough fight on hands this time around !
Roger … this is probably one of those all too common cases when both sides are telling the truth. It appears to us that some preliminary work has probably been done in regards to how the highway could be re-aligned and a new bridge built. So Ben is right. But there has been absolutely no Budget allocation made for it, so Deb is right, too. What Deb is saying is that an LNP government would allocate this money. And the election campaign continues …
There is a reason that our area has been ignored by either side being in government for so long. Independent representation. We need a voice in government or opposition – not someone on the crossbenches or trying to be junior partner in a minority government.
I agree with Andrew. The South Burnett went with an independent between 2001 and 2012 and it ushered in a lost decade for the region where we were ignored by both sides of politics. But since we switched back to the LNP we’ve seen more than $100 million pour in from the State Government for long-overdue new developments, with more to come. Anyone who wants to vote against that has rocks in their head. Things will not get better with an Independent – the past clearly shows that. Instead, they’ll get a whole lot worse.
I agree with both Andrew & Rod. I would also like to add that having strong competition will encourage our members to fight even harder for our region. I would hate for it to ever get to the stage where a member has such a comfortable margin they don’t feel the need to accomplish any more than the bare minimum.