Imagine for a moment the impact of taking an entire country town and putting it in the middle of Moreton Bay with no road access to the mainland.
Such isolation amplifies regional challenges like high unemployment, low educational attainment, social disadvantage, concerning health and aged care outcomes, limited transport and inadequate community infrastructure.
This reality is confirmed in the most recent SEIFA index (Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas). This could represent the everyday life of a resident of the Redlands Coast Southern Moreton Bay Islands (SMBIs).
Despite the evidence, our SMBIs have never been recognised by the state government as ‘regional’, and while they once were recognised by the federal government this has recently changed, resulting in the SMBIs (and the whole of Redland City) being excluded from regional funding programs and much needed investment.
In addition to this, the state government has cost shifted some of their responsibilities to our ratepayers, such as the requirement to co-fund the ferry terminals on all four islands to the tune of $17m.
This is in addition to providing what effectively is a TransLink “Park & Ride” facility which is traditionally funded by the state and various transport hubs such as train stations and the like.
I recently welcomed an unusual letter from the deputy premier that clearly acknowledges the state is keen to fund, at least, a small portion of the cost of providing a TransLink Park and Ride.
I encourage you to advocate to your state members and candidates to ensure we get our fair share of state funding to fund their critical infrastructure.
