George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the past two years more than 20,000 jobs have been lost in the resources sector, devastating many small towns and regional centres, including Mackay and Bowen, where an estimated 7,000 jobs have been lost. Dangling in front of Mackay locals is the biggest road infrastructure project in the region's history, representing 600 jobs and half a billion dollars of mainly federal government investment.

The federal Liberal-National government allocated $448 million for the Mackay Ring Road in the budget two years ago. We made a commitment to fast-track that funding. But the project, along with the 600 jobs, has been in limbo for a year and the Queensland Labor government wants it to remain in limbo for another year. Labor's refusal to fast-track planning and design of the project—confirmed, again, today with a letter to the editor in the local media from the Minister for Energy and Water Supply, Mark Bailey—rings hollow with local people and also with industry experts.

A senior engineer involved in design and construction of road and rail projects in New South Wales has advised me the time being taken with the Mackay Ring Road is inconsistent with industry standards for planning and design work. So when Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk meets with a subcommittee of the cabinet in Mackay, tomorrow, the community will have one very important question for her: why do you refuse to fast-track the Mackay Ring Road and the 600 jobs that could be created from it?

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