It’s that time in the lead-up to an election when our politicians are suddenly more visible and promises are made in a bid to secure votes. The reality is the Sunshine Coast has been ignored for far too long and throwing us a few bones at this stage of the campaign is not enough.
While the recent Coalition announcement that $187 million of the $6.7 billion, 10-year ‘Fix the Bruce Highway’ plan will be brought forward to the 2019/20 financial year is a start, it’s nowhere near enough given the reliance the people of the Coast have on this highway, not just for freight and tourism but also for safety.
The business community on the coast is united in its belief that our infrastructure priorities are a combination of road, rail and air and not just any one of these in isolation.
The SCBC has repeatedly called on all three tiers of government — starting with both regional councils — to agree on an integrated transport strategy for the region and then lobby as a cohesive region for funding from state and federal governments.
This was reinforced this week when I, along with about a dozen other business people and council representatives, met with Darren Chester the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. The Minister was sympathetic to our needs, acknowledging the challenges in dealing with state and federal governments particularly in regard to shared funding responsibilities and their different election cycles.
We also talked about the airport and duplicated rail line as being equally important infrastructure in the overall need for improved transport for the coast.
What we need is a regional transport strategy, agreed by both councils, which clearly outlines our priorities. In addition, we require a strong, collaborative and relentless representation before the decision makers at a state and federal level, and they need to act.
So here’s a call to all Sunshine Coast politicians — why not work together to fund the development of an integrated regional transport strategy, identifying priorities and funding requirements by the different levels of government, and then actually deliver on it?