MINISTER’S CHANGE OF LANES IS WELCOME

THERE’S nothing like heavy criticism over a dud “strategic” report, a road being closed for 11 hours in a 24hour period and a public outcry to get politicians moving on a decades’ long problem.

The Cairns Post on Friday launched the Fix Our Broken Link campaign advocating solutions to Kuranda Range Road and connections to the Tablelands.

Advocacy groups FNQROC and Advance Cairns have been lobbying hard for short-term solutions and vital planning for the future.

Advance Cairns had written to Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey some time ago requesting him to reach out to the federal government asking for the redesignation of the Kennedy Highway section between Mareeba to Kuranda to be part of the national highway.

Crickets. In fact, Mr Bailey had only stated last week that there was “no clear technical justification for a major upgrade or construction of a new road”.

However, on Friday there was a change of heart. Mr Bailey has committed to writing to Federal Transport Minister Barnaby Joyce requesting consideration of the federal government reclassifying the Kennedy Highway between Smithfield and Mareeba to a national highway.

It’s a welcome move by the minister and shows he’s listening.

But it’s also a clever move from a state Labor politician with a federal election just months away. He now pushes the ball into Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch’s court to ensure the highway section receives strategic importance status unlocking an 80-20 funding split between the federal and state governments. This is just the start of a short-term fix for Kuranda Range. What we need more importantly is a road map and the political will to find a long-term alternative.

Jennifer Spilsbury Editor