Media Release

Australian Party Federal Leader Bob Katter has announced a cavalcade of protest in support of a grassroots campaign for another southern road access in to Cairns.

"But a cavalcade might be a bit redundant since we already have one – or maybe we’d call it a funeral procession – twice a day, when we try and get to and from work on a highway that’s a disgrace to the country," said the Federal Member for Kennedy.

"Australian Party candidate for Mulgrave, Damian Byrnes, said his wife’s home in Launceston has eight overpasses and 24,000 people. Compare that to nearly a million people in North Queensland and three overpasses. Or look at Brisbane to the Gold Coast, which has mostly six to eight lanes.

"One has to ask who the hell has been representing North Qld in Parliament. I’ll tell you who – the LNP and the ALP."

Mr Katter said the current proposal by the State transport department was for a high-speed freeway that would destroy 1000 businesses along Mulgrave Rd, or it would continue to be a "stagnating bottleneck, absorbing more and more time from the daily lives of the people of Far North Queensland".

He said an alternative high-speed corridor east of the current highway, with an upgrading of Mulgrave Road to facilitate business access, would allow Mulgrave Road to do its proper job.

Mr Katter said he spent a week in Brisbane and could not believe the incompetence of people who had spent about $50,000 million in the past 10 years on accesses that simply did not work.

"They are showing the same incompetence in North Queensland, but with one-hundredth of the money," he said.

"We must seriously address the alternative high-speed eastern corridor. The Mulgrave & District Chamber of Commerce and other interest groups such as Fran Lindsay’s are dead right on this."

Mr Katter said there had been continuous meetings held with transport officials – "And I don’t hesitate to say these meetings have been acrimonious. But the bureaucrats will not override the will of the people in this matter".

Mr Katter said the date of the cavalcade would be announced shortly, but urged everyone in the meantime to show their support for the grassroots petition campaign.