Treasurer Cameron Dick arrives in Townsville to spruik benefits of $10m DriveIt investment
The finish line is in sight for Townsville’s highly touted DriveIt motorsports complex, with a large expected economic windfall expected by the state government.
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The finish line is finally in sight for Townsville’s $22.4m motorsports hub at Lansdown.
Queensland treasurer Cameron Dick visited the site near Calcium on Wednesday in order to spruik the economic benefits that they envision resulting from their $10m commitment to complete the project’s final stages.
“They say if you’ll build it, they’ll come, and what we see here at DriveIt NQ is something that’s making a big difference to this community. I want to acknowledge Pat (Driscoll) and Greg (Fitzgerald) for their vision, they had a vision for what motorsport could be in this region,” Mr Dick said.
Mr Dick said that in addition to DriveIt’s potential as a motorsports event location, it was also providing valuable training to young drivers and emergency services.
“Put simply, it’s helping NQ drive better. We know that because of the young people that are being trained here and are learning to drive and being supported by this facility. It’s helping advanced driving skills - our emergency services and first responders are doing advanced driving skills here,” Mr Dick said.
The completion of the facility’s drag strip, and upgrades to the existing road infrastructure to allow easier, quicker entry, are still yet to finalise, but DriveIt NQ Director and Chairman and Mr Dick both agreed the work would enter it’s final stages this year, and would provide a sizeable boost to the NQ economy.
“This facility has huge economic importance to NQ, there are businesses that are supported because of this facility that are the heart and soul of motorsports in NQ. When DriveIt’s full vision is realised, that will contribute more than $30m each year to the economy in North Queensland,” Mr Dick said.
Mr Driscoll said the return for the total $22.4m invested across all three levels of government was ‘remarkable’.
“To be able to show it to the treasurer today is a great honour,” Mr Driscoll said.
“The team behind DriveIt have been dedicated for nearly two decades. I’ve lost all my hair and Greg’s started to go grey in that time. There’s a whole community behind this, because there’s a whole community who will benefit from it.
“The money from the Queensland government funded stage three and allowed us to finish the track. This has been built properly from day one. Delivered on time and on budget.
“In September, work will start on bringing our entrance in from the north, which will cut about 15 minutes off from getting to here and at that point we can bring spectators in and make us really viable, that’ll allow us to deliver the full economic benefit.”
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