Pitt blasts claims of North pork-barrel
IF LABOR was using the most recent state budget to try and win back Toowoomba North, you won’t hear it from Curtis Pitt.
The Queensland Treasurer dismissed claims the large discrepancy between projects approved in the marginal electorate, compared with the LNP-safe Toowoomba South, was deliberate.
The comments were made during a trip to the Garden City yesterday morning.
Speaking after the Budget Briefing event at Fitzy’s, organised by Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise and the Chamber of Commerce, Mr Pitt said the State Government was not interested in boundary lines when picking projects.
This was despite the marginal seat of Toowoomba North receiving far more projects in the budget he handed down last month, including the Wilsonton State High School hall, a new police station in Highfields and more funding for Sunrise Way rehab clinic.
“I can say is we have projects right across Queensland and we don’t look at electoral boundaries when we make decisions,” he said.
“We look at what regions need, what their requirements are and how
best the government can either do it directly or work with our counterparts in local government to deliver outcomes for people.
“What people do with that information is up to them, but I can say very safely that we have a very positive agenda and an economic plan that is seeing a growth increase, debt decrease, unemployment decrease and business confidence at its highest in five years.”
The Treasurer was impressed at Toowoomba’s economic activity.
“What I’m pleased to see is a region with an unemployment rate of 3.8% and some fantastic and big visionary projects kicking off, like the Pulse Data Centre, the freight loads of Wellcamp airport, and the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing,” he said.