BILL SHORTEN MP
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS AND ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDERS
MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG
ANTHONY ALBANESE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, CITIES AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
SHADOW MINISTER FOR TOURISM
MEMBER FOR GRAYNDLER
JASON CLARE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INVESTMENT
SHADOW MINISTER FOR RESOURCES AND NORTHERN AUSTRALIA
MEMBER FOR BLAXLAND
BELINDA HASSAN
LABOR CANDIDATE FOR DAWSON
LABOR BACKS LOCAL JOBS WITH MACKAY PORT ACCESS ROAD
A Shorten Labor Government will invest more than $100 million in the second stage of the Mackay Ring Road – the Mackay Port Access Road, creating up to 250 new jobs for locals in the construction phase alone.
Stage 1 of the Ring Road, first announced by the previous Federal Labor Government, and jointly funded with the Queensland Government is already underway – but we don’t want the work to stop. That’s why we are locking in the second stage right now.
The Mackay Port Access Road involves the construction of a new 8.2 kilometre highway from the Bruce Highway North intersection to the Harbour Road intersection – connecting Mackay’s northern suburbs to the Paget Industrial Area and mining locations west of the city.
The Ring Road will establish a connection between the Port of Mackay, Racecourse Mill and the mines – improving the links between where people work and where they live.
Mackay is a growing regional city, with a forecast population of more than 155,000 residents by 2031.
Daily cross river traffic is expected to increase by 50 per cent and the city’s existing bridges will exceed capacity at peak periods.
Imports at the Port of Mackay are also expected to double, which will greatly increase the number of trucks on local roads.
Without better road infrastructure, Mackay’s roads will be heavily congested. This means Mackay residents will spend more time stuck in traffic, and it also puts a handbrake on the local economy.
To make sure Mackay can keep growing as a liveable regional city, it needs more road infrastructure – and that’s exactly what Australian Labor will deliver.
Labor’s investment gives Mackay residents and businesses more certainty that their future infrastructure needs will be met – with better roads and more jobs.
The Mackay Port Access Road project is part of Labor’s Plan for Real Jobs in Regional Queensland.
Labor will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure projects in regional Queensland to grow local economies and create thousands of new jobs for Queenslanders.
Labor’s number one priority for Queenslanders is jobs. It always has been and it always will be.
Bill Shorten and Labor have spent a lot of time in regional Queensland, holding town hall meetings and listening to locals about what matters to them. Now we are delivering – with new infrastructure and new jobs.
Labor can fund these job-creating projects because unlike Turnbull and the Conservatives, we aren’t giving new tax handouts to multinationals and millionaires.
A factsheet with more information can be found here.
TUESDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 2018
MEDIA CONTACTS: LEADER’S OFFICE MEDIA UNIT 02 6277 4053
LAST NIGHT’S TV COVERAGE
(no link in media portal) Seven Bundaberg – The Wide Bay has seen a worrying decline in apprenticeship numbers. Keith Pitt, MP, is hoping new funding will change it. The federal government has launched a mentor program. Before the funding is received, the Qld Government has to agree to it.
WIN Wide Bay – Apprentice numbers have been low across the Wide Bay region but the Federal Government is hoping to change that. It is allocating more than $1bn towards a Skilling Australians Fund that will see 300,000 extra positions granted across the country. Karen Andrews, Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, says the fund will increase the number of apprentices over the next four years.
GLADSTONE OBSERVER FRONT PAGE
NEWSPAPER COVERAGE
P3 Exports up by 30% – AAP: Ciobo
P3 Unleaded price shock – AAP
P9 Mining urged to tackle Shorten – John McCarthy, Matthew Killoran (CM)
P11 Wages slipping behind – Jason Murphy
P11 Could this be Australia’s next Deputy PM? – AAP: McCormack, Joyce
P13 Cartoon: Christensen, Turnbull
P22 End rip offs and we all benefit – Karina Barrymore
