Bush Summit: PM hints at long-term multibillion-dollar commitment to ‘finish’ Bruce Highway

After facing a Bush Summit grilling over the state of the Bruce Highway, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hinted that finally an end may be in sight for suffering Queenslanders.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hinted at a long-term multibillion-dollar commitment to “finish” the Bruce Highway.

Quizzed at Friday’s Bush Summit in Townsville about why all three major highways in his home state of NSW are now dual carriageways while the Bruce in Queensland is not, Mr Albanese said those changes occurred while he was infrastructure minister and he admitted the Bruce upgrades commenced at the same time.

“What I don’t want to do, and people don’t need in this country, is media releases that make claims that then don’t get delivered,” he said.

“I want to it as soon as possible. I want to work with the Queensland state government in doing that.”

Fixing the Bruce Highway emerged as the No. 1 lingering issue for regional Queenslanders at the summit, with Mr Albanese saying substantial funding was now “on the table” for the highway.

Peak hour traffic build up on the Bruce Highway at Griffin on Thursday afternoon. Picture Lachie Millard

“There is more to be done, it is a long road and it will require substantial funding, and it won’t be done overnight, and it won’t be done in one term,” he said.

There have been calls for the federal government to revert to the previous 80-20 funding deal instead of the current 50-50 split to expedite the highway’s completion, with $467m allocated to the highway in the latest budget.

Premier Steven Miles said an 80-20 split might help finish the highway sooner, but wouldn’t join in on the call to the Prime Minister.

He instead pitched his cost of living relief measures to the crowd of regional stakeholders, saying the government was prioritising getting Queenslanders through tough inflation.

“We know that in time wages will catch up, but what Queenslanders need now is support in the meantime,” Mr Miles said.

“The energy rebates, 20 per cent off rego, obviously the fuel pricing will make a big difference to people in regional Queensland who have to drive a lot.”

Keynote speaker Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Courier-Mail Bush Summit, Townsville. Picture: NewsWire/ Liam Kidston

Mr Miles also flagged his desire to build a series of satellite hospitals after their success in South East Queensland. “I know some people think we should cut back on infrastructure spending, but now is not the time to do that, even though costs have increased,” he said. “Now is not the time to deny Queenslanders the hospitals, roads and new energy that we need.”

While he quickly dismissed the idea of bringing back state-owned insurance to help drive premiums down, saying the model would be “hard to get back to,” he would consider government intervention to expand the energy market competition in future to prevent Ergon from dominating power prices in the regions.

The Premier conceded Labor would need to win over key regional seats to secure a re-election in October, with the party to tramp up campaign efforts in Townsville, Cairns and Mackay.

“I intend to be here as much as I can, talking as much as I can,” he said.

Addressing the elephant in the room, Mr Miles said there was “no denying” that many parts of Queensland had experienced an awful escalation in crime, including Townsville, but assured voters that the government’s crime initiatives were starting to work. “There’s no simple solution, although for our positions, sensationalising crime does make for simple politics,” he said.

Meanwhile, Opposition leader David Crisafulli pitched his plan to bring down crime, and announced a $1bn regional infrastructure fund.

The “Regional Infrastructure Guarantee” is part of a $2bn infrastructure fund announced by the LNP earlier this year, aimed at addressing housing shortages and supporting regional development.

Regional councils will be invited to propose projects, with no set funding split, with at least half of the fund guaranteed to go to regional areas.

While he would not be drawn on specific regional projects earmarked for funding, Mr Crisafulli said he had already had some “very good discussions” with regional mayors.

“It can be as simple as street lighting, anything is on the table,’ he said.

Mr Crisafulli said the housing crisis needed to be addressed in the regions to help retain essential workers, with the LNP also planning to abolish stamp duty for first home buyers of new builds and maintain Labor’s $700,000 stamp duty threshold for new owners.

Queensland Leader of the opposition David Crisafulli says the housing crisis needs to be addressed in the regions. Picture Lachie Millard

Meanwhile, federal opposition leader Peter Dutton used the forum to attack Labor’s renewable energy plan, claiming that net zero won’t be achieved by 2050 without nuclear energy.

“Australia is the only economy that doesn’t have or has not committed to nuclear power,” he said.

“Without nuclear we don’t have the ability to transition our economy and to decarbonise. The prices will continue to go up.”

On the safety of the controversial energy source, he said: “The government wouldn’t have signed up to put our sailors into the nuclear submarines if they thought it was unsafe technology.

“All of the collective research that China, Russia, the UK and US and many others are doing in their defence programs at the moment … all of them have nuclear.”

Mr Dutton said a nuclear energy plan would have a big upfront capital cost, but private investment would create cheaper electricity.

“All of that research and development will translate into the next generation of safe nuclear power and it will be of benefit to our country,” he said.

“I think it’s an inevitable outcome for us and there is an upfront capital cost that will require a contribution from the Commonwealth.

“When you look at the research people are happier with that outcome because they know that it’s a Government led industry that provides better safeguards than perhaps the private sector will.”

Originally published as Bush Summit: PM hints at long-term multibillion-dollar commitment to ‘finish’ Bruce Highway