Bruce Saunders says rumours of his retirement untrue

Maryborough MP Bruce Saunders has accused his political opponents of spreading rumours that he intends to retire ahead of the next state election.

ALP Member for Maryborough Bruce Saunders talks to media at the Downer Rail Manufacturing facility at Maryborough. Picture Lachie Millard

Maryborough Labor MP Bruce Saunders has accused his political opponents of spreading rumours that he intends to retire ahead of the 2024 state election.

Mr Saunders said he had been approached by members of the public in recent weeks telling him they had been told he was retiring.

He hit back at those claims, saying he was “fired up and ready to go” ahead of next year’s election and had no intention of retiring.

“They wish I was retiring,” he said of his political opponents.

In August 2023, mental health advocate and small business owner John Barounis, was revealed as the LNP candidate for Maryborough for the 2024 state election.

Mr Barounis, 52, is a former owner and manager of Mineral Sands Motel, a member of the local Men’s Shed, MADCOTA, U3A Maryborough and local Park Run.

Mr Saunders said he still had plenty he wanted to achieve for Maryborough, including making it the number one manufacturing city in Australia.

Passionate mental health advocate and small business owner John Barounis (left), has been selected as the LNP candidate for Maryborough for the 2024 state election. He is pictured with MP Jarrod Bleijie.

He said he was focused on the heavy industrial park off Slaughterhouse Rd in Maryborough, which he had been working with Fraser Coast council and Mayor George Seymour to ensure was a success.

He was also focused on ensuring the future of the hardwood industry, which he said he was working behind the scenes to achieve.

With trains to be built at a new facility at Torbanlea, Mr Saunders said he was concerned the LNP would get the trains built overseas if the party was elected at the upcoming election.

While trains had been built in India under the LNP, Maryborough’s Downer factory had been trusted with modifying the NGR trains built at that time, which did not meet international disability standards, Mr Saunders said.

He said he had worked hard to bring manufacturing back to Maryborough and had played a pivotal role in getting a new emergency department at Hervey Bay Hospital.

Significant upgrades to the Bruce Highway, including at Saltwater Creek Bridge, had also been carried out by the state government, Mr Saunders said.

Maryborough ALP MP Bruce Saunders.

A spokesman for the LNP refuted Mr Saunders’ rumour claim.

“With an upcoming election, Bruce Saunders is clearly desperate to make up for years of failing to deliver for his local community and attempting to salvage his political future,” the spokesperson said.

“This is nothing more than a desperate attempt by a desperate MP, who knows his community is fed-up with Labor’s chaos and crisis.”

Earlier this year, the Transport and Main Roads website was changed to reveal the cost of the government’s Queensland Train Manufacturing Program – a key election promise to build 65 trains in Maryborough – had risen from $7.1billion to $9.5billion.

At the time, Mark Bailey said the new figure had emerged during the five-month negotiation process in January to June – but denied the government had kept the $2.4billion increase hidden from Queenslanders, because the change was made on the TMR website.

Minister for Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey.

“We put (the new figure) out there on the world wide web and we basically can’t be more transparent than that,” he said.

Mr Bailey said he had known about the change in cost for the project.

“It didn’t seem to be the major emphasis of the contract. The contract is a 35-year project.

“We had $4.6bn worth of investment for 15 years. It’s locked in.

“And after that, its performance based. So you know … this is not an iron-clad figure.”

Questioned on why the cost of the program had climbed at all, Mr Bailey said it was based on the “current high inflation environment over 35 years”.

Mr Saunders denied there was a scandal regarding the cost of the trains, saying the contract was expanded by the state government from 15 to 30 years, which meant people would have jobs longer.

He said under the Campbell Newman government, 14,000 public servants across the state lost their jobs.

“The LNP brought Maryborough to its knees,” he said.

“It’s now a manufacturing powerhouse in regional Queensland.

Originally published as Bruce Saunders says rumours of his retirement untrue