Federal Member for Leichhardt, Warren Entsch MP has expressed his disappointment with the Labor Government’s 2024-25 Budget, highlighting a lack of support for critical infrastructure projects in Far North Queensland.
Mr Entsch has raised serious concerns regarding the lack of support for Cairns’ Water Security Project. “There’s been no commitment from Labor on what is an essential project for the Cairns region, the Government has been aware of this for some time now and have provided significant funds for other regions across Queensland to undertake similar water projects.”
“We’re going to run into water shortages within two years if we don’t get a move on and we’ve got our local Labor Senator Nita Green playing stupid games and fobbing off her own community, it’s simply not good enough.”
“Of course there’s been increases in the cost of the water project, just like every other major infrastructure project has suffered in recent years. Increasing costs and shortages of materials, combined with inflation and other factors have resulted in the need for more funds,”
“There’s no gold plating or scope change to the project, Senator Green would have known that if she’d bothered to have a conversation with Council and actually do her job.” Mr Entsch said.
While the budget focused on cost-of-living measures for Australians, Mr Entsch raised concerns about the reality of a rapid increase in spending and what that means for combatting inflation.
“The reality is that this is a typical big spending Labor budget, they insist that it’s not going to put upward pressure on inflation, but I seriously doubt that—the RBA is going to have some tough decisions to make in the near future as a result,”
“$300 off everyone’s energy bill sounds good at face value, but this should have been means tested, there’s no sense giving millionaires 300 bucks when we’ve got families living in tents or in the back of their cars—this is particularly true in our neck of the woods following the displacement from recent floods,” said Mr Entsch.
The 2024-25 Budget also offered no clarity on other major projects such as the Western Arterial Road, the extension of the Bruce Highway to the Smithfield Bypass and the Kuranda Range. The Peninsula Development Road is also in need of funding, initially to meet shortfalls for Stage 2 and then for the longer-term progress towards Stage 3.
“Give the current state of the Kuranda Range and the significant damage the road has sustained, one would have thought it was warranted that funds be set aside in the budget to advance progress on both short-term upgrades and remediation works, as well as progressing the case for an alternate route to the tablelands.”
Mr Entsch welcomed the Government’s decision to extend the Coalition’s initiative to engage tourism operators in reef monitoring, protection, and stewardship activities to protect the Great Barrier Reef. “It’s great to see the Government has chosen to extend our engagement with reef tourism operators to help monitor and protect the reef, but unfortunately it was the only real tourism initiative that I could find in the budget,” Mr Entsch said.
Mr Entsch also pointed to a lack of a renewed commitment for the long-term eradication of Yellow Crazy Ants, Wet Tropics Management Authority is seeking additional funds to secure their future past current funding agreements end date from 2026-27 and beyond.
Labor’s Budget has also left Barlow Park upgrades in the lurch. “Given the PM’s interest in Rugby League, along with his recent trekking in PNG and his public support for a PNG team based in Cairns, the lack of funds to deliver necessary infrastructure to deliver a fit for purpose facility is also disappointing,” Mr Entsch said.
Mr Entsch did welcome the Government’s increased commitment to reducing family and domestic violence through the $1 billion commitment to crisis accommodation and the $925 million Leaving Family Violence initiative. The initiative will offer people leaving abusive relationships up to $5,000 in financial support as well as referring them to social services and safety planning.
“The Government had made a good start with these domestic violence measures, but the combination of broader housing challenges and the lack of a serious indigenous housing policy—outside of the very Northern Territory focused budget line items—leaves a critical gap in many communities across Far North Queensland,” Mr Entsch said.
