Federal Member for Dawson Andrew Willcox and Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Senator Bridget McKenzie are calling on the Federal Government to maintain commitments made to the regions through the Building Better Regions Fund.
Speaking in Mackay last week, Mr Willcox said the Dawson electorate received multiple funding commitments from the Building Better Regions Fund including $50,000 to Proserpine State School, $1 million towards stage 2 of the Lake Proserpine Recreation Facility and $9 million towards Disaster Resilience and flood protection.
He said the $420,000 committed to Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) Whitsunday is also at risk.
“That goes towards the upgrade of their clubhouse or actual facility where they do a lot of their rescues from,” Mr Willcox said.
“They’ve had a 50 per cent increase in their callouts in the last few years and now they’re required to do medivacs and all those sorts of things and they’re all volunteers, they even pay for their own shirts.”
“We need to provide them with facilities to help service the community and keep people safe.”
“These projects cannot happen for your average council.
“We need federal government support and that’s why the Building Better Regions Fund is so important.
“We will be watching what happens in this budget to make sure that we get our fair share because the people of Dawson deserve it.”
Ms McKenzie said key projects facing an uncertain future include a swathe of community and major infrastructure projects that will underpin the future economy of the Dawson electorate.
“We are very concerned about the Government’s silence on regional funding in the lead-up to the Budget,” Ms McKenzie said.
“I’ve had mayors right around the country express concern to me that the Building Better Regions Fund will come under attack.
“It’s up to the Labor Party to keep those commitments, to keep backing the regions, because we believe we deliver a lot for this country so we’re asking they do not remove one dollar from the programs that underpin our economic and our social future.”
Federal Member for Dawson Andrew Willcox and Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Senator Bridget McKenzie in the Mackay last week. Photo credit: Sam Gillespie
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