Region hurt in number crunch

WRETCHED mathematical conservatism is diddling Cairns out of its rightful share of infrastructure funding while Queensland’s southeast enclave gets fat and frivolous on unearned spoils.

Now there is a renewed push to fix whatever algorithm has been used to successively underestimate the Far North’s population growth and thereby excuse the historically skewed spending model.

Economist Bill Cummings has reviewed the State Government’s population projections from the 1970s onwards and found they “perpetuate a tendency to under-project the Cairns region”.

The tendency of government bean-counters to view Cairns through a deflated crystal ball has earned the ire of Enterprise North executive director Kevin Byrne.

“There is evidence everywhere here where infrastructure has not kept pace with growth,” he said.

“Look at the Kuranda Range Rd, Captain Cook Hwy, the Southern Access Corridor, our marine precinct and logistic connectivity, regional health spending and rural connectivity issues – including state expenditure on the national highway.”

Mr Byrne said the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office assessment needed to be accurate as it formed the foundation for state funding decisions.

“The recent decision regarding delaying Nullinga Dam and the spurious business case outcomes being evidence of how governments use the figures for their own purposes,” he said.