Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations The Honourable John Mickel 04/06/2008
Queensland ports receive almost $800 million in Budget
The Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations John Mickel said ports corporations around Queensland had been allocated close to $800 million in the 2008-09 Queensland Budget.
Total capital outlays for the Transport portfolio in 2008-9 will be $3.653 billion, representing a 47 per cent increase in capital expenditure compared with the 2007-08 Budget. The portfolio consists of Queensland Transport, Queensland Rail and port authorities.
Mr Mickel said the six Queensland port corporations [b]would collectively allocate $798.4 million in 2008-09 for capital works across the State.[/b]
"This will be spent on a combination of new port development activities, including construction of new infrastructure and the ongoing improvement of existing facilities," he said.
"Queensland Transport will continue to work with the ports in developing and maintaining transport infrastructure and assisting them to deliver significant capital programs on time and within budget."
Project highlights for the ports in 2008-09 include $250 million to Ports Corporation of Queensland for the Abbot Point X50 Expansion, to increase the capacity of the Abbot Point Coal Terminal to 50 million tonnes per annum.
"This builds on the $70 million allocated for the Abbot Point X25 Expansion and $35 million for the renewal of stacker reclaimer machinery at the terminal," Mr Mickel said.
"These investments will help to increase the efficiency and capacity of Queensland's coal export industry."
In other Budget expenditure, Port of Brisbane Corporation will use $29.4 million for the relocation of the remaining port trades from Hamilton to Fisherman Islands.
"An additional $23.5 million will be used for the construction of berths 11 and 12 at Fisherman Islands to accommodate increasing trade throughput," Mr Mickel said.
He said $16.5 million has also been allocated for the continuation of the Ham ilton Northshore Site Redevelopment Program. Mr Mickel said a big regional winner was Cairns Ports, with $113.6 million, including $67.1 million for the redevelopment of the Domestic Terminal Building at Cairns Airport.
"Another $4.5 million will be provided to build a new facility at the Cairns Airport for the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service," he said.
The total capital allocation for each port corporation in 2008-09 is as follows: Ports Corporation of Queensland Limited $367.2 million Port of Brisbane Corporation Limited $219 million Cairns Ports $113.6 million Gladstone Ports Corporation $55.7 million Mackay Ports $23.1 million Port of Townsville $19.8 million
Redevelopment of the domestic terminal building? I wonder what that entales? any ideas?
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