Article: Queensland government accused of being all talk on infrastructure

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Queensland government accused of being all talk on infrastructure

Queensland government accused of being all talk on infrastructure
DANIEL HURST
July 5, 2010 - 6:11AM

The Queensland government has rejected claims it's dropping the ball on infrastructure after a federal government report found none of its pending big-ticket projects were ready to begin.

The government yesterday fended off opposition attacks by pointing to its $17 billion infrastructure program and to projects already underway.

Infrastructure Australia, a federal government advisory body set up two years ago to assess projects that deserve funding, released its updated national priority list late last week.

A table showing reform and investment priorities divides projects into four columns, depending on much more planning needs to be done before work can begin.

Infrastructure Australia identifies six projects that are ready to proceed, but none of them have been put forward by the Queensland government.

The next stages of the Eastern Busway appear in the ''threshold'' column, which means only a small number of issues yet to be resolved.

Four Queensland government projects have ''real potential''. They are the $14 billion Brisbane inner-city rail project, the $2.4 billion Darra to Springfield rail and road project, the $2.89 billion Abbot Point project, and the $934 million Port of Brisbane motorway upgrade.

The report says projects listed in the ''real potential'' and ''early stage'' categories have not been backed up by a comprehensive business case, such as detailed demand and capital expenditure forecasts.

The state opposition's infrastructure spokesman, David Gibson, yesterday seized on the report as evidence the Bligh government had put much-needed state projects on the backburner.

Mr Gibson said the government was unable to ''properly plan, prioritise and progress projects''.

"The premier and her infrastructure minister love putting on hard hats and safety vests for the cameras, but clearly they're failing to get projects ready to proceed,'' he said.

Infrastructure minister Stirling Hinchliffe slammed the criticism as ''astonishing'', saying projects that were ready to proceed in Queensland were ''being done''.

''For 10 years we've led the country in delivering infrastructure at the state and territory level and that's why we've got projects like the Gateway duplication under our belt,'' he said.

Mr Hinchliffe also pointed to the $4.8 billion Airport Link tunnel and Northern Busway project currently under construction, and the $17.1 billion infrastructure allocation in this year's state budget.

He acknowledged some projects, such as cross-river rail, were still in the planning stage.

''The state is doing extensive detailed planning and taking it to the next stages in terms of the planning work and the engagement with the community,'' Mr Hinchliffe said.

''That's why it's not ready, because it's still in the planning stages.

''The 'ready' column means it's ready for a bulldozer to come in tomorrow.''

Brisbane City Council's $328 million Go Between Bridge, linking South Brisbane to Hale Street, opened to traffic early this morning.