Liberal National Party candidate for Cook David Kempton has slammed this month’s $60 million Labor commitment to stage three of the Cape York Region Package as a “hollow vote-buying stunt”. Photo: Supplied.
Former Cook MP and Liberal National Party candidate David Kempton has slammed the State Government’s $60 million commitment to stage three of the Cape York Region Package (CYRP) as a “hollow vote-buying stunt” aimed at winning the election, not improving remote road infrastructure.
Earlier this month, the government announced it was putting the money on the table to kickstart stage three of the project but added a caveat it was dependent on the Federal Government coming on board to stump up the 80 per cent it currently provides through a joint funding arrangement.
Mr Kempton, who held the seat of Cook from 2012 until 2015, said he did not believe Premier Steven Miles and his team had the capacity to deliver on their promise.
“[It’s] a hollow vote-buying stunt, five weeks before an election, that Labor cannot deliver,” he said.
“Bart Mellish the Minister [for Transport and Main Roads] knows full well that the state cannot commit funds to stage three without the Federal Government putting up its share pursuant to the bilateral funding agreement.”
Mr Kempton identified several high-profile infrastructure projects in Far North Queensland – including a $100m cost blowout on the Archer River bridge – as money that could have been better spent on progressing the sealing of the Peninsula Developmental Road (PDR).
“What Minister Mellish has done is waste $40m on a farcical cassowary overpass, another $40m on inoperable cameras on the Kuranda Range, and an unbelievable $100m overrun on the Archer River bridge – $180m which could have been better used on sealing more of the PDR,” the LNP candidate said.
The cost of the Archer River bridge, which the Department of Transport and Main Roads says should be open to traffic by the end of 2024, has blown out from $32.3m to almost $131.3m as the result of “significant geological challenges”. Photo: Lyndon Keane.
