MP Catherine King defends axing scheme set to fund Southside Sewerage stages

An MP has fired back at claims the government has left $10.5m of Gympie council projects in the lurch, saying the coalition had only itself to blame.

Infrastructure Minister Catherine King has defended the federal government’s decision to axe a funding stream which was to pay for part of Southside Sewerage scheme and a waste transfer station at Monkland, saying the coalition could have approved the applications itself before the election.

Federal infrastructure Minister Catherine King has fired back at criticism over the axing of a funding stream which has left the Southside Sewerage scheme in the lurch.

The government drew criticism from Wide Bay MP Llew O’Brien this week, who said the decision to terminate the Building Better Regions fund showed “contempt” for the organisations who had applied for the latest round.

This included Gympie Regional Council which was seeking $10.5m in funding from the government.

The bulk of this, $7.5m, was for a proposed waste transfer station at Monkland.

However the council was also requesting $2.95m to help it deliver more stages of the long delayed Southside Sewerage scheme.

The rollout of the scheme started in 2011 but it was put on hold between 2018 and 2022 due to cost concerns despite not even having reached the halfway point.

Gympie Regional Council had applied for $2.95m under the Building Better Regions fund for stages of the delayed Southside Sewerage program. The fund was scrapped before a decision had been made on the applications.

Mr O’Brien said these organisations had “put a lot of time and energy” into their applications and “to have them dismissed … shows utter contempt by the Labor government”.

Mrs King rejected the claim, saying the ousted coalition government needed to bear the blame.

“Mr O’Brien is correct in acknowledging that the Government decided, after careful consideration, to close the Building Better Regions Fund,” Mrs King said.

“Mr O’Brien fails to mention that the previous Government had plenty of time to assess the applications (which closed in February), fund the projects and finalise the round, but decided instead to go to an election.

“What is utterly contemptuous is that Coalition MPs were misleading their voters about the status of projects which were simply election promises.”

She said an Australian National Audit Office report into the scheme in July “found serious issues with the way the previous government of which he was a part administered the program”.

Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said the decision to scrap the Building Better Regions fund followed a National Audit Office report which “found serious issues” with how the scheme had been administered under the previous coalition government.

The federal Labor government had accused the coalition of using the fund for “pork-barrelling” seats it held.

“The former government actively ignored grant guidelines and departmental merit recommendations, and those decisions led to National Party seats getting more in grants than if the proper process had been followed,” Mrs King said.

“We appreciate the time and effort taken to develop applications for BBRF Round 6.

“Community groups and local councils are encouraged to consider applying to the new Growing Regions Program which was announced in the Budget.

“The program will open for applications in early 2023 and applications will be assessed in a timely way and according to program guidelines.”

Gympie Regional Council did not respond to a request for comment about the federal government’s decision or the future of the two projects.

Three stages of the scheme was resurrected by the council on the back of state government funding this year.

Six stages of the program remain in limbo.