Whitsundays Public 'Heavies' push for Northern Missing Link

View Whitsundays Events and Incidents Map in a larger map7th May 2008
Whitsundays Online

A delegation from North Qld, lead by Whitsunday Mayor, Mike Brunker, converged on George St, Mackay yesterday to stress the urgency of the Northern Missing Link to the State Government.

The delegation also included John Finlay (CEO Whitsunday Regional Council), Rebecca Andrews (CEO, Enterprise Whitsunday), Narelle Pearse (CEO, REDC), John Bearne (Chair, Townsville Enterprise), Trevor Goldstone (CEO, Townsville Enterprise) and Mick Crowe (Director, G&S Engineering).

The group addressed the Transport Minister, Rachel Nolan, the Infrastructure & Planning Minister, Sterling Hinchcliff, and the Co-Ordinator General Colin Jensen, and a number of other senior officials.

REDC CEO, Ms Narelle Pearse, says that overall the meeting was positive, with the Government confirming that the Northern Missing Link was a State Government priority.

Ms Pearse asked the State Government to provide leadership in this project in order to accelerate the timeframes and outcomes.


“In the current economic climate there are major industry concerns about the future of coal. The Government needs to take a lead role in projects such as the Northern Missing link in order to instil confidence in the future of coal mining in Queensland, which will ultimately recover from the global financial crisis, and potentially put us into a second boom.”

“It is vital that enabling infrastructure such as the Northern Missing Link are constructed ahead of demand, otherwise we will be in the same situation we were seven years ago.”

Mick Crowe from G&S Engineering stressed the importance of the project for Qld jobs. “The Northern Missing Link is not just about coal. It is about Queensland people and Queensland jobs. This project has the ability to re-employ displaced workers in our region in the short term. The project will also secure Government revenue in the future to assist in the repayment of the current debt.”


Original Press Release from the Mackay Whitsundays REDC in PDF
Previous article on the Northern Missing Link
Video by QRhuggies 4 September 2007