Bruce Hwy funding: Qld govt to fast-track plans
The federal government has called out Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s refusal to match Labor’s $7.2bn funding pledge for the Bruce Highway ahead of the looming election.
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The federal government has called out Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s refusal to match Labor’s $7.2bn funding pledge for the Bruce Highway ahead of the looming election.
Mr Dutton in September confirmed he would, if elected, reinstate the 80:20 funding arrangement for all federal highways in Queensland.
However, he is yet to place a figure on any future Bruce Highway upgrades.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday committed to an 80:20 split, putting $7.2bn on the table, with Queensland Premier David Crisafulli confirming the state was ready to chip in its 20 per cent, or $1.8bn.
Queensland Senator Murray Watt said Mr Dutton was unprepared to offer set funding for the Bruce due to the number of LNP seats across the state.
“Peter Dutton arrogantly thinks he can ignore Queenslanders’ needs, simply because he holds so many Queensland seats,” he said.
The Coalition currently holds 21 federal seats compared to Labor’s five.
Mr Dutton on Tuesday said the Prime Minister’s $7.2bn commitment made on the eve of the election showed he was “panicking about losing more seats in Queensland”.
“He had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the Coalition’s position on the Bruce Highway – which I outlined last September – of an 80:20 funding split,” he said.
“The fact is this is an announcement which should have been made two years ago and not on the eve of the election.”.
Federal Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor, in a press conference on Monday, said the Opposition wanted to see “the details” before matching the $7.2bn.
“We do want to see upgrade investment in the Bruce Highway, but we also want to see the details of when this money is going to be spent,” he said.
“We want to see that it’s genuine investment in upgrading the Bruce Highway, and we’ll make a decision as to whether we support it, or indeed there is an alternative, when we see those details.
“We haven’t seen those details as yet.”
The state government will fast-track plans to upgrade the Bruce Highway, with the first works along the deadly road to be included in the June budget.
Premier David Crisafulli said the state government would put $1.8bn towards lifting the entire 1673km stretch of road to a minimum three-star rating after the federal government announced it would contribute $7.2bn to the $9bn project.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday travelled to Queensland to announce the historic investment.
Mr Albanese said it was the only project which the federal government would revert to the old 80-20 federal-state infrastructure cost split after it was changed to 50-50 in 2022.
The huge win for Queensland follows The Courier-Mail’s Help Our Highway campaign, which launched in April last year, revealing more than half the Bruce failed basic safety standards, calling for significant investment to fix it.
Premier David Crisafulli said there was urgent planning to be done and that he had already arranged a meeting with Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg and his director-general.
“I spoke to the Prime Minister yesterday, and the short answer is, of course, this 80-20 funding was always a non-negotiable for us,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“Queensland will be spending our 20 per cent and the projects will be done in a disciplined and methodical way, and by doing that, we can deliver more road for the money that’s allocated.”
Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton previously committed to an 80-20 funding split for the $9bn package.
Mr Crisafulli said the state government had successfully bargained for the funding, dismissing questions about the timing of the announcement and the looming federal election.
“If it is, it’s a win for Queensland,” he said.
“No matter who wins the next federal election, the Bruce Highway will finally be funded.”
Mr Crisafulli refused to be drawn on which sections of the Bruce Highway he would like to see upgraded first, with the funding to be staggered over four years.
“We want to make sure that we deliver each and every year,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“Of course, we will, but there has to be projects that begin this calendar year.”
However, when asked whether there was a timeline for upgrading the deadly stretch between Gympie and Tiaro to four lanes, Mr Albanese said he had discussed that with Mr Crisafulli on Sunday.
“He certainly agreed Maryborough to Benaraby … was the first thing he’d identify as a priority,” Mr Albanese said.
He said the state government “already has a program that was worked out … the total expenditure of that was $9 billion to lift the whole up to that level three (star rating) of safety”.
“That’s where our $7.2 billion commitment comes from, but we want to roll out as much works as possible as soon as possible.”
Forty-three people died on the highway in 2024, almost a 40 per cent increase on the annual five-year average of 31.
Stakeholder groups including RACQ, the Queensland Farmers Federation, Queensland Trucking Association, Local Government Association of Queensland, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Queensland and the Queensland Tourism Council welcomed the funding announcement.
RACQ chief executive David Carter said the road in its current state was unforgiving if one driver made a mistake.
“Moving from two stars to three stars is a good first step that will likely reduce the volume of fatal and serious injury accidents by more than half,” he said.
“We then need to see sections of the road continuously invested in to get to four, potentially five stars, but certainly to four.”
Mr Carter said the Bruce Highway was going to take a long time to get to the full four and five stars across its full length.
“The reality is, the Bruce Highway getting to three stars is estimated to take seven years, so from this year through to 2032, to continue to upgrade, presumably it will need to happen outside of that,” he said.
“So we are looking at many, many years and we know that will create some disruption in areas that are subject to the works, but the result will be worth it.”
Mr Carter said the sections that needed to be looked at first were in Central and North Queensland and just north of Gympie to Maryborough.
The Australasian College of Road Safety are calling for the government to publicise the road star ratings for sections of the Bruce Highway as they are upgraded to ensure transparency.
“We urge all governments to prioritise evidence-based road safety measures, ensuring that this and future investments are implemented swiftly to prevent avoidable deaths and injuries,” ACRS chief executive Dr Ingrid Johnston said.
The Australian Road Assessment Program has rated 45.2 per cent of the Bruce Highway as two stars out of five for safety, 44.1 per cent as three stars and only 10 per cent as extremely safe.
The worst rated parts of the highway include stretches from Childers to Gin Gin, Mackay to Proserpine and Gin Gin to Miriam Vale, Sarina to Mackay.
LGAQ chief executive Alison Smith said on behalf of local councils they would continue to advocate for a return to the 80-20 model on all other major roads.
“The Bruce Highway, returning to 80-20 is a great acknowledgment of the need for this funding model so as to enable a fair funding outcome to Queensland,” she said.
“Queensland is the most decentralised mainland state.
“Queensland is the most disaster-prone state and it relies heavily on safe roads.”
Australian Automobile Association director Michael Bradley said while the AAA was pleased this funding was being provided, the real victory was that Australians were now hearing decision-makers using AusRAP data to justify road funding decisions.
“Until last year AusRAP data and a large amount of other road safety data held by states and territories was kept secret,” he said.
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