Many of those who marched the long and winding road to reach completion of the Mackay Ring Road may not have been present at the ribbon cuttings on the weekend, but their commitment to fighting for better traffic and road safety outcomes for the city needs to be recognised.

The reality is that the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Labor government made a promise to get started on the Mackay Ring Road, then reneged on that promise.

It was only after the Abbott-led Coalition Government was elected in September 2013 that I was able to fulfil my commitment to see Mackay Ring Road Stage One funded, and that was announced in our first budget following that election in May 2014.

Then of course there has been a fair degree of pushing and jostling to keep this State Labor Government moving forward to get the job done.

I also commend the efforts of Mackay Regional Council mayors past and present on seeking this outcome.

We are all very happy to see the Mackay Ring Road come to fruition, and we look forward to the other road projects such as the Walkerston Bypass and the Port Access Road which will follow.

But we should not be fooled by a blitz of advertising from this State Labor Government trying to claim victory for something they frankly weren’t interested in doing and to which they had to be dragged kicking and screaming.

LNP Candidate for Mackay Chris Bonanno said it should be noted that the commitment by the state to provide funding for Mackay Ring Road Stage One was made under the previous Queensland Liberal National Party government.

“The official opening of Mackay Ring Road Stage One today is a wonderful event for the city but it’s been such a long time coming and I have said repeatedly, we should have seen both Ring Road Stage One and Stage Two, the Port Access Road, completed years ago,” Mr Bonanno said.

“The truth is that it was the previous Queensland Liberal National Party government who committed to funding this vitally important road connection which will transform road and freight movements around the city, particularly when we get the Port Access Road finished.

“I have had a long involvement with the Road Accident Action Group who have campaigned tirelessly for road safety outcomes in our region and I pay tribute to the likes of Noel Lang and Graeme Ransley for the effort they have put in to make this happen.”