APRIL 22, 2016: THE ability to progress work on some Bruce Highway projects rests entirely in Labor’s hands, and the best thing Bill Shorten could do for the Bruce Highway is to tell his counterparts in the State Labor Government to pull their finger out.I believe Mr Shorten has been making announcements regarding Labor's plans for the Bruce Highway in Townsville today, and he should ask his counterparts in the Palaszczuk government ‘why is Labor holding up the Haughton River Bridge Replacement?’The replacement of this bridge has been voted the most urgent problem to be fixed on that stretch of the Bruce Highway between Mackay and Townsville.Just a month ago the Palaszczuk Government was making a song and dance about a “State Infrastructure Plan” to fast-track projects, and they even put money towards fast-tracking planning, but once again the Haughton River Bridge Replacement has been ignored.I got a commitment from the Federal Government to fund this.It’s included in the Liberal National Government’s $6.7 billion Fix the Bruce policy which was announced in the 2014 Budget.The money’s been allocated and we can bring it forward.I understand these projects take time, but this is just not good enough.We want to see projects like the Haughton River Bridge going ahead as soon as possible.The last communication I had with the State Government on progress on the Haughton River Bridge replacement was that it was years away from beginning construction, as they are going through heaps of studies and planning.