The Civil Contractors Federation Queensland (CCF QLD) has welcomed state Liberal National Party (LNP) leader Deb Frecklington's commitment to widen the Bruce Highway to four lanes from Cairns to Gympie, if she wins the upcoming election.
The massive construction project will cost an estimated $33 billion over the next 15 years, creating 100,000 jobs and supercharging coastal economies.
Queensland LNP leader Deb Frecklington says Queensland companies would be given preference for contracts over interstate and international construction corporations – with tenders scaled to allow local small and medium-sized businesses to bid.
“With almost 200,000 Queenslanders out of work, we need major infrastructure projects to create jobs and drag us out of recession,” she says.
“Four-laning the Bruce Highway will create the jobs we need right now, but it will also benefit Queensland for generations to come.
“The upgraded Bruce Highway will have a speed limit of 110kmh and will boost the economic productivity of regional Queensland and Brisbane too.”
“The Bruce Highway is Queensland’s most important economic lifeline but long stretches of the road are slow, dangerous and prone to flooding.
“Our plan for the Bruce is bold and ambitious, but I believe Queensland must start building for the future.”
CCF QLD has been calling on both sides of government to increase infrastructure spending to boost the Queensland economy.
“The commitment by the LNP, should they win government in October, is what industry has been asking for,” CEO Damian Long says.
“CCF QLD has been advocating for a long-term strategy that avoids short term ‘sugar hits’ and that the sustainability of the industry must be considered in any forward planning.”
“Our policies are industry driven and sustainability is used as a test of their application. Ensuring sustainability of the civil construction industry is an investment in the future of Australia and its people”.
The Bruce Highway upgrade will provide increased certainty for the civil construction sector throughout Queensland.
“It is positive to see the LNP recognising the important role infrastructure construction plays in the recovery of an economic crisis and it is pleasing to see long term support for local civil contracting companies,” he says.
“The positive impact this infrastructure project will have on, not just industry, but local communities throughout Queensland is undefinable.
“Over the past few years, we have seen civil construction companies across Queensland letting staff go and some closing their doors and the impact on local communities when this occurs is considerable”.