Member for Cook David Kempton, pictured with Treasurer David Janetzki, says he is disappointed by criticism the 2025-26 Queensland budget includes minimal new announcements for Cape York. Photo: Supplied.
The Member for Cook is refuting criticism the Liberal National Party’s first budget contains little more for Cape York than regurgitated announcements and project funding already committed to by the former Labor government.
Treasurer David Janetzki unveiled the Crisafulli government’s 2025-26 state budget on 24 June, but the majority of big-ticket items will not come as a surprise to local voters.
The biggest budget item for the region is the $200 million Cooktown Hospital redevelopment, a project announced by the Miles government last year, and committed to by then-Opposition Leader David Crisafulli prior to electors heading to the ballot box in October 2024.
Works on another piece of critical community infrastructure highlighted in the budget, the $4.9m Bamaga Fire and Emergency Services Complex, have been under way for several years, with the project even getting a mention in the 2023-24 Queensland Fire and Emergency Services annual report.
Napranum has scored a $310,000 windfall in the budget to upgrade and refurbish the council depot with storage, bus parking and minor maintenance works, but Cook Shire Council Mayor Robyn Holmes said the inclusion of the $350,000 lighting upgrade for Cooktown’s John Street Oval in the government’s budget announcement was taking credit for the former Miles government’s work.
“The $350,000 for the John Street oval lighting was a prior commitment that we’d already received notification from pre-budget,” she said of the project, which was included in the council’s 2024-25 budget in July 2024 – almost 12 months before the Treasurer release the Queensland budget last week.
Half a million dollars has also been included in the budget to kickstart the construction of a dinghy pontoon on the Endeavour River, but Cape York Weekly understands from several sources the project is likely to cost between $1.2-1.5m to deliver.
Mayor Holmes said the council had no intention to make up the shortfall between the $500,000 committed by now-Cook MP David Kempton prior to last year’s state election and what was needed for the project to become a reality.
“The dinghy pontoon is probably a new item in [the budget], but that was an LNP election commitment as well, but I’m not sure it’s going to meet the required funding to build it,” she said.
“Council’s not going to commit any funding to the delivery of the dinghy pontoon, because we’ve got other essential assets that require a higher level of priority.”
Mr Kempton denied there was nothing new in the budget for Cape York and said he was proud of what he had delivered.
“It is a pity that the Cape York Weekly and the number of mayors it has spoken to have not taken the time to peruse even the summary of the Crisafulli LNP government’s 2025-26 budget, as it has provided hundreds of millions of dollars across the region,” he said.
“Yes, I am satisfied that given the size of the deficit left by Labor and the cost of fiscal repair, the electorate of Cook has done very well.”
He added he did not believe the government was attempting to claim the Bamaga emergency services precinct as its own.
“The Crisafulli government does not claim this project as its own, as the line item states that the $4.9m is to complete the delivery of the fire and emergency services complex at Bamaga,” he said.
“The project may have been commenced by the Labor Government in 2023, however, its completion was not funded.”
One Cape York council chief executive officer, who asked not to be named, said the disparity between commitments to the northernmost part of the state and places like Cairns was glaring.
“We’ve often joked with the mayor we should change the community’s name to Brisbane or Cairns, but we might have to give it some proper consideration now,” they said.
“Where’s the new money? They’ve slathered sauce on a week-old pie and called it freshly baked.”
While Opposition Leader Steven Miles branded the government’s effort a “Temu version” in his budget reply speech on 26 June, Shadow Treasurer Shannon Fentiman said Cape York residents had every right to be confused by what had been offered for the region.
“There is a lot in this budget we agree with, because a lot of it was our ideas, and our projects that were already under way,” she said.
“While we welcome that, the people of the Cape deserve better from a first-term government who could have delivered so much more after sitting in opposition for a decade.”
