Hinkler MP Keith Pitt slams 2022 federal Labor budget

Desperate Hinkler families will face a painful wait for new social housing to be built as the region grapples with a housing crisis. But it’s not the only way Keith Pitt says the 2022 federal Labor budget has let regional families down.

Desperate Hinkler families grappling with a housing crisis will have to wait until 2024 for new social housing to start being built, according to MP Keith Pitt.

Mr Pitt slammed the 2022 Federal Budget, saying it left local families in the lurch.

“Groceries are more expensive, electricity prices are predicted to increase by 50 per cent, interest rates continue to rise and there is nothing to address any of these issues,” he said.

“Plans to increase support for childcare won’t start until July next year and Labor’s plan to build more social housing won’t start until 2024.”

Bundaberg State Labor MP Tom Smith recently announced Queensland would get 5600 new social housing homes, but did not elaborate on a timeframe or how many of those homes would be built in Hinkler.

Hinkler MP Keith Pitt says work won’t start on Labor’s promised new social housing builds until at least 2024.

“What happens to the people who find themselves struggling to get a roof over their head now?” Mr Pitt said.

The MP termed the budget as one that “will not help the people of Hinkler right now or into the future”.

And while he welcomed a commitment to restoring Paradise Dam, he expressed his frustration that it was ever in doubt.

“Last week media reports repeatedly claimed that funding for Paradise Dam was on the chopping block and Labor didn’t confirm or deny this. Instead, they left growers and businesses with the uncertainty that this vital infrastructure project could be at risk,” he said.

Paradise Dam has received funding, but Mr Pitt questions the funding ripped from other water projects.

Mr Pitt said he now wanted the federal government to reveal when the restoration will be completed.

“Our community needs it fixed as soon as possible and I don’t want to see funding wasted on consultants or reports. It must be spent on the actual reconstruction – I want to see bulldozers and concrete trucks out at the dam – and the sooner the better,” he said.

“I’ll be writing to the infrastructure minister to request a meeting to get a briefing on the construction timeline for the restoration of Paradise Dam and I’ll be pushing every step of the way to ensure it gets done.”

Mr Pitt claimed Labor’s budget had scrapped $4.6 billion in other water projects including Hells Gate Dam.

Keith Pitt says the federal budget did nothing to tackle inflation or the cost of living.

“The Building Better Regions Fund has resulted in a number of important projects across the Hinkler electorate,” he said.

“Is the Labor government trying to imply that the joint Royal Flying Doctor Service and LifeFlight aeromedical base was not a much-needed project in our community?

“Or the funding to bring the Primary Schools Cup Netball competition to Bundaberg in 2018 was a rort?”

He said the federal government had no plan to deal with the source of inflation or to help families with the cost of living.