The Sunshine Coast Business Council has welcomed Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls’ pledge to allocate $300 million towards the delivery of the Sunshine Coast rail duplication between Beerburrum and Landsborough should the LNP win the upcoming state election.

Sunshine Coast Business Council (SCBC) Chair Sandy Zubrinich said last week’s announcement was by no means a surprise given the former LNP government’s 2015 funding commitment of $500 million to then fully fund the project, and she understood the cost of the project was now estimated to be $600 million – a price tag it is envisioned will be funded equally by state and federal government should the LNP win government.

Ms Zubrinich said SCBC acknowledged the LNP’s intent to progress stage two of the duplication as well, and welcomed their discussions with federal government seeking further funding from the National Rail Fund in an attempt to complete both stages.

She said that the duplicated rail through to Nambour was not simply a ‘nice-to-have’, but very much a critical piece of infrastructure for the region.

“In addition to being a major economic driver for the future, the rail duplication will provide long overdue improvements to currently unreliable passenger and freight services,” Ms Zubrinich said.

“Irrespective of which party takes power, the soon-to-be-elected government needs to deliver this infrastructure for the future prosperity of the Sunshine Coast.”

“Growth regions like the Sunshine Coast need reliable and modern infrastructure and rail is a crucial part of the equation.”

Ms Zubrinich said jobs were a welcome by-product of the prospective upgrade, and it was encouraging that close to 2,000 positions would likely be created if the LNP funding commitment was brought to fruition by both state and federal governments following the election.

“It will be interesting to see whether the Labor government also commits funding to the duplication as the election campaign ramps up, and in the interests of building a bright future for the Sunshine Coast, we certainly hope to see both of the major parties getting behind this infrastructure initiative.”

“We now call on the LNP to recommit the $440 million pledged in 2015 to the Mooloolah River Interchange (MRI) – another acknowledged state government project that had received funding commitment under the previous state government but nothing since under the current government.”

“At the recent Combined Government & Business Forum, all levels of government and the business community agreed this project is a high priority, and we eagerly await an announcement regarding an upgrade to this interchange.”

Ms Zubrinich noted comments by Steve Dickson from One Nation in January 2017 that the $440 million Mooloolah River interchange would be built if Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party won office at the next state election.

The Sunshine Coast Business Council is the leading regional business advocacy group on the Sunshine Coast. It represents approximately 4,000 businesses through its membership, which includes key national and regional industry groups and their members as well as national and regional businesses.