Shadow minister for Resources and Northern Australia Jason Clare used his first visit to North West Queensland to promote a $500m Labor plan to upgrade the rural road network including the Mount Isa – Cloncurry road.
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“One of the things Bill Shorten announced on the weekend was half a billion dollars to upgrade roads in regional Queensland so I’m talking to the local council about what are the priority roads from their point of view,” Mr Clare said.
“With extra trucks on the road upgrading the road to Cloncurry is on the top of a lot of people’s agenda.”
He said Mr Shorten mentioned the Barkly Hwy between Mount Isa and Cloncurry as a crucial regional road “not getting the attention it deserved” along with the Capricorn Hwy (Emerald-Rockhampton), Mitchell Hwy (Cunnamulla-Charleville) and the Kennedy Hwy (Cairns-Mareeba).
Mr Clare said regional jobs and economic development were at the heart of the $500m plan, estimated to create 13,000 jobs in Queensland over the next decade and providing a $2.5b boost to the regional economy.
Mr Clare was here on Tuesday to talk to council and other stakeholders.
“It’s my first time in Mount Isa and I’m very happy to be here,” he said.
“I got an invite from Mayor Joyce McCulloch (at a Resources 2030 Taskforce meeting) and being here helps me understand just how important Mount Isa is.”
Mr Clare said Mount Isa was strategically important as the biggest town west of Toowoomba and a key gateway between Townsville and Darwin.
“We got plenty of challenges here but also plenty of opportunities if governments make the right decisions,” he said.
When pressed on what does right decisions were, Mr Clare said it was “a whole bunch of things”.
We got plenty of challenges here but also plenty of opportunities if governments make the right decisions
- Jason Clare
“For instance, trying to make water affordable and energy affordable, improving the roads in and out of town, and improving rail access,” he said.
Mr Clare said rail access to Townsville was slow and too much freight was being carted by road.
“We need to see what we can do to encourage more on the rail to take pressure of off the roads and that’s something I’ll take back with me to think about,” he said.
READ ALSO: Morrison, Shorten in North Queensland