Andrew Willcox, Catherine King go head-to-head on Black Spot program

Daily Mercury, Mackay

Journalist: Duncan Evans

After a shocking year of road fatalities across Central Queensland, Andrew Willcox has called out the federal government for allegedly cutting money to a road-safety program.

The newly-minted Nationals MP claims Labor’s October budget “stripped” millions from the Black Spot program, which funnels money from the federal government to local councils around the country to fix up high-risk crash zones.

“People are dying on our roads everyday and if these incidents can be prevented, they should be,” the Dawson MP said.

“Bringing down the national road toll must be a top priority for all sides of politics, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for the Albanese Government.”

But Infrastructure Minister Catherine King has hit back at Mr Willcox and said bluntly no money had been cut from the program.

“I am disappointed that the opposition has chosen to fabricate this story and politicise road safety in this way,” Mrs King said.

“There have been no cuts to the Black Spot Program and there is funding in the forward estimates to pay for all currently approved projects.”

On first glance, the numbers support Mr Willcox’s criticisms.

The Coalition’s March budget allocated $100.6m to Black Spot in Queensland from 2022 out to 2026, whereas Labor’s October budget allocates $97.3m for the same period.

But Minister King clarified funding had not been cut but rather “reallocated” to years beyond 2026.

“Funding which is not spent is reallocated into future years of the program,” she said.

“This funding is retained within the program and remains available to the states and territories for future use.”

There were 299 road deaths across Queensland in 2022 – the highest number of fatalities in the state since 2009.

Upgrades to Mackay’s high-risk zones continue.

The Richmond and Holts Rd intersection in Glenella will be reconstructed in 2023-2024.