Following the handing down of yesterday’s 2016/17 state budget, the Sunshine Coast Business Council has welcomed funding for the North Coast Rail Line and Bruce Highway upgrades, but also stressed its disappointment at the lack of budget allocated to other infrastructure projects desperately required in the region.
Sunshine Coast Business Council Board Member Hayden Rudd said while the significant capital infrastructure spending across the state would generally be applauded by the broader business community, the government’s reliance on drawing from a state superannuation fund did not appear to fix the structural problems within the state economy, nor the government’s ability to repay debt.
“The Queensland Government continues to struggle with finding an answer to the state debt levels. While it has forecast surpluses over the next two years, the level of success in achieving forecast revenue will determine how much debt repayment actually occurs,” Mr Rudd said.
“It appears that until the state government once again puts asset sales on agenda, the Coast will continue to miss out on the delivery of a number of significant infrastructure projects.”
“The sheer scale of wish-list projects such as the North Coast rail line duplication, Mooloolah River interchange and further Bruce Highway upgrades necessitates funding from both federal and state governments, and the unfortunate reality is that the federal government is unlikely to assign significant funding while the Queensland Government continues to struggle with finding an answer to the state debt levels.”
Mr Rudd reinforced the need for all levels of government to work closely to develop a shared vision for the Sunshine Coast region that would support the needs of the growing population.
“Unless our political leaders are aligned on vision and major projects, we will continue to fall behind on critical infrastructure funding, which is of significant concern to both the business community and the broader Sunshine Coast population.”
Mr Rudd acknowledged the capital spending allocated towards improving the roundabouts along Kawana Way would go some way towards improving traffic flow in the area, but stressed more needed to be done to meet the additional demands the opening of the new hospital would place on the road network.
“It’s important that our politicians are thinking longer-term when prioritising projects and allocating funding. Band-aid solutions are only sustainable in the short-term and we need to make sure we are planning strategically and pre-empting the future needs of the community.”
Mr Rudd said there were certainly a number of areas of the 2016/17 state budget that the Sunshine Coast Business Council commended, in particular, the focus on innovation and attracting new businesses into the region.
“Our board is very supportive of the funding for innovation initiatives and we believe this is an area where the Sunshine Coast business community is well placed to benefit from the state proposals combined with the proposed federal initiatives in this area.”
“It was also encouraging to see some focus on attracting new industries, some of which align with the high-value industries identified by Sunshine Coast Council.”
The Sunshine Coast Business Council is an advocate for business and industry in the Sunshine Coast region and aims to work cooperatively with industry and government to maximise regional economic growth.