State News: Bligh Government gets on with Building Queensland

Six months into the second term of the Bligh Labor Government and work is already underway to implement one of the biggest jobs and infrastructure programs in the nation.

The Queensland Government is currently investing a record $18.2 billion in the job-creating building program during the 2009-2010 financial year.

“It's more than any other state and territory in Australia, protecting 127,000 local jobs right across Queensland”, Premier, Anna Bligh said.

Work is underway across Queensland, including:

• building new hospitals and upgrading existing ones,
• building more roads, new police stations and better schools; and
• new children's playgrounds, walking tracks and swimming pools.

“The program is about jobs for now, but it's also about training opportunities so that we can build and hang on to the skills that we will need in better times”, Premier Bligh stated.

On a local level, some of the funds are being spent on a range of important projects.

In Annerley for example, projects include 13 social housing dwellings and improvements to electricity supply.

In Moorooka, projects funds are being spent on improving roads and building a new kindergarten at the Moorooka State School.

In Dutton Park, at the nearby Princess Alexandra Hospital, the emergency department is currently being upgraded and expanded with an additional 30 beds.

Overall, $8.2 billion is being spent on building and infrastructure projects across the Brisbane region in 2009-10. This jobs-generating investment includes $3.6 billion on transport and roads, $389.4 million on health, $918.2 million on education and training and $160.1 million on police.

The Premier has indicated that the massive program for jobs and infrastructure is due not only to the biggest financial crisis of our generation, but also because of the increasing influx of people moving to Queensland.

During late August the Premier and Treasurer Andrew Fraser toured Queensland to promote the historic building program and highlight how communities right across the State, from Currumbin to Cook, would benefit.

“This (program) means jobs for Queenslanders, and it's building now what we need for tomorrow”, the Premier commented.

(Originally published September 2009)