What’s in the federal budget for Cairns, Far North Queensland

While there’s welcome cost-of-living relief the budget has failed to deliver for the Far North, local leaders say. Read their analysis plus what went wrong in the water funding fallout.

A cost blowout of almost a quarter of a billion dollars on a critical Cairns water project can be squarely blamed on inflation, Mayor Amy Eden has said, in the fallout of the federal budget.

A plea for the commonwealth to pour another $128.5m into the development, on top of $215m already committed by state and federal governments, did not make the cut in Tuesday night’s budget.

Defending her government’s decision, Senator Nita Green said it was up to council to provide more clarity on how the project’s cost went from $248m to $472m in just two years.

On Tuesday night, Ms Green said: “It’s up to them to be honest about how the scope of the project has changed, update any business case and complete required environmental assessments.”

However Ms Eden said there had been “no scope creep” and said the development had suffered the same inflationary pressures being felt across the country.

Cairns Regional Council mayor Amy Eden and deputy mayor Brett Olds. Picture Emily Barker

She said the council had provided all relevant information to the federal government.

“The project is still the same project, nothing new, nothing to see here,” she said.

“Our advocacy from the council’s point of view has been ongoing for multiple years.

“If they need any more information, even if it’s a matter of resending the information, we’ll do that.”

Queensland Senator Nita Green could not be reached for comment directly on Wednesday, but reiterated her call for “honesty” on the cost blowout in an interview with ABC Radio.

“This is a responsible and very restrained budget,” she said.

“When there is an escalation of costs of that kind I think taxpayers would expect us to ask a few questions and to get some more information about why that’s happened.

“I would hesitate to say that’s only through inflationary reasons.

“We need a bit more information, we’ve not got that from the council and we’ve asked for it.

“Obviously we’re committed to it because we’ve delivered ($215m and federal money) already.”

Senator Nita Green. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Ms Eden said on Wednesday afternoon that she would be making contact with local state and federal members “as a matter of priority”.

“They’re our voices … we want them going down there to being able to voice our needs,” she said.

“I’m really confident with our local members, including Nita, that they’ll have the information they need.”

Deputy mayor Brett Olds echoed Ms Eden’s view that council had advocated hard for the extra funding, and said he was optimistic federal money could come after the state government’s share was secured in the Queensland budget next month.

“I honestly just think Nita Green got caught out or either forgot she’d been brought up to speed,” he said.

“The business case has been done for years … the scope of works has not changed, just the price has.

The Copperlode Dam, also known as Lake Morris, is Cairns' main water supply. The water security project stage one will augment supply from new intakes at the Mulgrave River. Picture: Brendan Radke

“None of this is about council, this is about the 176,000 people who live here and the 30,000 to 40,000 tourists we have every night.

“The project is happening no matter what and in a cost of living crisis, you can’t put that on the ratepayers.”

Without the extra funding – $128.5m each from the state and federal governments – Cairns ratepayers will be slugged with $488 in extra rates annually over 15 years.

Ms Green later said the council “shouldn’t shy away from scrutiny”.

“We will work with all levels of government to progress the project,” she said.

“When there’s a doubling of costs there’s going to be questions, that’s what taxpayers would expect.”

Advance Cairns chairman Nick Trompf said it was disappointing the “vital” project was not included in the budget.

“We will continue to support council’s efforts to generate understanding of the cost levers which have resulted in widespread infrastructure build hikes across the nation,” he said.

“Cairns Regional Council is certainly not unique across Australia in facing major construction cost rises.”

‘Hard-pressed’ to find any Far North funding

While the federal budget has some welcome cost-of-living relief, it has failed to deliver for Far North Queensland, local leaders say.

At first blush there will be no new money flowing to critical projects in the region, including the beleaguered Cairns Water Security Project, which has suffered a cost blowout of almost a quarter of a billion dollars.

Road infrastructure, shipyard upgrades and local universities have also missed out, with a range of initiatives in Advance Cairns’ 2024-25 federal budget submission failing to make the cut.

Advance Cairns chairman Nick Trompf said it was a “deeply disappointing” budget for the region.

“We are hard-pressed to find any demonstrable new investments in what is Northern Australia’s most populated region,” he said.

Advance Cairns chief executive Jacinta Reddan. Picture: Brendan Radke

Advance Cairns chief executive Jacinta Reddan said requests for $30m to seal the Kennedy Developmental Road, plus money spent on an study into alternative Kuranda Range Rd routes were also not budgeted for.

“In a region as dispersed as ours and in a region that supplies with the food bowl of the Tablelands … the road network is critical,” she said.

“We look at what happened post-Cyclone Jasper and how Cairns, Port Douglas and other major areas were cut off.”

Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch shared the view that more money should have flowed to regional road infrastructure.

“Give the current state of the Kuranda Range and the significant damage the road has sustained, one would have thought it was warranted that funds be set aside in the budget to advance progress on both short-term upgrades and remediation works, as well as progressing the case for an alternate route to the Tablelands,” he said.

An aerial view of the damaged Kuranda Range Rd. Picture: TMR

There is however reason for optimism, Ms Reddan said, with an opportunity for the Far North to chase commitments from broader funding pools in the lead-up to the next federal election.

“We would hope to see that there’s going to be further announcements,” Ms Reddan said.

“There’s actually some really interesting, longer term strategic opportunities … we continue to really double down on a lot of those requests.”

When asked on what was in the budget for the Far North region, Queensland Senator Nita Green pointed to national initiatives.

“This is a budget for all Australians, and that includes those who live in Far North Queensland,” she said.

“Far North Queensland households are set to receive $1300 off their power bills thanks to our government and the Queensland government – meaning households potentially won’t have to pay a power bill till 2025.

“On top of that we’re giving every single taxpayer a tax cut, meaning 79,000 people in Cairns will receive an average tax cut of $1448.”

Kennedy MP Bob Katter. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Kennedy MP Bob Katter said the budget was lacking for the Far North, particularly in road infrastructure, and said now was the time to “aggressively” pursue commitments.

He said it was critical money was spent on road infrastructure – particularly a tunnel connecting Cairns to the Tablelands – to keep the region’s sugar mills afloat and other agricultural industries.

“We’ve got to look for scraps from the rich man’s table,” he said.

“There’s global figures for roads, for medical centres, water … we’ve got to make sure that global figure becomes a targeted figure and people like myself have got to do some real hard yakka (to advocate for it).”

Originally published as What’s in the federal budget for Cairns, Far North Queensland