MP rage over highway that RACQ says could claim 400 lives
THE political train wreck that is the Bruce Hwy is again making headlines for the wrong reasons.
One prominent MP appointed on a Queensland Government committee to fix the troubled freeway has labelled findings from a report he helped put together as "bull**** motherhood statements that do not reflect the concerns of (his) region".
Federal LNP Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch made the declaration in a letter he circulated to colleagues that was seen by media group AAP.
Those comments came after he sat on the Bruce Highway Crisis Management Group.
The group spent six months coming up with a 10-year plan for upgrading the notoriously dangerous stretch on road and released its findings only last month.
Another appointee of the group, Member for Wide Bay Warren Truss, declined to respond to the MP's comments but reiterated his government's commitment to seeing the Bruce improved.
"I have said on numerous occasions that the Coalition is committed to increase funding for the Bruce Hwy and we will have more to say nearer to the election," Mr Truss said.
"The choice of which projects will be funded will be a matter for negotiation between an incoming Coalition government and the State."
Mr Entsch's comments follow alarming figures released by RACQ last week after the Bruce Highway Crisis Management Group's findings were made public.
RACQ's executive general manager advocacy Paul Turner released information that showed, at current rates, the dangerous Queensland artery would claim 400 lives in the next decade.
He also released data showing in the same period 4000 serious injuries would be as a result of the Bruce Hwy.
