O’Brien demands State Government fast-track Tiaro bypass plan

The deputy speaker of the House has blasted a statement issued by the Palaszczuk Government this week claiming a new design on the updated Bypass project would be complete by late next year.

(L) Wide Bay MP Llew O'Brien and then-Deputy PM Michael McCormack show off a design for the Tiaro Bypass on the Bruce Highway. Photo: Stuart Fast

Federal Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien has slammed the State Government’s plans to unveil a design for the four-lane Tiaro Bypass late next year, demanding the project be “fast-tracked”.

The deputy speaker of the House was responding to a statement issued by the Palaszczuk Government this week, which confirmed it had committed an extra $46 million to a plan to build a four-lane bypass of the Bruce Highway at Tiaro.

Then-Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Wide Bay MP Llew O'Brien shake hands as Fraser Coast Councillors (L) Denis Chapman, Phil Truscott and Paul Truscott watch on. It comes after $268 Federal funding was announced for the Tiaro Bypass. Photo: Stuart Fast

Member for Maryborough and Assistant Minister for Regional Roads Bruce Saunders said the project team would need to come up with a new design as a result of the update, forecasting that design would take “until late 2022” to finish.

Mr O’Brien said that estimate was “just not good enough”.

“There was widespread shock and condemnation when … Minister Mark Bailey first said a four-lane Tiaro bypass wouldn’t be necessary for decades to come, so we all welcome his latest backflip to support a four-lane design,” Mr O’Brien said.

“His reversal is better late than never, but it’s taken a year of campaigning and more than 4,000 signatures on petitions for the State to finally do what it should have done in the first place and recommend four lanes.

(L) State Member for Maryborough Bruce Saunders, (Mid) Traffic travelling through Tiaro, (Right) Federal Member for Wide Bay Llew O'Brien. Photos: Stuart Fast

“But Minister Bailey’s backflip comes with a catch – the State Government won’t finish the four-lane design that it should have put forward in the first place until the end of 2022.

“That means we may not see major construction until 2024 and that’s just not good enough. People are losing their lives and suffering serious injuries on this outdated and unsafe stretch of highway, and it needs to be fast-tracked and prioritised by the Queensland Government.”

Mr O’Brien went on to claim a similar project would already be “built and finished” if it were located in “Victoria or Melbourne”, and the Palaszczuk Government had put Queensland regions “at the back of the queue”.

“We can’t afford for the State Government to drag its heels any longer on the four-lane Tiaro bypass, like it’s done with other projects in Wide Bay, including the fully federally-funded $13.3 million Tinana overtaking lanes,” he said.

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“We have waited long enough, our funding is on the table, we simply cannot accept any more delays for the four-lane Tiaro bypass, the State Government must get on with the job.”

Mr Saunders said the transport department had already done “significant work on planning and design, including consulting with the local community”.

“We’ve always said that if the Federal Government, who are the majority funder of this upgrade, came on board for four laning, we’d contribute our fair share, and that’s exactly what we have done,” Mr Saunders said.

Originally published as O’Brien demands State Government fast-track Tiaro bypass plan