Wasteful political posturing

THE channel widening at Townsville Port should be ready to begin.

After receiving a green tick from the Federal Government in February, Port of Townsville CEO Ranee Crosby said the $ 193 million project would be critical for the future of the facility.

Ten days later Labor leader Bill Shorten was in Townsville to announce, if elected, his government would match the Queensland Government’s $ 75 million contribution to the project. Port of Townsville would fund $ 43 million.

It seemed logical that for a seat with one of the narrowest margins in the country, the Federal Government would quickly agree to fund the project.

Instead, the Commonwealth pointed the finger at the State Government for not formally asking it to match the funding.

And yesterday federal Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher revealed he’d asked the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to consider providing a loan for the channel widening project.

We shouldn’t have been entirely surprised, given Queensland LNP deputy leader Tim Mander had already suggested NAIF as an option for the port.

Port management argues that with the stroke of a pen, governments decided to ban the placement of capital dredge material at sea, multiplying the cost of this project. They argue the Federal Government should provide a grant, not a loan, to cover this increased cost.

They will likely be disappointed at the Federal Government for pursuing the NAIF route.

Under the City Deal, which was signed in 2016, political differences between the tiers of government were not to hinder progress on game- changing projects such as this one. However, the argy- bargy over this issue seems to demonstrate once again that politics will come before our progress every time.

In its three years, NAIF has provided one loan for a shipping upgrade in Western Australia. It’s heavily criticised for spending precious little on anything other than managerial costs to date.