FEDERAL Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry is putting a rocket under senior cabinet ministers in the wake of yesterday’s announcement to unlock the north.
Her actions come after a significant chunk of Queensland appeared to be missing from the North Australia White Paper, barely rating a mention in the 192-document.
Almost half of central Queensland sits above the Tropic of Capricorn, making it part of north Australia, and local governments have been lobbying hard for water infrastructure investment to open up agriculture in the region.
Ms Landry said she expected more focus to be placed on central Queensland as the plan was rolled out over the coming years.
“The Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister well know that what I want to see is concrete and meaningful commitment to projects such as the Fitzroy Basin Corridor, Urannah Dam and the longer-term Connors Dam,” she said.
Ms Landry said she would like to see some of these projects feature in the white paper on dams that was currently in the pipeline.
“There is huge potential in our north and this is the first federal government to ever commit to that investment.
“However, I have made it quite clear in Canberra today to senior ministers – right up to the Prime Minister’s office – that I expect to see a lot more action in the central part of Queensland.”
Central Queensland produced $40 billion of wealth for Australia every year, from a population base of just 400,000 – a far better per head of population than Tasmania, she said.
Last year Ms Landry declared war on far northern regions like Townsville, Darwin and Cairns because she believed, early on, that politicians and business leaders in those regions were hijacking the decision-making process.
Central Queensland had not been represented on the Prime Minister’s Northern Task Force, and her fight resulted in CQUniversity’s vice-chancellor Scott Bowman’s appointment to the taskforce.
The region still appears to be in no-man’s land and was largely ignored in the Northern Australia Audit “Infrastructure for a Developing North Report” released in January and used to inform the white paper.
The beef capital of Australia was even missing from the cover map of that report.
During the official launch yesterday, the Prime Minister Tony Abbott said there was so much potential in Rockhampton and he would like to see the city “doing much better than it has, for some time”.
Federal Minister for Flynn, Ken O’Dowd, has welcomed the white paper but admits large chunks of central Queensland had been missed.
“As for the development of the Fitzroy Catchment, I believe this will occur as part of the transparent process, while a couple of small-scale projects warranted a specific mention in the paper.”
The government had set aside $200 million for capital investment in water infrastructure and this would be conducted through a transparent process, he said.
Mr O’Dowd’s region falls just below the Tropic of Capricorn, which acts as a border for the Northern Australia policy, and there were areas that also needed developing.
“Areas such as Coalstoun Lakes, in the North Burnett, and major beef roads throughout central Queensland, provide vital links to the north and I hope that others see the same potential in these areas as I do.”
Meanwhile, federal member for Dawson George Christensen has welcomed the white paper and said it outlined a framework for supercharging north Queensland.
“The Abbott Government has already backed this plan with a $1.2 million commitment, including $600 million for road infrastructure and $200 million for water infrastructure,” he said.
This was on top of the $5 billion fund for concessional loans to infrastructure projects in the north.
Mr Christensen said it was now up to private enterprise and the Queensland government to access those funds and drive the projects to drive the north Queensland economy.
Senator Matt Canavan was also upbeat and said the white paper was going to create a “sort of” Brisbane line in reverse.
“Cities and towns will benefit from being above the Tropic of Capricorn because there are so many opportunities in the north of our nation that can be realised,” he said.
Concessional loans could be provided to a range of projects — such as airports, ports, rail, roads, energy, water and communications infrastructure. Project proposals will be accepted from July 1, he said.
“I have been pushing for sealing of the Hann Highway, which would slash travelling times for fruit, vegetables and other produce going south from the Atherton Tableland and surrounding regions, and benefit enormously towns along the route. It’s great to see this is one of the priority projects.”
Senator Canavan said other roads identified as priorities by jurisdictions, such as those connecting communities, or regional towns to ports and airports, will also be considered under this roads package. Funded projects are expected to be announced by early next year.
Queensland Country Life has contacted the Deputy Premier’s department for a response on the North Australia White Paper.