Toowoomba bypass road project surrounded by funding unknowns

There are a swag of unknowns surrounding the Federal Government’s announcement of $700 million for the Toowoomba bypass road project, Main Roads Minister Warren Pitt said today.

Mr Pitt called on the Federal Transport Minister Mark Vaile to confirm that the $700 million was a down payment only for the $2 billion project.

“I hope this $700 million is only the first instalment of a much larger funding package”, Mr Pitt said.

“My great concern, however, is that the Federal Government is going to try to avoid its funding obligations and shift a large burden onto Queensland.

“Basically, we are in the dark about what the funding arrangements are going to be.

“Until we get all the details out in the open it is hard to provide any definitive comment on this announcement.

“What we know so far is that the Federal Government is expecting Queensland to contribute significantly to this project, even though it is a national road that in the past would have been fully federally funded.

“While there have been no discussions to date concerning what Queensland’s share of funding might be, Mr Vaile today was doing his best today to talk up a joint 50:50 funding deal.

“This is not only extremely presumptuous on the Commonwealth’s part, but also highly premature.

“This is because a further significant unknown is whether there will be a toll on the road.

“Until the business case is complete and we know whether this is being proposed as a toll road, it’s simply too early to say what the funding arrangements may or may not be.”

Mr Pitt said the federal funding for the road project would be allocated under the Commonwealth’s Auslink2 road funding program for the period 2009-14.

“It is quite misleading for Mr Vaile to say, as he did today, that this project is high on Queensland’s Auslink2 priority list.

“Queensland has submitted an overall list of road projects totalling some $23.5 billion in its Auslink2 submission, but has not ranked them in any order of priority.”

Media contact: Minister Pitt’s Office 3227 8819