Council Advocates for Increased Funding for the South Burnett

A copy of this document has been sent to all eight candidates for the upcoming State Election.

Mayor Kathy Duff said “This advocacy document is an important document that had input from the entire Council team, with a number of big ticket items in the document that Council would like to see rolled out over the next four years.”

It is very important that our Council works closely with the successful candidate to ensure that we get the best possible outcomes for our region over their next four year term.

Local government is very much an extended arm of the state government, and we depend on good representation at the state level to ensure that we receive our fair share of the funding dollars.

“Some of the projects that have been highlighted in the advocacy document are the 40 million dollar request from the state government to upgrade the Gordonbrook Dam Spillway. This is to improve its safety and is right up there at the top of the list. Our Council simply cannot fund this type of upgrade as it is out of the reach of our local government area and our rate payers simply cannot afford it,” Mayor Duff said.

Our state controlled roads urgently require upgrades to grow our region and enable progress for heavy vehicle movements and safety for school buses on the state controlled network. 

Mayor Duff said “we have indicative costings included in the advocacy document for the funding required for the upgrade of the Tanduringie Bridge and the single lane sections on Byee, Mundubbera Durong Road and the Kingaroy Barker’s Creek Road.”

With large gaps identified in the support for our farmers, we are asking for the reinstatement of more bio-security officers to manage compliance in areas such as the tick line that runs through our region. We are also seeking funding to support two wash down facilities to help target and reduce the spread of weeds across our region.

The renewable energy footprint is causing issues across our region particularly with road infrastructure and visual amenity issues; therefore we are seeking state government assistance with the roll out of projects, enabling local government and the community to have more say on where they go, the roads they use and what benefits they could potentially offer to the affected communities.

“With housing at a crisis level a review of our Council area is requested, to navigate better lending outcomes for local developers wishing to invest in housing for our region. Health is also a big ticket item, with a review requested of the classification of regional and rural communities, to provide increased incentives for medical professionals in the South Burnett,” said Deputy Mayor Danita Potter.

The State Election results will be a call to action from our Council to our local member and the new government to ensure that we have strong representation and a strong regional voice to deliver on the priorities identified in the advocacy plan for the region.

Deputy Mayor Danita Potter and Mayor Kathy Duff with SBRC’s Advocacy Plan 2024