Townsville Labor MPs delay 700 local jobs
Member for Herbert Phillip Thompson says the State Labor Government has put 700 jobs in jeopardy at a critical time by rejecting the Federal Government’s $195m funding for Stage 2 of the Haughton Pipeline.
Mr Thompson said it was disappointing to see the incompetent State Members in Townsville continue to play silly buggers and put politics before people.
“At a time when so many in our community are desperate to put food on the table for their families, you have to ask why the State Labor MPs are playing with people’s lives and livelihoods,” Mr Thompson said.
“The Federal Government has delivered its commitment of $195 million for this critical infrastructure project. It is unheard of that a State Government, 18 months down the track, would then backflip and refuse that funding.
“The stance of the Townsville Labor MPs makes absolutely no sense. They were happy for the Federal Government to put $75 million towards the Townsville Port channel widening, happy for the $100 million for the Townsville Stadium and happy for the $250 million for the Townsville Hospital – all without a make-believe GST stoush – why would this be any different?
“We all know they are doing it so they can take credit for the project ahead of their own October election. I say to the Labor MPs in Townsville: the $195 million is signed, sealed and delivered and work should be all but underway instead of the costly delays we’re now seeing.”
Mr Thompson said it was clear that Queenslanders will be much worse off under the new funding scenario.
“We have Townsville MPs quoting a made-up GST figure. The Commonwealth Grants Commission which calculates how much GST each State gets hasn’t even put out its report for this financial year,” he said.
“Labor’s plan will see Queensland taxpayers foot an unbudgeted $195 million to score a cheap political point. It shows a real lack of leadership or care for our community.
“We already know the Townsville Labor MPs have no interest in our region – we’ve seen it with out-of-control crime that they’ve failed to act on, we’ve seen it with their stalling on job creating projects like Adani. This is just another example of them bowing to South-East puppet masters instead of putting the people of Townsville first.
“We needed shovels in the ground yesterday to help our region recover from what has been an absolutely horrendous 18 months.”
ENDS