REDLAND City's three state MPs have slammed claims of secret plans to increase car registrations to pay for the $5.4billion Cross River Rail project.
The claims were made after the Palaszczuk government presented the federal government with a detailed business case for the underground train project.
The document, sent to Infrastructure Australia for federal funding assessment, included a suggestion to increase car registration to raise up to $1.23 billion.
Deputy Premier Jackie Trad was quick to deny allegations of a registration hike and ruled out such a tax, along with Capalaba MP Don Brown.
Instead, she called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to put his monty where his moputh is and promise to fund up to 80 per cent of the federal project.
She also said drivers would not be hit to pay for Cross River Rail has elicited promises of $800million from both federal and state Labor during the seven-week federal election campaign.
Redland commuters to Brisbane would benefit under the rail project, which would free up overground tracks for Cleveland-line trains, while Beenleigh and Gold Coast trains went under ground on Cross River Rail.
Cleveland MP Mark Robinson said he would not support a hike in car rego to pay for the rail crossing.
"Queensland motorists are already paying among the highest rego in Australia, and rego has just gone up 3.5per cent," he said.
"Another Labor hike on car rego would be more bad news for Cleveland motorists and further proof Labor is treating our motorists as cash cows."
His sentiments were backed up by Redlands MP Matt McEachan who has lobbied the government to spend taxes raised in Redlands on improving local roads.
"My view is that Redlanders want to see their state rego (roads improvement component) at least spent fairly on roads in our electorate," he said.
"By urban population, we are at least the sixth largest city in Queensland and yet we are missing out.
"Cross River rail holds little benefit for us, we are 20 minutes from the nearest train and that is more at peak hour.
"Most commuters have to drive to work. The Cleveland line is strangled by being one way anyway and Cross River Rail won't fix that."
