Neither major party will make a pre-election commitment to fund the $240 million required to progress stage three of the Cape York Region Package to seal the road to Weipa. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
Neither major political party will commit to funding the next stage of sealing the only road link between Cape York and the rest of Queensland ahead of the 3 May federal election.
There was no money in the Albanese government’s 2025-26 budget for stage three of the Cape York Region Package (CYRP), so Cape York Weekly asked Labor candidate Matt Smith and the Liberal National Party’s (LNP) Jeremy Neal whether they could get their respective parties to commit to the project should they be elected and their party hold power for the next three years.
The third stage of the CYRP, which would continue sealing the remaining 164 kilometres of the Peninsula Developmental Road (PDR), hinges on Canberra agreeing to provide 80 per cent of the money required for the project – $240m – to green light work on the ground.
The State Government last year committed its $60m share of the 80:20 joint funding arrangement for the project.
Mr Smith said Labor was “definitely taking Cape York seriously”, however, admitted there was more that could be done and dismissed the suggestion both major parties would view the region more favourably if it comprised more than a single electorate.
“There’s always more to be done, and coming from a candidate perspective, there are limits to the levers I can pull,” he said.
“Should I be elected, it’s (funding the CYRP) something I’m going to be on all the time; they’re not going to hear the end of it.
“The Albanese government is definitely taking Cape York seriously, but as I said, there’s more to be done; I understand the argument (about the political appetite for Cape York) – I don’t necessarily agree with it; I think it’s about the will to actually fight for it to be honest, to have the will to get in the game and lose some skin.”
Cape York Weekly received no response to multiple requests for comment from Mr Neal and the LNP about whether a coalition government led by Peter Dutton would commit to funding the Cape’s critical road infrastructure.
