Hells Gate Dam set to be cut from Albanese Labor Budget
The Albanese Labor Government has shown its complete disdain for Townsville, indicating that a major infrastructure project will not be in its first budget next week.
Hells Gates Dam, announced and budgeted for by the former Coalition government, did not feature in a pipeline of infrastructure projects announced by Labor for Queensland at the weekend.
Federal Herbert MP Phillip Thompson said the $5.4B commitment had been made months ahead of the last election, and was included in the March 2022 budget papers.
“Next week’s budget is the first real test of the Albanese Labor Government’s commitment to Townsville, and the first thing they want to do is cut a $5.4B project which would have created 10,000 jobs and $6B in GRP,” Mr Thompson said.
“The Hells Gates Dam announcement was very well-received by the community and was backed by the people of Herbert at the election – it’s something that’s been in the pipeline for years.
“Now Labor wants to pull the money from North Queensland to pay for things in the south, like the Suburban Rail Loop in Melbourne.
“We’ve been working hard to invest in projects in Townsville that have brought our economy through the pandemic and into some of the highest business confidence and lowest unemployment we’ve seen in decades.
“We invested more than $2.5B into the local area in just the last term of Government – now’s not the time to be taking our foot off the pedal.”
Mr Thompson said the move looked set to be a taste of further cuts in next Tuesday’s budget.
“The Albanese Labor Government has already said it wants to cut the Community Development Grants program and the Building Better Regions Fund,” he said.
“These programs helped build the Cowboys Community and High Performance Centre, the DriveIt Motorsport and Driver Education Precinct and the CBD Youth Precinct.
“They would have funded lighting at Riverway Stadium, Jabiru Park and The Green at Burdell, as well as a new facility for AEIOU for children with autism.
“The people of Townsville deserve more from the Labor Government, and I’ll be fighting for our fair share.”
ENDS