No apologies for Bruce Highway fix

Letter sent to the Bundaberg NewsMail on 4 January 2016:

Dear Editor,

I honestly don’t know where Mr Beiger gets his information from (Fix the Bruce 29/12/15). If he’s driven the Bruce Highway even once during the past three years, he will have seen various roadworks underway.  

Covering a stretch of approximately 1,700 kilometres, the Bruce Highway represents less than eight per cent of Australia’s national highways but accounts for almost a fifth of the country’s road toll.

Motorists’ safety, freight route reliability and emergency accessibility are essential for the people who live, work and run businesses in regional Queensland, as well as the tourists and visitors that help boost our local economies.

On that basis, I’m not sure why Mr Beiger would complain about Nationals MPs listing the Bruce Highway as a key priority at every election.

I would have thought that being a so-called ‘dog-with-a-bone’ on important local issues is a good trait for a politician to have!?    

Being elected to Government in 2013 has enabled the Coalition to make significant progress on its 10-year plan to invest $6.7 billion fixing the Bruce Highway.  

Contrary to what Mr Beiger would have your readers believe, I have delivered on each of the election commitments I made to the people of Hinkler at the 2013 Federal Election.

In relation to the Bruce Highway, these commitments include:

•             $8 million upgrade to three intersections near Childers (completed July 2014)

•             $6 million for an overtaking lane north of Howard (completed August 2014)

•             $7.1 million widening of the Highway for 2.2km south of Torbanlea (completed December 2015)

There is also significant work being done on sections of the Bruce Highway north and south of my electorate, which will directly benefit Hinkler motorists.

Furthermore, the Coalition Government has doubled Roads to Recovery funding to Hinkler Councils, providing $28.1 million between 2014 and 2019 to build better roads, support local jobs and the economy.

Councils also receive substantial federal funding each year to improve road blackspots.

I suggest Mr Beiger check his information before making false claims about the Liberal National Party “never, ever delivering on the Bruce in Hinkler”.

The facts speak for themselves.

Keith Pitt MP

Member for Hinkler