Advanced Search

Share Coverage



Category: Regional Development / Regional / Liberal National Party (Queensland) / State Parliament / Public Sector

LNP vows to boost regional infrastructure funding in government

Sunday, 17 Apr 2016 11:17:06 | Nick Wiggins

Lawrence Springborg said the LNP would spend more on regional infrastructure. (AAP: Glenn Hunt)

A future LNP government would reinstate the Royalties for Regions program to better fund much-needed infrastructure projects, Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg says.

But he said projects would need to represent value for money to be funded under the program.

Introduced by the Newman government, the $509 million Royalties for Regions scheme was set up to fund a backlog of regional infrastructure projects.

Labor replaced the scheme with a Building Our Regions fund of $200 million.

Speaking in Townsville on Sunday, Mr Springborg said that is not enough money to fund the infrastructure needed in the regions.

A review by Queensland's Auditor-General of the LNP's program released in December last year found while the scheme delivered "much-needed infrastructure", the Government could not demonstrate that it had funded projects that represented value for money.

Auditor-General Andrew Greaves said then-deputy premier Jeff Seeney approved projects that were not always consistent with departmental guidelines.

"He also funded strategic projects where no departmental assessment was undertaken; and value for money was not considered," Mr Greaves said in his report.

He also raised concerns about the program's transparency and a lack of documentation.

At the time, Mr Seeney described the report as grossly misleading and fundamentally flawed.

Mr Springborg said under his enhanced scheme, projects would need to be viable and represent value for money.

"The upgraded Royalties for Regions fund will focus on projects that lead to more investment in the regions, creating economic growth and jobs," he said.

AustraliaPlus


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend