Katter welcomes budget for Kennedy electorate

Big ticket items cited by Mr Katter included a $1.3 billion telecommunications package to expand mobile and internet coverage in the regions, $99.3 million to increase the number of medical students studying in rural and remote locations, and commitments for the construction of Charters Tower's Big Rocks Weir ($38million) and Hughenden Irrigation Project ($170million).

Mr Katter said he had called for increased phone and internet funding for the regions and $811.8 million over five years will expand mobile coverage and connectivity in regional Australia and $480 million will go to the NBN Co to upgrade its fixed wireless and satellite networks to improve services in regional areas.

"People need the internet and phone reception to work from home, they work on hands free while driving, children study at home, and people do university online," Mr Katter said.

"Phone reception can save lives in an emergency. It has been a disaster since the major parties privatised Telstra."

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In health there is $99.3 million for rural and regional doctor training and $33.3 million for the Royal Flying Doctor Service over four years.

"We've been losing multiple doctors from all our towns," Mr Katter said. "We have now secured HELP university study debt alleviations to attract doctors to the regions, and $99.3 million for up to 80 commonwealth supported medical students per year to be trained in the regions."

An extra $8 million has been allocated to Charters Tower's Big Rocks Weir for construction which brings the total federal funding commitment to $38 million.

Mr Katter says the water project will increase irrigation farming, boost town water supply and believes it will lead to the construction of a meatworks.

The North Queensland Water Infrastructure Authority which oversees the Big Rocks Weir, Hughenden Irrigation Project and Hells Gates Dam projects, will be continued for another five years with $11.6 million in funding.

The Budget also recommitted $170 million for the construction of HIPCO and $5.4 billion for Hells Gates Dam though Mr Katter says the Hells Gate dam wall crest height must be 395m above sea level to facilitate sending the water west and the Revised Bradfield Scheme.

As for cost of living, Mr Katter said the Government's cost of living measures including the temporary cut to the fuel excise, and its extra 50,000 places Home Guarantee Scheme, were short-sighted.

"Cutting the fuel excise does nothing to increase Australia's fuel reserves which they say will last less than a month, I doubt they'd last three days in a rush. And now we've drawn on our 'strategic' fuel reserves located on the other side of the globe in the USA," he said.

"The crossbench MPs are supporting a proposal including a ban on the export of Australia's oil so it's refined here, Australian grown ethanol, waste-to-diesel plants, and Australian made electric cars and buses strictly for public servants and metropolitan areas.

"Farmers in my electorate are screaming out for cost reductions on two of their biggest input items: freight and fertiliser. The excise is a temporary sugar hit. We can make ethanol for under 80c a litre in Australia, if you allow 17c for transport and retailing, you are still coming in at a dollar."

Mr Katter said the extra 50,000 housing places under the Home Guarantee Scheme would drive up demand for housing without increasing the supply, resulting in an increase to property prices.

"The Federal Government need to work with State and Local Governments to cut the restrictions around subdivisions," he said.

"The State and Local Government restrictions have made subdivisions prohibitively expensive. If they're two-acre allotments you can dodge out from curbing, channelling, headworks charges, sewage connections, and you can go off grid for your power."

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On the Mount Isa to Townsville Copperstring transmission line, Mr Katter said there are intense negotiations going on and he remains optimistic despite no new funding announced in the budget.

"If we lose the copper smelter, fertiliser plant and Cloncurry's Ernest Henry Mine it would be a hit of $3000 million a year to Australia's economy," he said.

"A stay of execution for three years was negotiated with the Zurich based Glencore in 2020. Copper prices have tripled since then.

"But into the future we need competitively priced power from the national grid to survive in the North West Minerals Province. You can't compete on gas at $16 a/unit, when our competitor countries are on gas at $6 a/unit. The Mount Isa power station will have a bright future supplying peak load power to the northern grid."

There is also major funding for upgrades to roads including $70m for Flinders Hwy between Hughenden and Julia Creek.

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