Bill Shorten brings election sweeteners to Labor conference

BUOYED by the Longman by-election and prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s downfall, the Opposition Leader will make his power play for Queensland this weekend.

OPPOSITION Leader Bill Shorten will today unveil his biggest power play in Queensland, with a $500 million bitumen-to-bridge bonanza that targets key marginal seats.

Signalling Labor is preparing for an early election, Mr Shorten will leverage the plan to ramp up his regional campaigning in electorates that could determine who takes The Lodge.

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The bumper downpayment for up to 3000km of roads and up to 300 “wider, stronger bridges” will be revealed by Mr Shorten at Labor’s state conference in Brisbane.

Pledging a Shorten government will invest heavily in regional Queensland, the Opposition Leader will outline the 10-year plan, estimated to create 13,000 jobs.

The rescue package, to be funded from consolidated revenue, is directed at helping truckies, tourists and trade, and aims to boost productivity and safety, especially for those battling inland beef roads.

The blueprint will target the seats of Capricornia and Cairns (both marginal) and Kennedy. Next week he will hold town-hall meetings in Townsville, where Labor’s Cathy O’Toole holds the marginal seat of Herbert, and in Rockhampton, where the LNP’s Michelle Landry holds Capricornia.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will speak at the Labor state conference in Brisbane.

Heralded as Labor’s “Plan for Real Jobs in Regional Queensland”, the early election pledge signals work on the:

* Flinders Highway between Mount Isa and Cloncurry;

* Capricorn Highway between Emerald and Rocky;

* Mitchell Highway from Cunnamulla to Charleville; and

* Kennedy Highway between Cairns and Mareeba.

Mr Shorten will today tell the party faithful — still jubilant after the Longman by-election win and the shock felling of prime minister Malcolm Turnbull — that every part of Queensland should get top-quality infrastructure.

“Queensland is the most decentralised state in Australia — half of your state’s economic activity takes place outside of Brisbane,’’ Mr Shorten will say.

“Our plan will get the arteries of regional Queensland pumping again (and) it will make it easier for farmers to move cattle and sheep and feed.

“It will put inland Queensland at the heart of our infrastructure plan. And it will create up to 13,000 new jobs.”

Mr Shorten told The Courier-Mail yesterday improving the networks would make it easier for farmers to move cattle, sheep and feed.

“It will put the regions at the heart of our infrastructure plan,’’ he said.

“It will also mean tourists can better and more easily explore the towns of western Queensland.

“When regional roads get neglected, drivers’ safety gets put at risk, truckies are forced to go the long way round, flood damage is a bigger problem than it ought to be and the same few reliable roads suffer wear and tear.

“This massive project has been estimated to create over 13,000 direct and indirect jobs in Queensland over the next decade, along with an additional $2.5 billion economic boost to the regional Queensland economy.”

He said Labor would insist on Australian materials, Australian jobs and that one out of every 10 workers on site are Australian apprentices.

“This investment is a big boost for the Queensland economy; particularly regions feeling the impact of the drought.”