Canberra comes to the party on Linkfield Road
The Federal Government has finally agreed to the Palaszczuk Government’s demands to accelerate funding for the duplication of the Linkfield Road Overpass in Brisbane’s north.
Member for Aspley Bart Mellish said the project would deliver more jobs sooner.
“The Palaszczuk Government has fought hard to get the Federal Government to put its money on the table to boost jobs and start busting congestion on the Linkfield Road Overpass,” Mr Mellish said.
“Anybody who uses the Linkfield Road Overpass during peak travel times knows exactly how frustrating this northside bottleneck is.
“By convincing the Federal Government to bring forward $39 million for the duplication of the Linkfield Road Overpass, we can deliver 196 jobs and congestion relief sooner.
“The Palaszczuk Government has already committed $25 million to fixing the Linkfield Road Overpass as part of our record $3.13 billion package of works for Brisbane’s northern region.
“We’ll always fight for our fair share of infrastructure funding from Canberra.”
Member for Pine Rivers Nikki Boyd said the LNP’s Peter Dutton and Luke Howarth had played a cruel trick on northside motorists.
“It’s almost a year to the day that the LNP announced a commitment of $100 million to fund 80 percent of the duplication of the Linkfield Road Overpass, but the devil was in the detail,” Ms Boyd said.
“What we didn’t know until the last Federal Budget was that Canberra had no intention of funding its share of the Linkfield Road Overpass until 2026 or later.
“The LNP’s lethargy would have condemned northside motorists to more traffic stress and congestion.
“The Federal Government has finally realised it needs to spend more on infrastructure to create jobs and kick-start the flat-lining national economy; the Palaszczuk Government has said it, so too the Reserve Bank and the Business Council of Australia.
“We’ve been doing the heavy lifting with a strong pipeline of works for the jobs and infrastructure our growing state needs, and thanks to the intervention of the Palaszczuk Government, this is more good news for Brisbane’s north.”
The Palaszczuk Government’s $23 billion roads and transport budget over four years will support 21,500 Queensland jobs.