Bruce Hwy north of Gympie to be dug up for third time in 3 years

The Transport Minister has accused Gympie MP Tony Perrett of trying to distract Gympie flood victims from their much-smaller payouts, after Mr Perrett revealed the Bruce Hwy north of Gympie was about to be dug up for the third time in three years.

A stretch of Bruce Highway north of Gympie will be dug up for the third time in almost three years over the next two weeks, starting Sunday, March 20.

The Transport Department will be undertaking interim repairs on sections of the highway at Chatsworth.

“The road is atrocious and extremely dangerous,” Gympie MP Tony Perrett said.

“I’m concerned it will be another band-aid solution. They’ve admitted the repairs are only interim and they will only be fixing damage from recent weather events. The road was in serious disrepair long before the rain even started failing.”

Mr Perrett said he wrote to Transport Minister Mark Bailey six weeks ago, saying the condition of the Bruce Highway from Two Mile School to Fisherman’s Pocket Road, Chatsworth was “extremely dangerous”.

“I wrote again on 9 March saying the condition has deteriorated further and that it was appalling,” Mr Perrett said.

Gympie MP Tony Perrett wonders if any of the Bruce Highway from Brisbane to Cairns is safe from the plague of potholes in the Gympie upgrade reportedly unforseeable and caused by the original Bruce Highway surface. Now the highway north of Gympie must be dug up and resurfaced for a third time (March 2022).

Mr Bailey on Friday accused Mr Perrett of trying to distract Gympie residents from his silence on the “Morrison LNP Government’s failed flood response” which meant Gympie flood victims got $1000 payments when flood victims in New South Wales were getting $3000.

“The incompetent Morrison Government is ripping off Queensland flood victims just like they rip off Queensland roads by giving us half the funding South Australia got in the last federal budget despite us having the largest road network in the country,” Mr Bailey said.

“We’re focused on supporting Queensland flood victims, and fighting for them to get equal treatment and support from Mr Perrett’s federal LNP colleagues, and Tony Perrett should too instead of his Marcel Marceau style silence letting down local flood victims,” he said.

Minister for Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey speaking at a press conference at the Parliamentary Annexe. Pics Tara Croser.

“It’s hypocritical of the LNP to call on the state Labor government to build roads back better when we are actively prioritising flood immunity projects across the state as part of our sixth record $27.5 billion road and transport plan. Mr Perrett should call on his federal LNP colleagues in the Morrison Government to release some of their unspent $4.8 billion Emergency Response Fund, which would give the states more funding to reduce the risk of future natural disaster impacts and prepare us for events like this.

“Scott Morrison has barely spent a dollar, instead letting this disaster fund investment rake in $170 million in interest instead of helping flood victims like those in Gympie.”

Mr Perrett said Mr Bailey was distracted by his “self-inflicted integrity issues”.

“(The highway) was damaged long before the floods,” he said. “At the end of last year there was a permanent and complete failure of the road pavement where cars were swerving to avoid potholes.

“The wheel ruts from heavy transport vehicles were clearly visible in long sections and there were more than a dozen sections which needed repair. It was supposed to be upgraded in mid-2019.

Photos: Gympie’s devastating flood damage revealed

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“Then two years ago, it was repaired six months after almost $17 million was spent on the upgrade. The excuse then was they didn’t know the condition of the underlying pavement. There would have to be a metre high of Departmental archives going back 50 years of a mishmash of repairs.

“It would have to be one of the most dug up, patched and repatched stretches of highway.

“Ironically TMR advised in 2020 it would monitor the road during the wet season to see if the pavement stabilised or would continue to deteriorate under harsh weather conditions. That road has deteriorated under good weather conditions, under harsh conditions, under every type of condition.”

Mr Perrett said it was not good enough.

“The government is not dealing with the problem,” he said. “They need to tell us what it is and what is the fix.”