THIS week Annastacia Palaszczuk released her second infrastructure pipeline after nearly two years in office. For those of us who live in regional Queensland the pipeline was empty, yet again. It’s a terrible double standard that regional Queenslanders need to call Palaszczuk on.
There is no starker example of the growing divide between regional Queensland and SEQ under Annastacia Palaszczuk than Labor’s lack of investment in infrastructure. So far, Annastacia Palaszczuk’s hand-picked, Brisbane based bureaucrats have assessed $7.4 billion of infrastructure in South East Queensland as being ready for government investment.
Yet not one project in regional Queensland has been given the green light. According to Building Queensland and Annastacia Palaszczuk there are no projects in regional Queensland worthy of government funding. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of jobs have disappeared from regional Queensland in the last 12 months and in some places youth unemployment is above 30 per cent. Regional Queenslanders are missing out and the gap between the haves and the have nots is widening.
What makes this even more galling, is that Labor’s infrastructure pipeline was released by Jackie Trad on the same day the Premier had ‘gone bush’ to Longreach. Surely, on Annastacia Palaszczuk’s first day back from Christmas holidays, in a potential election year, she would have something to announce. But instead, she landed in Longreach and dusted off her old talking points about wild dog fencing and drought assistance. Nothing new, just reheated leftovers from last year. Palaszczuk even had the audacity to re-announce a loan to the local government that ratepayers will have to repay.
SEQ gets a pipeline of dreams and regional Queensland gets reheated announcements from last year. Labor are giving regional Queenslanders pocket change while billions of dollars is promised to our SEQ cousins and continues to tell us we’ve never had it so good. Labor is treating regional Queenslanders like second class citizens.
It’s clear Annastacia Palaszczuk is more interested in media statements than really making a difference in regional Queensland. Last year the Palaszczuk Government did 12 media statements on the same $5 million for wild dog fencing. The LNP strongly supports more investment in tackling pests and weeds that reduce agricultural productivity, but what is needed is action, not talk. A media statement never stopped a wild dog.
Regional Queenslanders need and deserve better infrastructure, that’s why one of the first policy commitments the LNP made was to bring back Royalties for Regions. A program that delivered over $700 million of infrastructure in regional Queensland. Infrastructure like safer roads, better services and stronger more resilient communities. Labor scrapped this program as well as $3b from the LNP’s fully-funded infrastructure program. That means potholed roads, rundown services, less jobs and fewer opportunities.
Unlike Labor the LNP has a plan for regional Queensland. An LNP Government will work hard to close the gap between regional Queensland and South East Queensland. My family and I live in regional Queensland, and I always put regional Queensland first to make sure we get our fair share.
- Deb Frecklington is the deputy leader of the LNP opposition.
