Fears major Rockhampton Ring Road project will be put into ‘too hard’ basket after massive cost blowout
It’s official - the $1.1 billion Rockhampton Ring Road project including a third bridge over the Fitzroy River will not be delivered on time by 2026, and there are now new fears it may not eventuate at all. Details here.
Rockhampton
Don't miss out on the headlines from Rockhampton. Followed categories will be added to My News.
There is a massive cloud of uncertainty hanging over the Rockhampton Ring Road project with official confirmation on Monday that it cannot be delivered on time.
That was the directive from the office of Federal Transport and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King after this publication exclusively reported on Saturday that a perfect storm of surging construction supply costs and decisions around employee agreements had contributed to tender quotes for the project blowing out by $700 million.
“This is a project that cannot be delivered in the current time frame,” a spokeswoman for Ms King said on Monday.
“The Queensland Government put the project out to tender and the lowest cost that came back was $700 million above the $1 billion funding to be provided by the Australian and Queensland Governments.
“In this economic climate with rising inflation and constraints on the number of construction workers and the supply of materials, both the Australian and Queensland Governments agree it is not possible to build the Ring Road in the proposed time frame.
“The funding is not being delayed, it is moving to when the project can really be delivered.”
So when will that be? It appears as though the answer is one of those “how long is a piece of string” situations.
The Rockhampton Ring Road project, including a third crossing across the Fitzroy River, was due to begin construction later this year, with completion expected in 2026.
While the LNP’s political heavyweights came out in force on Monday to weigh into the debate, on the other side of the fence, their Labor counterparts were seemingly happy to leave most of the talking to the Federal Transport and Infrastructure Minister and Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey.
“The local legacy of the defeated Morrison LNP Government is the worst inflation in a generation caused by their economic mismanagement,” Minister Bailey said.
“Due to the soaring LNP induced inflation, early market testing has shown the Rockhampton Ring Road project has been priced by the private sector at nearly double its estimated cost, around $700 million more than was budgeted only a year ago.
“We’ve seen interstate projects like the Sydney Metro project blowout by $6 billion and the Sydney light rail blowout by $1 billion due to rampant inflation.
“Anyone building a house, or renovating at the moment is suffering as well thanks to the federal LNP’s economic incompetence adding to the cost of living for Queenslanders.
“I’ve read media reports that the Rockhampton Ring Road project may be reprofiled by the Commonwealth Government.
“We will find out on budget night whether the project continues, is deferred or otherwise.”
In the LNP corner, Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry, Flynn MP Colin Boyce, Queensland Senator Matthew Canavan and Shadow Federal Transport and Infrastructure Minister Bridget McKenzie issued a joint media statement.
In it, they said Central Queensland had been “left in the cold”.
“Media reports indicate that Labor will be delaying funding to the $1.1 billion Rockhampton Ring Rd Project that was first announced in 2018,” Senator McKenzie said.
“These reports confirm our worst fears. The Labor Party is ripping the guts out of critical infrastructure and transport projects in our regions.
“These projects deliver social and economic benefits to local communities and our nation as a whole.”
As the joint statement recognised, the Rockhampton Ring Road project would result in reduced travel times for those traversing through Rockhampton, and reduced congestion within the city itself.
Ms Landry said Labor’s delaying of federal funding for the Rockhampton Ring Road project was “very distressing” for the community and driving uncertainty for businesses.
“Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party have effectively abandoned Central Queensland by delaying funding for the Rockhampton Ring Road,” Ms Landry said.
“Our community is crying out for this critical infrastructure project.
“Businesses in the area now have no hope to win work in the short to medium term for the Ring Road.
“Labor members across all levels of government, including local government and state government, must demand Anthony Albanese deliver this much needed funding for Rockhampton.”
Mr Boyce said it appeared the Federal Labor Government was happy to strip critical funding from regional projects and pump the money into metropolitan areas.
“It is simply unacceptable,” he said.
“Enough delays, the Federal Labor Government need to cough up the funding for the Rockhampton Ring Road and get on with building it as soon as possible.”
Senator Canavan said all this delay would do is push up the cost of the project until Labor put it in the “too hard” basket.
“The Federal Labor Government have today shown that it thinks regional Queensland is just a massive cash cow,” Mr Canavan said.
“It is the coal, beef and gas from Central Queensland that is propping up Labor’s budget.
“In fact, recent reports suggest the budget is $50 billion better off thanks to surging commodity prices.
“But Labor shows no gratitude towards our industries and then takes the wealth they generate to spend down south.”
Capricorn Enterprise CEO Mary Carroll also weighed into the debate.
“As the peak regional economic development organisation in Central Queensland, Capricorn Enterprise has for the past decade successfully advocated for critical road, rail and air infrastructure as one of our region’s major priority projects,” Ms Carroll said.
“The Rockhampton Ring Road is an absolute necessity for the existing and future growth of the region and as the remaining national highway pinch point in Queensland between Brisbane and Cairns, it absolutely cannot and should not be delayed.”
Late on Monday afternoon, Member for Rockhampton Barry O’Rourke said the latest news on the project was “disappointing”.
“Obviously it’s a bit disappointing because it is an important project for Rocky, but the fact is right now we’re dealing with huge worker shortages and rampant inflation in building costs,” Mr O’Rourke said.
“On top of that, our local economy is already running close to capacity and we’ve got a significant housing shortage.
“So, going ahead with this project right now would have meant pouring fuel on the fire of our housing shortage.”
Mr O’Rourke said he was talking to both the state and federal governments about where to go from here.
“For instance, if the market cools down sooner, is there potential to bring the project forward again?
“I also think delaying it gives us an opportunity to push for a housing plan to be included as part of the project, so that we can limit the impact it has on our local market, or hopefully use it to add to our housing stock.
“We do need to be thinking about our local workers in this as well.
“The plan was for the crews working on the Lawrie Street upgrade now to be involved in the Ring Road - so we need to look into the implications of this for them and what other projects they could potentially work on.”
Keppel MP Brittany Lauga was contacted for comment.
Road campaigner takes narrow view of Premier’s Bruce Highway fix
Not everyone gets the ear of the Queensland Premier and the Opposition Leader, but Bruce Highway safety campaigner Leyland Barnett did when the pair were in Rockhampton. Find out what he asked them and what they said.
David Crisafulli declares he will fix the Bruce Hwy
David Crisafulli has declared, responding to a question from a Courier-Mail reader, that if the LNP wins goverment at the October 26 election, he can get the Bruce Hwy fixed.