Pollies in cash splash for Herbert

A FEDERAL Labor Government would invest $100 million in the upgrade of the Mount Isa to Townsville rail line, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will announce in Townsville today.

Meanwhile the Coalition will pledge $5 million to Townsville’s premier defence support hub, The Oasis, with the Prime Minister Scott Morrison expected in the marginal electorate of Herbert later this week.

Both announcements come a day after polling showed Herbert MP Cathy O’toole was lagging behind Liberal candidate Phil Thompson with experts saying the incumbent was in for the “fight of her life.”

THE LABOR funding train has pulled into Herbert, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten announcing a carriage of money for the Mount Isa to Townsville Rail Corridor if the party wins government.

Nearly 1000km long, the Mount Isa to Townsville rail line transports millions of tonnes of freight to and from the Townsville Port.

But civic leaders have said the future of Townsville’s economy is at “significant risk” if action isn’t taken to fix the complex operating and ageing infrastructure issues of the rail line.

Mr Shorten, who will be on the ground in Townsville today, has announced Labor will invest $100 million to upgrade the Mount Isa to Townsville rail line.

“There will be future demand on the line and we need to be investing in our future in North Queensland now,” he said.

“Labor will deliver strategic upgrades to the Great Northern Railway and support the ongoing exploration and development of the North West Minerals Province, providing economic opportunities for many decades to come.

“Labor’s focus on the western section of the line, including funding towards the upgrades, would improve the line’s capacity and better protect it from severe weather events like floods.”

Herbert MP Cathy O’toole said the rail line was the “life blood” of the west to the Townsville coast.

“It is the essential corridor for industry,” she said.

Traeger MP Robbie Katter has previously said it was undeniable there were “threats looming” from the proposed Mount Isa to Tennant Creek rail link.

Expected to cost between $2 billion and $3 billion, the project would expand the rail line from Mount Isa to Tennant Creek, joining it to an existing rail line headed to the Darwin Port.

Its viability is being investigated by the Northern Territory and Queensland governments and the Federal Government.

Labor has also announced it will fund the final stage of the Townsville Ring Road, at a cost of $144 million, honouring the money that was already set aside in the Federal Government’s budget.

Stage 5 is the remaining piece in the road duplication and would run from the Vickers Bridge, Riverway Drive onramp to the Kalynda and Shaw Rd area.