Origin day should be a day that unites Queenslanders, but there’s more and more of a Brisbane vs the rest divide emerging with the government laser focused on the Olympics, the Leader of the KAP and state Member for Traeger Robbie Katter has said.
“As construction starts on the new stadiums Queenslanders were told won’t be built, anyone outside of the Brisbane Bubble needs to brace for years of infrastructure and development pain,” he said.
Construction Skills Queensland are forecasting a shortfall of 35,000 construction workers by next financial year, exacerbated by the 8,000 workers needed to build Olympic infrastructure in Brisbane.
“The Government needs to quickly realise that while they continue Labor’s dream of a two-week party in Brisbane, they’re neglecting the 50% of Queenslanders who don’t live in Brisbane,” the KAP leader said.
“It’s not just the billions they’re reallocating from projects across the state to balance the books, it’s the drain on our Queensland tradies pool. We don’t have enough tradies to build what we’ve got on the go now, and they’re about to ramp up even more?
“It should be a real concern for leaders across the state. Think of the good announcements of Cairns and Townsville hospital upgrades – where are they going to get their tradies from if there’s massive demand in Brisbane?
“Or the desperately needed Bruce Highway upgrades. What road crew will go and work north of Ingham if they can be based in Brisbane gold plating freeways and new stadium roads?” Mr Katter said.
Mr Katter pointed to the winding back of key projects as further examples of the government tightening the purse strings to keep the Olympic dream alive.
“Take a look at the new bus they’ve announced for the Gold Coast – that was supposed to be a light rail, that promised to connect the through to the airport there. But the Olympic drain has cut a tram down to a bus. And that’s in LNP heartland!” the KAP said.
“If infrastructure on the Gold Coast isn’t safe, nothing is.
“The Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme is another example, of where Queenslanders who need to travel for medical care, mostly from LNP regional seats, remain short-changed only getting $70 a night to stay in a major centre or Brisbane. Good luck finding a room for $70.
“Instead of spending an extra $100 million on delivering dignified assistance to patients, the choice was made to allocate more than $10 billion to the Olympics – which economists are saying isn’t anywhere near enough to build the Olympics anyway!
“While the government remain stuck on Labor’s Brisbane Olympics train, the rest of Queensland misses out. It’s time to reset the state’s priorities,” Mr Katter said.