Labor claims Gold Coast second M1 will steal Toowoomba road funds
The LNP’s costings will take funding away from Toowoomba road projects, the Labor Party says.
QLD Votes
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Queensland Labor says the LNP will rip out funding from the New England Highway upgrades if elected to government tomorrow night to fund its second M1 project on the Gold Coast.
The LNP’s costings reveal the party will spend $695 million on the second M1, which will be funded as part of the $1.177 billion Other Construction Projects in the Capital Program Update.
Labor said the stated $1.177 billion in the capital program update was joint-funding that had already been fully allocated to regional roads projects, such as the New England Highway upgrades between Toowoomba and Yarraman.
“This road is being funded by Labor,” Toowoomba North Labor candidate Megan O’Hara Sullivan said.
“The LNP is going to strip it out and take it down to the coast.”
Agriculture Minister Mark Furner said the LNP had turned its back on the bush.
“They will cut funding to the New England Highway,” Mr Furner said.
Toowoomba North LNP MP Trevor Watts labelled the claims “complete nonsense”.
“We know that (the LNP) are spending $1.69 billion more on road infrastructure than the Labor Party,” Mr Watts said.
“They certainly have no credibility when it comes to roads in our region.
“The Second Range Crossing was fully funded by the LNP, something that languished under Labor for 30 years.”
Mr Watts said only the LNP had committed to a business case for a second road to Highfields.
“That’s the most important local road for the people of Highfields … so then we can get that road built so that people can move around our city freely,” he said.
