Federal Budget delivers for Moreton Bay
Published 13 May 2026
Council today welcomed significant Federal Government funding to help City of Moreton Bay better manage rapid population growth, thanks to new commitments bolstering critical growth infrastructure.
Budget highlights for City of Moreton Bay include an allocation of $812.5m to upgrade the Bruce Highway between the Gateway Motorway and Dohles Rocks Road, and the new Local Infrastructure Fund to expedite enabling infrastructure resulting in more housing.
City of Moreton Bay Acting Mayor Jodie Shipway said this year’s Federal budget was a win for Council, following hard fought advocacy, that would help build our city of the future.
“I am so pleased to see the allocation of $2 billion for local government and state utility providers to fund enabling infrastructure and unlock new housing,” she said.
“Without vital infrastructure such as power, water, sewer and roads, housing just cannot be built. With more than 240 people moving to City of Moreton Bay every week, and our 13 greenfield sites under development, the funding of these essential services accelerates much-needed housing.
“We are looking forward to working with the Australian government, State Development and Economic Development Queensland to unlock more housing and employment opportunities for our City. As the third largest Council area in Australia, and one of the fastest growing, we hope City of Moreton Bay would be an obvious front runner for this new fund. If activated locally, this will deliver tangible benefits and fast-track housing supply.
“While more funding for enabling infrastructure is obviously needed, we acknowledge this as a really positive step forward.”
Heralding the new $812.5m upgrade to the Bruce Highway between the Gateway Motorway and Dohles Rocks Road as an important milestone, Acting Mayor Shipway said this funding would facilitate the start of a networked approach to open up new housing developments in the City.
“This funding is a welcome contribution that will ease congestion and supports our many years of advocacy for vital upgrades along this stretch of the Bruce Highway,” she said.
“This lays the groundwork for Council’s number one priority - the Bruce Highway Western Alternative. Although this critical project has not been given support this year, we look forward to working closely with all levels of Government to realise this in future budgets.
The Bruce Highway Western Alternative is a major transport and growth enabling project for South East Queensland that will open up land to boost housing supply.
“Funding for this regionally significant project would have signalled that the Federal Government is indeed serious about both solving the housing crisis in SEQ and managing the chaotic Bruce Highway bottleneck.
“Beyond easing congestion and freight delays, the Bruce Highway Western Alternative is critical to opening up new growth areas and unlocking housing supply at the scale required to meet demand.
“City of Moreton Bay will continue to advocate to the Federal and State Governments to ensure we can facilitate growth and importantly infrastructure keeps up with demand. It will be difficult to take any more growth without this critical piece of road infrastructure being realised.”
Acting Mayor Shipway also acknowledged the impact growth had on the most vulnerable in our community noting a lack of funding to realise supportive housing.
“This is despite significant work that we have already undertaken to develop practical, partnership-based solutions with State and Federal Governments and the community housing sector, and an increase in people experiencing homelessness,” she said.
“While we welcome last night’s announcements for City of Moreton Bay, Council’s priority remains securing funding and long term partnerships to deliver the infrastructure our growing community urgently needs, as highlighted in our City of Tomorrow Futures Strategy and Advocacy Action Plan.
“We will continue to highlight the increasing gap between our demonstrated growth, and the funding received from all levels of Government that is needed to properly deliver for our community.”