General News
19 February, 2025
Cloncurry council sweating on airport funds
The council is awaiting the outcome of a $10.2 million funding application.
Cloncurry mayor Greg Campbell says the $4.5 million in federal funds announced on Friday secures only about half the money required to complete the full scope of necessary upgrades to the town’s airport.
Cr Campbell said his council was still awaiting the outcome of a $10.2 million funding application under a different federal government program to secure the total money needed to complete the project.
However, Queensland is the only state yet to have any successful projects announced under this program.
Cr Campbell said the full $20 million Cloncurry Airport upgrades are necessary to ensure the facility is fully compliant with recent aviation safety changes, meet the rapidly growing throughput at the terminal gate and adequately manage fire and flood season emergencies.
To provide certainty to the various stakeholders reliant on the airport, Cr Campbell called on the Albanese government to release the successful list of Queensland projects before an election is called.
The $4.5 million North Queensland Resilience Program announcement on Friday, combined with the council’s previous $5 million commitment, means that about half the required funds are now locked in for the upgrades to the main airport runway, taxiway, apron and lighting.
Cloncurry Shire Council applied in early December for an additional $10.2 million in infrastructure funding under the Albanese Government’s Regional Precinct and Partnership Program (rPPP).
At the time of print, Queensland was the only state yet to receive any rPPP funding announcements, with South Australia the last state to receive a list of successful projects on January 31.
Despite being unsure of the outcome of its application, Cloncurry Shire last week pressed ahead with its tender process for the project, with the ambition of seeing the upgrades fully completed by the end of the year.
Cr Campbell said Cloncurry Airport was a key regional asset with major new and established resource projects, CopperString and aeromedical services all reliant on increased access to the facility.
“If the (rPPP) money comes through, it means we can do the entire project but if it doesn’t come through, we will have to rely on completing the priority areas first,” he told North West Weekly.
“The federal government should be in our corner knowing that we are the heart of the North West mineral province, and we need to make sure that the airport, which is the gateway for our miners, is well and truly open. I understand that these (funding) decisions can take time, but we have every reason to believe we could be successful in this application.
“When we are looking at this term of government closing soon and a federal election being called, it would be great to be able to get this money locked in and then we can give credit to where it’s due.”