Boom states push infrastructure initiatives

&#8220Infrastructure development&#8221 is the government motto in the boom states of Western Australia and Queensland. The WA treasurer Eric Ripper called yesterday (Tuesday, January 2) for the creation of a $2bn national infrastructure fund to boost Australia’s exports. &#8220Using the surplus to build infrastructure is an investment in the nation’s future,&#8221 Mr Ripper said. The spending could come from the Federal Government’s expected $9.7bn surplus. "What they spend in WA is $24bn, so there’s a $4bn gap between what the Commonwealth collects in WA and what the Commonwealth spends in WA," Mr Ripper said. In Queensland, premier Peter Beattie is seeking to replicate the success of the Gladstone area in the triangle bound by Townsville, Mount Isa and Bowen. The Northern Economic Triangle Blueprint, released on Saturday (December 30), aimed to maximise the economic potential of Mount Isa and Townsville and to develop a new industrial precinct at Bowen &#8220by creating an environment for private sector investment and growth&#8221. &#8220The release today of the Northern Economic Triangle Blueprint establishes the strategic intent to provide critical infrastructure to underpin private sector investment in industrial development and minerals processing over the course of the next half century,&#8221 Mr Beattie said. &#8220The blueprint provides critical infrastructure strategies by partnering with private sector investments, a successful formula for delivery of infrastructure previously applied to Gladstone and Australia TradeCoast.&#8221 However, Mount Isa mayor Ron McCullough sounded a note of caution, telling the ABC that plans needed to be backed up by government action in support of new infrastructure and more mineral processing. "I mean we’ve had plenty of blueprints and studies before,&#8221 Mr McCullough said. "It’s pretty well known the Mount Isa and northwest Queensland region have got resources unequalled really throughout many parts of the world and certainly throughout Australia, but nothing’s been happening with them for so long we’re a bit unsure if anything is ever going to happen."

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