DAVID CRISAFULLI [QUEENSLAND PREMIER]: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to what is a very historic day for anyone who relies on the Bruce Highway, for anyone who’s been at the mercy of the roads, and for anyone who wants to see a fair share of investment for regional Queensland. And today, to see progress on the upgrade at the Bruce here at Gairloch is something that I feel personally very, very excited about. 

And I want to acknowledge Senator Chisholm, who’s joining us today. And the significance of that is the fact that these upgrades on the Bruce are being funded because of an 80-20 partnership deal which we have struck with Federal Government following the election. I want to acknowledge the work of Brent as the Minister who worked with his colleague. Wayde will talk about his role in this particular project, and some promises we made during the by-election. 

But I make this observation. I said to Queenslanders that we would make the Bruce Highway a key focus of all that we do if we’re given the privilege of governing, and we are living up to that word. Right now, there are 150 jobs that have either been done, that are underway, or in planning up and down the Bruce – that is the single biggest investment in the history of the Bruce Highway. And it shows that we understand that Queensland is bigger than Brisbane, and that this has been a road that has been a national disgrace for a long, long time – a goat track. And finally, it’s getting the investment that people of this part of the world deserves. 

And by working on these pinch points, by lifting flood immunity, by improving safety, what it does is it improves the journey for everyone who travels it. It doesn’t matter if they live in Cairns or if they live in Gympie, anyone who has been at the mercy of this road is seeing what the investment means and what it is doing. 

I want to put into perspective how significant the investment is on the Bruce. Right now, as part of those projects, there’s more money being spent on the Bruce Highway alone than what we are spending on all of the Olympic and Paralympic Games infrastructure. That’s how significant it is. 

And I want Queenslanders to understand we respect and understand the value of this road. We promised we’d do something about it. We’re living that. We’re breathing it. And I want every Queenslander to know that this is a road that is deeply personal for me. It’s a road that that I travelled all too often, and it’s a road that I saw people of this great part of the world held at the mercy – whether or not it was for accidents, whether it was for flood immunity, whether it was for the poor conditions. Slowly but surely, we put in place those jigsaw pieces to finally deliver a Bruce Highway that this state can be proud of in the years to come. 

I’m going to ask Senator Chisholm to say a few words. Thanks, Anthony.

ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: Thanks, Premier. It’s great to be with you in Ingham and Minister Mickelberg and local member Wayde as well. 

I just wanted to start by saying a few words about Helen Haines, and I understand the Premier has said some words this morning. But my thoughts are with her and her family and with her electoral staff, and also those in her local community as well. I know and have worked with Helen on a number of issues, and I know that she was a very diligent local member who was much loved by her community and was a very important member in terms of the things that she had achieved within the Parliament at the same time. So, obviously tragic circumstances that have taken place, and I wish Helen all the best in her recovery.

It’s great to be here with the Premier and Minister Mickelberg and Wayde this afternoon for this important event. We’re proud to be part of an Albanese Labor Government that’s delivering for the Bruce Highway as part of that 80-20 split, as the Premier said. We know that the Bruce Highway is the beating heart of regional Queensland. It goes through so many communities. It’s important for business. It’s important for families. It’s important for tourism. And that’s why that these upgrades that we’re talking about today are going to make a difference for the local community. 

This is about improving flood resistance, about making it safer. That’s going to ensure that families are able to get around, particularly during wet season; that we’re going to see commerce continue to be able to operate rather than what we often see when this section of the road is out for a period of time. So these upgrades are really important for the local community, but they’re important for the state on a whole. And I want to thank the constructive way that we’ve been working with the state government and councils, identifying projects that need upgrading and then being part of a Federal Government that’s delivering the money that’s necessary to make these projects happen. 

It’s really important, as the Premier mentioned before, the 150 projects – 20 completed, some in the works and some in planning. That’s a lot of disruption to the Bruce Highway, but I know that Queenslanders are going to welcome it because they know that it means safer trips around the state at the same time. So we’ll continue to work constructively with the state, get on with doing these important projects, knowing that they’re absolutely vital for the long-term future of the state.

I’ll now hand over to Minister Mickelberg. 

BRENT MICKELBERG [QUEENSLAND MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND MAIN ROADS]: Morning, all. Brent Mickelberg, Minister for Transport and Main Roads. Well, it’s tremendous to be here today at the Gairloch Floodway where Queenslanders, North Queenslanders in particular, have had to deal with a highway that has been substandard, subject to the vagaries of the weather here and frequent closures, but also unsafe. And today, we are getting on with the job of doing what we would said we would do, which is fixing the Bruce Highway. 

Before the last election, we promised we’d fight for an 80-20 planning split. We promised to re-establish the Bruce Highway Advisory Council. And I’m very pleased today that we’ll be holding the Bruce Highway Advisory Council here in Ingham, listening to local voices right up and down the Bruce Highway. 

Since the election, we’ve been able to strike an 80-20 funding deal for a $9 billion program of work on the Bruce Highway, the largest ever investment in the Bruce Highway, and that’s only one part of the work that we’re doing on the Bruce Highway. As the Premier said, 150 projects either in planning, underway, or completed on the Bruce Highway, and that is all north of Gympie, all in regional Queensland, and we know that is what Queenslanders expect. And we know the Bruce Highway isn’t where it needs to be, hasn’t been for a long, long time. 

The Bruce Highway was ignored by the former state government, the former Labor state government, for many, many years. They chose to accept a 50-50 funding deal for the Bruce Highway – we were not prepared to accept that. We fought for that, and now, we’ve managed to deliver that for Queenslanders. And we’re working closely with the Albanese Government to get on with the job of fixing the Bruce Highway. 

This work here today will improve, as I said, the safety. There’s been lives lost– 42 lives lost on the Bruce Highway in 2024, and we know that too many Queenslanders have lost their lives on the Bruce Highway. It’s why we’re investing in making the Bruce safer through wide centre line treatments, improved pavement, removing some of those narrow bridges that are the highest risk sections. 

But we’re also focused on building capacity for the Bruce Highway – making the Bruce Highway more able to deal with the impacts of adverse weather, heavy rainfall and the like, reducing the time of closure. This section of the Bruce Highway closes, on average, for 30 hours each year. This will reduce that to between 16 to 18 hours, and importantly, will mean that the road is able to open quicker and we’re able to get both freight and locals moving more readily.

And importantly, this is just one section of the work. We know that there’s a considerable piece of work that’s required to upgrade the Bruce through this section. Between here and the Cardwell Range is one of the most defective sections in relation to flood impacts, and it’s why we’re getting on with the job of starting this work. 

And I’m really pleased to be partnering with the Federal Government to get on with the job - you can see it’s on site. Importantly, both Premier and Senator Chisholm referenced the fact there’s a whole lot of work happening on the Bruce Highway, and we’re very mindful of the fact that, as we do the volume of work required to get the Bruce up to standard there will be interruptions to those who rely on the Bruce Highway, whether that’s freight operators or locals. And importantly, we’re seeking to minimise those impacts wherever possible, doing the work under revised traffic arrangements to ensure that workers can do the work safely but also keep traffic moving. And today, that will be one of the focuses of the Bruce Highway Advisory Council meeting here in Ingham, which Wayde will also be attending. 

Importantly, this work is only one section of work that we’re doing on the Bruce Highway. Just two weeks ago, the Premier and I were at Walker Street in Maryborough, where we’re getting on with the job, and construction has started fixing a dangerous intersection there where three people lost their lives in recent years. On the section between Dean Road and Tully High School, that section of work– that section of road there is undergoing upgrades as well. Mackenzie Creek to Tindall Court, which is south of Townsville, a very long section of road there where we’ve got safety works underway, wide centre line treatment will be rolling out through there, improved pavement, making that section of road safer for all road users. Between Central Road and the Mary River, we’ve got work underway there to improve and input wide centre line treatment. 

And we’re building a new Gin Gin heavy vehicle rest area as well. We know that fatigue management, ensuring that there is adequate opportunities for those to stop on the Bruce Highway, is an important measure. And one of the first pieces of work that we rolled out under the Bruce Highway Targeted Safety Program was a new rest area just at the end of the new Gympie Bypass at Curra, and it’s been well patronised. And so too are we seeking to roll out new rest areas right up and down the Bruce Highway. We’ve also got upgrades in the Wide Bay at Kalpowar Road. I was recently not far from there with the local member, Bryson Head, and we finished works at another intersection. 

And our focus is fairly– is squarely on getting these projects started and getting them finished and getting the Bruce Highway up to a standard that Queenslanders can be proud of and that meets the needs of both the traveling public, freight operators, and addresses the chronic safety shortfalls that have existed for well over a decade. We’re getting on with the job of doing what we said we would do and delivering a better Bruce Highway for all Queenslanders, and we look forward to continuing work with the Federal Government to do just that.  

I’ll hand over now to Wayde and happy to take any questions at the end.

WAYDE CHIESA [STATE MEMBER FOR HINCHINBROOK]: Thanks Minister. Good morning, everyone. Wayde Chiesa, the Member for Hinchinbrook. Well, it’s great to be here with the Premier Minister, Minister Mickelberg and Senator Chisholm to deliver on a by-election commitment that we’ll make to the people of Hinchinbrook. During the by-election, the people of Hinchinbrook spoke loud and clear they wanted more action on roads, and this part of the world is flood prone and it’s not safe. And so to see works commencing today that will improve the safety, improve the flood resilience, is a wonderful day for the people of Hinchinbrook. 

We know when this stretch gets cut off, it impacts kids going to school – they’ll probably like that – but it impacts kids going to school, it impacts mums and dads getting to work. But importantly, it impacts the freight industry – freight can’t get through to Cairns, and it stops. In Ingham you see trucks banked up. So, to see improvement and to start today is such a wonderful thing.

Wallum also added, in relation to by-election commitments, the people of Hinchinbrook also spoke loud and clear when they wanted more action on crime. They could see adult crime, adult time starting to work, but they wanted breach of bail, go to jail. And in the last 10 months government has listened, the Crisafulli Government has listened; legislation’s been tabled; the committee has examined it. And to hear that it’s going to be legislation by the end of the calendar year is another great outcome for, not only the people of Hinchinbrook, but regional Queensland. What you’re seeing today in relation to Gairloch and breach of bail is a prime example of when governments listen to community, they listen to regional Queensland and they listen to Queenslanders. Thanks very much. 

I’ll hand over to Jess who runs the Cape River bus service as well. Thanks Jess. 

JESSICA GUANVALINI [BUS DRIVER]: Thank you Wayde. I’m very excited to see the upgrades happening here along the Bruce Highway. Last year alone we were impacted by flooding for 19 days. That is four weeks that the students were not able to get to school – from Cardwell-Kennedy – to get to school. So yes, while they may have been happy about that, I’m sure their parents weren’t. And often we see the narrow bridges are also a concern for us as well, and the accidents that happen all the time. So we as a company are very, very happy, as I’m sure all the other locals are as well, to see the upgrades happen today. Thank you.