$500m in Qld road funding disappears from federal budget
Almost $500 million in road funding for Queensland has been quietly delayed and pushed back, federal budget analysis reveals. And it’s not the only area where funding has gone walkabout.
QLD Politics
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD Politics. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Almost $500 million in road funding for Queensland has been quietly delayed and pushed back, as well as another $180 million in water projects for the regions.
It follows the $1 billion in road and rail funding cut or delayed from the October budget. Analysis of the budget papers reveals funding for the state under the road investment component, between 2022-23 and 2025-26, had dropped by $456.2 million compared to the October budget.
Funding for the National Water Grid Fund allocated to Queensland had dropped by $180 million in the same period.
While the government has said there were no infrastructure projects cut, Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie accused them of pushing some projects out to the “never-never”, saying she feared projects delayed would never see the light of day.
Specific projects are not outlined in the budget line, just the total amount allocated to the state.
It was the second highest amount of delayed funding of the states and territories, though Queensland was also allocated more funds over the four years than any other jurisdiction.
The delayed funding is the equivalent of the combined state and federal contribution for two Centenary Bridge upgrades ($224 million), more than the cost of the Captain Cook Highway Cairns CBD to Smithfield, upgrade ($359 million) and about the same as the Brisbane Metro – Woolloongabba Station ($450 million).
The fate of infrastructure projects being delayed or cut will be determined by the 90-day audit initiated by Infrastructure Minister Catherine King last week.
Labor’s election promises, such as $586.4 million to widen the Bruce Highway between Anzac Ave at Mango Hill and Uhlmann Road at Caboolture South, have been exempt from the audit.
Senator McKenzie said the budget did nothing to solve congestion issues in the cities and suburbs.
“We are concerned that the cuts and delays that were written into the October budget are now becoming cemented,” she said.
“Many of those projects cut and delayed in October, we have a very real fear they will never see the light of day under this government.
“There are phases of Bruce Highway works from Brisbane to Cairns that are yet to start construction that we fear will be pushed off into the never-never to fund projects in Brisbane or pushed out to other jurisdictions.”
She said she also held concerns for the impact the delays to water funding would have on the regions.
“Water is wealth and rural and regional Australia. There’s huge potential right throughout regional Queensland, particularly central Queensland, that I think will be the loser as the Commonwealth seems to retreat from water infrastructure,” Senator McKenzie said.
A Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water spokesman said the $180 million difference in water funding was due to revised delivery time frames, which some project completion dates in Queensland being pushed out.
“Water infrastructure projects can often take a number of years to deliver which can result in changes to expected delivery time frames,” he said.
“The $180 million remains committed to projects in Queensland and has been reprofiled beyond the forward years to align with these construction time frames.”
Infrastructure Minister Catherine King was unable to respond to questions before deadline, but Minister for Regional Development Kristy McBain, during question time, accused the former government of having announced infrastructure projects for the pipeline without properly funding them.
“You cannot deliver for regional Australia, you cannot build a bridge with a press release, you can‘t get a new playground with a 30 second media grab, you’ve actually got to put the hard work in,” she said.
“What you did was add 800 projects to the infrastructure pipeline but forgot to add the extra money. You can‘t half deliver a project to people, you actually have to do it.”
How much are Queensland politicians paid?
With the election campaign now well under way we’re seeing a lot of our politicians out and about. But you might be wondering, just how much are they being paid?
Election explainer: What is Qld’s voting system, how are votes counted?
While Australia uses a preferential system to vote, each state runs their elections slightly differently. Here is how Queensland's voting system works.