Tiaro Bypass fate a mystery as Labor infrastructure review remains hidden

Plans for a four-lane Bruce Hwy Tiaro Bypass are in limbo, with its fate unclear two months after a federal audit of Australia’s $120billion infrastructure pipeline was finished.

“Deafening silence” around a 90-day infrastrcuture review announced by federal transport Minister Catherine King in May has been criticised by Wide Bay LNP MP Llew O’Brien in federal parliament.

The fate of the $336 million Tiaro Bypass remains a mystery with a review into the nation’s $120 billion infrastructure pipeline still unseen by state MPs two months after it was finished.

The bypass is one of more than 700-projects across the country audited by the federal government in May amid concerns over rising costs.

The “deafening silence” around the review was criticised by Wide Bay LNP MP Llew O’Brien in federal parliament Monday.

In a speech to parliament Mr O’Brien said it had been 169 days since the 90-day review was announced.

It had been finished “but the government is keeping us in the dark about which projects it will fund and those it will axe”.

The Bypass was among the projects audited in the review, which exempted planned projects for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and several 2022 Labor election promises.

The $336 million Tiaro bypass which will reroute the Bruce Hwy around Tiaro, 25km south of Maryborough, was among more than 700 projects audited in the federal government’s review of the country’s infrastructure pipeline. Photo: Stuart Fast

These included a $2.2 billion promise to the Victorian government’s controversial suburban rail loop.

A spokeswoman for federal Transport Minister Catherine King said Wednesday the “lengthy” report “highlights how badly the Liberals and Nationals managed the Infrastructure Investment Program during their wasted decade”.

“They tripled the number of projects in the Infrastructure Investment Program between 2015 and 2022, adding most before the pandemic,” she said.

“There is an estimated $33 billion in known cost pressures across all projects in the program – 41 per cent of the total program budget – and there is a high risk that could increase.

“Because of the mess the Coalition left, the Government cannot afford to meet identified cost pressures or add new projects in the next 10 years without significant changes.

“The Minister is considering the report in detail, and a Government response to the recommendations will be announced in due course.

Wide Bay LNP MP Llew O’Brien is calling for the release of the report, which he says is now more than two months overdue. Federal Transport Minister Catherine King said the government’s response to the report would be announced “in due course”.

“She is consulting closely with her state and territory counterparts, and federal colleagues to determine how to proceed in a way that best serves the interests of the Australian public and doesn’t contribute to inflation and cost of living pressures.”

It has been reported the final review will be released to the public after consultation with state and territory governments.

A spokeswoman for Qld Transport Minister Mark Bailey said Wednesday his office had not seen the final report yet.

On Monday, Mr O’Brien said the government had failed to give Bruce Hwy drivers the same protections it offered the Brisbane Olympics.

“Now it‘s 79 days overdue, and, every day longer this review lingers out of the hands of the report’s authors and in the minister’s office, it loses its independence,” he said.

“The government must release the report now.”

“In this year alone five people have tragically died along the dangerous two-lane section of the National Highway between Gympie and Maryborough.

“It’s a toll of devastating grief, sorrow and sadness for the victims and their families and friends in the communities affected by these horrific losses.

“I implore the Albanese government to immediately release the review, and I call on them and the Queensland government to fast-track and prioritise the four-lane Tiaro Bypass and get on with making the whole section between Curra and Maryborough four lanes.”

Originally published as Tiaro Bypass fate a mystery as Labor infrastructure review remains hidden