Flight upgrades not the problem: rebel Senator calls for federal bank to fund roads, rail and hospital

A maverick Senator has pitched a federal bank plan to help bail out expensive Queensland infrastructure projects.

Maverick Queensland senator Gerard Renick. Picture: The Australian

A maverick Queensland senator has called on the incoming state government to push for a federal infrastructure “bank”, to bankroll vital transport, hospital and housing projects.

Senator Gerard Rennick, who expects his People First Party to be approved and operating next month, said the weekend state poll highlighted the need for better infrastructure with dissatisfied voters making it known at the ballot box.

The senator, who walked from the Liberal Party after it refused to re-endorse him, said projects such as the M1 duplication, Cross River Rail, and Coomera Connector could be paid for using credit from the bank.

Prior to the weekend’s state poll, Senator Rennick joined forces with the north Queensland-based Katter Party, to unite on providing better regional infrastructure.

“State Governments, including Queensland, have racked up enormous sums of debt that cannot be repaid from the existing state tax base,” he said.

Queensland Senator Gerard Rennick has called for a federal bank to fund infrastructure projects to help the state government claw back some debt.

“The incoming Crisafulli government needs to repair the state budget and a federal infrastructure bank would allow Queensland to build its own assets while creating jobs.”

Senator Rennick said he hoped to attract dissatisfied LNP and ALP voters who would see merit in his plan to increase the federal income tax-free threshold from $18,200 to $40,000.

He said the plan would give about 14 million workers a $3000 tax cut, which would cost the federal budget $42 billion.

“A worker earning $40,000 currently pays about $4000 in tax so those on low incomes are taxed way too much relative to their income,” he said.

“It can be paid for by slashing bureaucratic waste and getting rid of subsidies for renewables and means testing the defined benefit scheme for retired public servants.

“There are also about $22 billion in savings from eliminating the duplication of roles and responsibilities between state and federal governments and making the bureaucracy more efficient.”

Senator Rennick said many federal politicians had received a flight upgrade with some upgrades to allow the airline to make more room in economy class.

The Brisbane-based conservative, who tries to always fly economy class, said he had been upgraded once, on a trip to Canberra, which he did not ask for, and attributed the move to the airline managing passenger distribution rather than preferential treatment.

Originally published as Flight upgrades not the problem: rebel Senator calls for federal bank to fund roads, rail and hospital