Andrew Willcox calls for Bruce Highway funding to return to 80/20 split

A new campaign is pushing to revert the funding model for Bruce Highway upgrades back to a 80-20 split between the state and federal governments.

Dawson MP Andrew Willcox has launched a campaign calling for the return of 80:20 federal and state government funding for Bruce Highway road projects. He was joined at the campaign launch by transport business owner John Warren (left) who is concerned for the safety of his drivers and the costs from the damage the highway does to his trucks. “I spend in excess of $40,000 per month in fuel tax and $12,000 per truck in road registration," Mr Warren said. "We have to have roadworthy trucks, how about some truck-worthy roads.” Picture: Contributed

A North Queensland MP is campaigning to revert the funding model for Bruce Highway upgrades back to a 80-20 split between the federal and state governments.

Dawson MP Andrew Willcox is urging Australians to sign his ‘Back our Bruce, Back our People’ petition to send a message to “those who currently have the power … (to) make the highway safer” by scrapping the newly-introduced 50-50 funding ratio, a call that has the support of RACQ.

Mr Willcox’s campaign launch comes just days before a three-vehicle crash on the Bruce Hwy at Bloomsbury in his electorate that could only be described as carnage with two people left fighting for life.

The federal Liberal MP’s push to make the Albanese government pay more for road projects is echoed by Queensland Labor MPs with Transport and Main Roads Minister Bart Bellish vowing in senate estimates this week he would “continue to advocate every day for a return to the historical 80-20 funding arrangements”.

Mr Mellish said the state government was investing $6bn on the Bruce with $250m per year from 2027 but the federal government’s funding changes had “exacerbated” challenges to delivering projects in a “global inflationary environment”.

Dawson MP Andrew Willcox has launched a campaign calling for the return of 80:20 federal and state government funding for Bruce Highway road projects. He was joined at the campaign launch by transport business owner John Warren (left) who is concerned for the safety of his drivers and the costs from the damage the highway does to his trucks. “I spend in excess of $40,000 per month in fuel tax and $12,000 per truck in road registration," Mr Warren said. "We have to have roadworthy trucks, how about some truck-worthy roads.” Picture: Contributed

New road safety data has revealed stretches of the Bruce from Rockhampton to St Lawrence, Townsville to Ingham and St Lawrence to Mackay were the deadliest with an average of 15, 14.2 and 14.6 deaths per 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled in each of the respective stretches.

Mr Willcox, along with Wide Bay MP Llew O’Brien, have this week both criticised having to file a freedom-of-information request to expose the poor safety ratings of Queensland roads.

“It certainly did paint a very horrible, poor picture,” Mr O’Brien said as he called for states and territories to stop hoarding information about road design, ratings, and causal factors of crashes.

“We had 1237 people lose their lives last year (in road fatalities) and we still have around 40,000 people every year being seriously injured,” he said.

But while Mr Mellish and Mr Willcox both want a return to the 80:20 funding split, Mr Mellish staunchly opposed the Liberal MP’s accusation Labor’s budgets had delivered nothing for the Bruce in Dawson.

Mr Willcox regularly criticises the Bruce in parliament and had slammed the federal budget as “unbelievable” and “disastrous” with “absolutely nothing” for his section of the highway, earning a retort from Mr Mellish.

“The federal Member for Dawson knows full well the Miles and Australian Labor Governments are funding the $470m Goorganga Floodplain flood immunity upgrade project, announced as part of this year’s budget,” Mr Mellish responded.

“It’s part of more than $1bn in road projects in the Mackay Whitsunday region over the next four years including the Mackay Ring Road, Walkerston Bypass and other safety projects.”