Michelle Landry MP, Colin Boyce MP and Senator Matthew Canavan have joined with Central Queensland Mayors asking for an explanation from the Federal Government why the funding for the Queensland Beef Corridors funding has been delayed.
It was revealed last week in senate estimates that the $400 million upgrade that would see 457km of Central Queensland roads sealed has been pushed back from a start date of 2025/26 financial year back until 2027/28 financial year.
Michelle Landry, Federal Member for Capricornia, emphasized that the 2,300 beef producers within the Beef Corridor Road network contribute a remarkable $2.7 billion to our economy and believes these graziers deserve a portion of the wealth they generate to be reinvested in upgrading the road infrastructure they use.
“Rockhampton abattoirs process over 2000 cattle daily and the truck drivers utilising the Beef Corridor Road to transport the cattle for processing deserve access to roads that meet the same standards as those taken for granted by their counterparts in the city every day.”
The project had been developed and proposed by 7 Central Queensland Councils to help unlock productivity in our region and the decision was communicated to the councils prior to it being revealed last week.
The sealing of these roads will significantly improve safety for those using them, reduce time for stock to get to market, and reduce risk of serious accidents for the families that are forced to travel every day to take their kids to school.
Mayor of Banana Shire Council, Nev Ferrier said with inflation in it’s current state pushing the project out further risks increasing the costs of the project to get it completed.
“It’s not just families seeing increased cost of living, these sorts of projects are becoming more expensive the more time it takes for us to get them going. This delay could see either not all of the roads being sealed or costing significantly more than the total $500 million that has been set aside by the federal and state governments.”
The Beef Corridors project was initially put forward at the 2021 Beef Week, and funding was formally announced in 2022.
Federal Member for Flynn, Colin Boyce said Central Queensland is the economic room of Australia yet the Labor Government continues to kick vital infrastructure funding to the bottom of their priority list.
“The Labor Government’s decision to delay funding for the Beef Corridors is evidence that they are happy to treat Central Queensland like a cash cow but not invest in the infrastructure the region needs,” Mr Boyce said.
The roads had been identified as some of the most important roads that would make the biggest impact to supply chains across Central Queensland.
Senator Canavan said that it’s just another case of Labor ignoring the regions that are producing the wealth for our nation.
“Central Queensland helped fund this government’s surplus, and it’s just another kick in the guts for Central Queensland to have to fight to even get an explanation as to why we’re being told that we’re not good enough to get what was promised to our region.”
The roads that will be sealed under the funding are Clermont – Alpha Rd, May Downs Road, Kilcummin – Diamond Downs Road, Alpha – Tambo Rd, Dawson Developmental Rd, Fitzroy Developmental Rd (Bauhinia – Duaringa), Fitzroy Developmental Rd (Taroom – Bauhinia), Duaringa – Apis Creek Rd, Glenroy Road Corridor (incl. Crossing)
