IT’S TIME TO ACT, PREMIER
ANNASTACIA Palaszczuk took off on a mercy dash north yesterday to see what she could salvage from the wreckage of Labor’s federal election campaign.
Regional areas well north of Brisbane are fed up with the Premier’s procrastination over the Adani mine debacle. In a stagnant economy, they want jobs and security.
Ms Palaszczuk should send someone south too because the unrest over stalling infrastructure projects is about to hit a crescendo on the Gold Coast.
Motorists in the city’s north are tired of crawling 2km in 30 minutes to drop off children at school and get to work. Similarly, the haggle over who will pay to extend the light rail is resembling a skit from political satire Yes Minister. Only now it is being played out in public.
The State Government, as is its wont, is quick to blame the former Newman government for any mess it may have inherited.
The truth is, Labor has governed Queensland for 18 of the past 21 years.
Work is finally under way on upgrades of the M1, but the Gold Coast is growing so fast that key infrastructure projects need to be fast-tracked. The place is bursting at the seams.
Queensland politicians are elected to do what is best for their communities. That means tough decisions. They cannot be looking over their shoulders listening to what left-wing tree huggers, or right-wing anti-climate change extremists think in other parts of the country.
The Government will roll out its State Budget next month. Aside from money on the table for Stage 3A, we need new schools; more than a map for the Coomera Connector; guarantees RAP will remain a bikie-busting unit and additional police to stop the crime wave in the north; plans for a new medical precinct at Coomera; and to boost tourism jobs and financial muscle behind The Spit masterplan.
Political analysts say the Palaszczuk Government faces oblivion at next year’s state election if it fails to listen. Labor’s only MP on the Coast, Meaghan Scanlon, would lose her seat and the party would drown in an LNP tsunami from here to north Brisbane.
Yesterday, the Premier said Labor’s dire showing at the federal poll at the weekend was a wake-up call.
Frustrated Gold Coasters will know within weeks if she has hit the snooze button, rolled over and gone back to sleep.