KAP Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter says his electorate had benefited from Tuesday's state budget but it had failed the vision needed to advance North and regional Queensland.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Katter hailed funding wins for the north west including a $2 million police station for Burketown, $5.8 million for the Mount Isa transitional hub, roads funding and more than $9 million for schools across his electorate.
He also welcomed investment in roads and rail across Traeger, which includes $7 million on Mount Isa to Townsville rail line improvements, $29 million for road widening and strengthening works on the Flinders Hwy at Scrubby Creek and Alick Creek, $13.4 million for sealing works between The Lynd and Hughenden and a $12 million upgrade to the Gulf Developmental Road, between Croydon and Georgetown.
Mr Katter said local schools would get infrastructure upgrades with Burketown State School receiving $450,000, Camooweal State School $456,000, Cloncurry State School $810,000, Mount Isa Central State School $300,000 and Hughenden State School $740,000.
There is also $100,000 in this financial year out of a total $5.8 million spend for new residential accommodation for police in Mount Isa.
However Mr Katter was critical of three aspects of the budget which failed to meet his wish list.
He said there was no reprieve for the rural health crisis in the budget, no funding to fix Queensland's energy production. and it had also failed to offer critical support to fix crime issues.
"The Budget will allow the North's crime crisis to continue festering and deteriorating the liveability of regional communities, with no funds allocated to a plan of action," Mr Katter said.
"The KAP was once again ignored in its unrelenting request to assign $15 million to trial its Relocation Sentencing model as an alternative to jail for recidivist youths, backed by community protest against residential care homes in city centres."
Mr Katter said the budget also ignored the KAP's call to create a $10 million per year workforce attraction program to recruit and retain doctors, nurses and specialists to rural communities, specifically to reinstate full ophthalmology services to Mount Isa and allocate CT scanners to Mount Isa.
"Despite several direct letters to the Minister for Health Yvette D'Ath outlining alarming reports of sub-standard care and requesting her plan of action, the Budget largely overlooked Traeger in relation to health and directed its funds towards South East and coastal hospitals and health services," he said.
As for energy Mr Katter said the State Government's support for the CopperString 2.0 power transmission line to the North West failed to transfer to its budget.
"The KAP's proposal for a $1 billion fund to upgrade or build private and publicly-owned base-load power-generating assets including coal-fired and gas-fired plants to ensure a minimum supply of energy across the state to provide stability during energy transition periods, was snubbed in the Budget," he said.
ALSO IN THE NEWS:
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark https://www.northweststar.com.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
Contact us at nwseditorial@northweststar.com.au
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
