17 Oct 50 YEARS LATE, CHARTERS TOWERS, TOWNSVILLE CAN’T WAIT A DAY LONGER: KATTER

It’s disgraceful that Charters Towers last redeveloped its hospital 50 years ago – it’s well past overdue, Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Leader and Member for Traeger Robbie Katter has said.

The KAP Leader was in Townsville to support Townsville Enterprise Limited’s (TEL) ‘Unlocking the North’ priorities, which outlines their support for the redevelopment of the hospital, which originally opened in 1884, as well as TEL’s housing priorities.

“Fifty years is far and away too long to wait for a hospital redevelopment. The hospital is the same as it was when I grew up in Charters,” Mr Katter said.

“The KAP and I are all about alleviating the housing shortages in our cities, be that Brisbane or Townsville, and having a 50-year-old hospital just doesn’t cut it for potential residents of rural towns like Charters Towers.

“It’s great to see that TEL has identified that a $300 million Charters Towers Hospital redevelopment would not only benefit people who live in Charters, it also will take pressure off Townsville hospitals,” he said.

Mr Katter also threw his support behind TEL’s housing priorities, noting that housing pressures are being felt across the state, but the solutions for North Queensland are clear, cost-effective, and ready to go.

“For only $65 million, more than 5,600 new homes could be unlocked in and around Townsville, as well as $50 million towards Built-to-Rent investments for critical workers”, Mr Katter said.

Mr Katter expanded further to outline the KAP’s policy of increasing rural residential blocks and allowing first homeowner grants to be used to purchase existing homes in western areas.

“Townsville’s future prospects are being limited by a lack of available housing – the same is true in our western areas, in towns like Charters Towers and Hughenden,” the KAP leader said.

“You look across these vast areas and see land locked away from sensible development of rural blocks – it can all be fixed at the stroke of a pen.  One-acre blocks carved out of larger parcels of land, allowing for people to move out of our cities to enjoy the rural lifestyle.

“Similarly, extending the first homeowner grants to young, energetic people to purchase and renovate existing, underutilised housing stock in our Western communities will breathe life into these towns, and help release the pressure in our cities.

“Despite the housing crisis seeming impossible to solve, innovating and forward-looking solutions are out there – KAP is here to support them,” Mr Katter said.

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