Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For people living in remote Capricornia, access to good roads and bridges is important to ensure better road safety and more efficient transport of agricultural products and livestock to market. That is why I am proud to announce that, following successful lobbying on my part, our coalition government is providing over $3.26 million to help replace three old bridges in the region. This includes $2.75 million to fix the dangerous Cherwell Creek Bridge in the Isaac Regional Shire. This total project will cost $5.5 million. In addition, there is $180,000 to replace Louisa Creek Bridge at Garnant in the Rockhampton Regional Council area. And there is a further $360,000 to help replace the old timber Sandy Creek Bridge on South Yamba Road north of Rockhampton. The total cost of the Rockhampton council projects is $1.36 million, of which the federal government is funding half.

Funding for these projects comes under the Commonwealth's Bridges Renewal Program to help replace existing narrow bridges in rural areas. This not only reduces the time taken to transport freight from farms and local industry but also increases productivity and economic profits and, importantly, dramatically improves general road safety for country travellers.