Peter Dutton in Ingham, vows to build better Bruce with Crisafulli

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has landed in Ingham, where he’s supported calls for a better Bruce Hwy, a stronger power network, and called the insurance industry a ‘mess’.

Jami Roberts and Daneka Hill

3 min read

February 15, 2025 - 11:58AM

Townsville Bulletin

LNP Opposition leader Peter Dutton on the ground in Ingham today along with the Qld Premier David Crisafulli and Senator Susan McDonald. They visited the Hinchinbrook council disaster centre, a local business and then on to a cane farm.

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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has landed in Ingham, where he’s supported calls for a better Bruce Hwy, a stronger power network, and called the insurance industry a ‘mess’.

“People had their lives destroyed,” Mr Dutton said.

“It’s really been confronting as you fly in to see and it’s important to see it from the air so that you can get an understanding of the bridges, the road networks and the inundation on farms.”

Mr Dutton expressed his admiration for the work Mayor Ramon Jayo has done throughout the February floods.

“I want to say to you mate, I think Australians have watched the devastation in your community and they’ve seen a real leader,” Dutton told the mayor - who’s also a sugar cane farmer.

A bigger, better Bruce

Dutton’s biggest takeaway from his tour of the flood-stricken area was the state of the Bruce Highway.

“The Bruce Hwy shouldn’t really be called a highway... it’s a road of national significance and it’s complete and utterly inadequate in its current form,” he said.

“The premier is right, we need to build back much better than the track we have at the moment.”

Queensland premier David Crisafulli - who grew up in Ingham - said the damage to the area was “equally as bad or maybe worse” than the infamous 1967 floods.

“The level of devastation is something I’ve never seen growing up here,” Crisafulli said.

“This town means a lot to me, and for you (Dutton) to come here and give your time to shine a national spotlight on it is really important.”

Crisafulli agreed that “serious investment” was needed to replace low-lying parts of the Bruce Hwy to create flood resilience.

“We can’t have so many thousands of people at the mercy of one road,” Crisafulli said

“It’s an absolute goat track.”

This comes after the Crisafulli Government returned the Bruce Hwy funding agreement to a 80:20 split (80 per cent Federal, 20 per cent state) after it was reduce to 50:50 in 2023.

Insurance is a “mess”

Bob Katter, citing research form the Ingham Chamber of Commerce, said a quarter of the houses in Ingham are not insured.

“Insurance prices in NQ are such they couldn’t insure it,” Mr Katter said.

“I want to single out Sure Insurance and Allianz for trying to come to the party and trying to do the right thing, but the reinsurance pool... it’s just not working.”

Mr Katter said the reinsurance pool needed to be seriously looked at, especially with a Federal election coming up.

Mr Dutton said he’s feeling confident heading into the Federal election.

“I just don’t think our country can afford three more years of the Albanese government,” he said.

“(Australians) can see that it’s been a wasted three years for our country.”

He said there was a “mood for change” going into the election because of the cost of living crisis and housing crisis.

“The government has created a significant mess in the insurance space, we need to do better,” Dutton said.

“It’s not good enough that only two or three businesses potentially in the main street here (Ingham) can get flood insurance.”

“Here in Ingham, I was speaking to some of the locals earlier and the mayor as well. When you have a rain event like this and the power goes out, the batteries last for three hours on the mobile towers or they don’t work at all.

“People start to panic if they can’t get internet access, they can’t access banking, their phones don’t work so you can’t check on how your kids are or what’s happening at work. It’s a disaster. We need to have a stable electricity system with reliable base-load powers”