The Bruce Highway through Wide Bay connects Cooroy, Gympie, Gunalda, Glenwood, Bauple, Tiaro, Maryborough and all communities in between. It’s a vital transport corridor linking families and friends, and commerce, freight and tourism.
But it’s also a corridor of tragedy, the site of far too many fatalities and numerous crashes causing serious injuries and loss of productivity.
The Gympie bypass is now open, extending the four lane divided highway to Curra. But there are no commitments to extend the four lanes further from Curra to Maryborough.
With over 11,000 vehicle movements every day along our stretch of the national highway, if our section of highway was in New South Wales or Victoria it would already be four lanes.
The time for four lanes through Wide Bay is long overdue.
I’m encouraging everyone to sign the petition to the Queensland and Australian Governments, calling on them to fast track and prioritise the four lane Tiaro bypass, and commit to extending the four lane section from Curra to Maryborough.
When the Tiaro bypass was first proposed the Queensland Government originally recommended a two-lane corridor – without any separation between opposing directions of traffic – and they wanted me to call it a safety upgrade.

Tiaro is the four-lane bypass that Queensland Labor didn’t want and Federal Labor is on the record calling it a waste of money.
The evidence is there for everyone to see.


On 18 September 2020, the Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads said, “there is a lot of capacity… there is no issue about gridlock or hold-ups at the moment and there is not foreseen (to be) for the next couple of decades.”
On 2 October 2020 a Labor representative said four lanes weren’t needed, the money would be better spent elsewhere, and the four-lane Bruce Highway plan is a “waste of taxpayers’ money.”
Our community rejected those arguments, and in 2021 we fought for and won a $268 million funding commitment from the former Federal Government to build a four-lane Tiaro bypass with a concrete barrier separating north and southbound lanes.

On 9 June 2021 former Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack visited Tiaro to announce a $268 million commitment for a four lane bypass from the Liberal and Nationals Government. Barnaby Joyce on 13 July 2021 subsequently confirmed the funding commitment in a letter to the Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads Main Roads Mark Bailey.
On 6 September 2021 the Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads replied to Barnaby Joyce with a funding profile for the four lane Tiaro bypass, indicating that major construction would commence in 2024. This clearly has not happened.
Following the change of Federal Government at the May 2022 Federal election, I wrote to the incoming Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Catherine King on 6 June 2022 to ask that the funding commitment for the four lane Tiaro bypass be maintained.
On 17 November 2022 Minister King told local media that the funding commitment had been maintained in the Federal Government’s October 2022 Budget and confirmed the same to me in a letter on 21 November 2022.
But all of this changed In the May 2023 Budget, when the Federal Government suspended its commitment to the four lane Tiaro bypass, and placed this vital project into a 90 day Infrastructure Investment Program Strategic Review.
Even before the review slowed the project down, the funding profile for the Tiaro bypass agreed between the Albanese and Palaszczuk Labor Governments indicated the new section wouldn’t be open to traffic until 2028 or later.

The Albanese Labor Government’s 90 day bureaucratic review ended up extending to 200 days. The Brisbane Olympics had its funding guaranteed and quarantined from this review. But the Albanese Labor Government refused to exempt the vital four lane Tiaro bypass from its review.
With 11,000 vehicle movements every day, everyone who uses this section of Highway knows the four lane Tiaro bypass is needed right now, and all levels of government should be working to fast track and prioritise it.
The former Queensland Labor Government said the detailed design for the Tiaro bypass would be completed by the end of 2023.
They said that tenders would be called in 2024, and construction would start in February this year.
But none of this is true.
The detailed design has only just been completed. The tender hasn’t been called. And construction hasn’t started.
The Albanese Labor Government has failed to deliver any new major projects on our stretch of the Bruce Highway, much of which between Gympie and Maryborough is rated less than three stars out of 5 for safety. And it’s been revealed that the bulk of the recently announced $7.2 billion safety upgrade funding won’t be available for years to come.
State and Federal Labor has proven that it can’t be trusted with our safety on the Bruce Highway, but I won’t give up the fight.
I’m working to make our stretch of the Bruce Highway one of the safest sections of the national highway.
We need the Tiaro bypass done and plans brought forward to four lane the remaining sections between Curra and Maryborough.
Wide Bay deserves nothing less.
If you agree please like and share this page, and sign this petition calling on the Queensland and Australian Governments to fast track and prioritise the four lane Tiaro bypass and commit to upgrading the Bruce Highway between Curra and Maryborough to four lanes.
Stay safe on the roads and thanks for your support.
Kind regards
LLEW O’BRIEN