Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I say to the member for Corio that they will blame anybody. Let me tell you one thing for certain: the Liberal mayor of Brisbane knows whose fault it is, and he is coming to get you. He is coming after you.

It should be remembered that fully upgrading the Ipswich Motorway is the best use of taxpayers’ money. Analysis undertaken by the RACQ shows that upgrading the motorway would be four times a better use of taxpayers’ money than proceeding with any further studies into the so-called Goodna half-bypass. It is imminently sensible that we move in that direction. In addition, cost-benefit analysis of the full upgrade of the Goodna to Dinmore leg of the Ipswich Motorway, compared to the half-bypass, reveals that the full upgrade is six times a better use of taxpayers’ money. Cost-benefit analysis factors in a project’s cost and the improvements it would make to both travel time and road safety. How can anyone argue that spending $345 million on the Dinmore to Goodna section of the motorway is not a better option than gambling $1.22 billion on the half-baked, pie-in-the-sky half-bypass which will not deliver the same solutions as upgrading the motorway. The full upgrade is ready to go now, but the half-bypass needs a further three years study which includes an extensive community consultation process just to see if it is even feasible.

Further, the Howard government’s decision to spend—or I should say waste—$10 million investigating another study into this ridiculous project will simply throw good money after bad. The money has been set aside as a personal get out of jail card for the member for Blair to save his bacon from embarrassment over his ill-judged gamble and obstructionist posturing. The member for Blair is on record as saying, ‘Only a fool would spend money on the upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway.’ He just may get his wish yet.

The announcement of a further study in the half-bypass is a political manoeuvre. It has been done to try and salvage some political pride for the Howard government, which wants to walk away from its funding responsibilities, which is well known to members of this House. It wants to palm the Ipswich Motorway off to state and local governments. This is equivalent to a tenant renting a house for 10 years and then moving out never having paid rent. The federal government for the last 10 years has been the tenant on the Ipswich Motorway and has not paid one cent of rent. It is now going to walk away and leave it in a dilapidated condition. That is not the sort of behaviour that local people want or expect from the Commonwealth government or their elected representatives.

I want to play a little game. It is called ‘Spot the odd man out’. In recent times, many people have had a lot to say about road funding and the Ipswich Motorway. Here are some of the comments:

The people who have not stepped up to the plate are the Federal Government in regard to road funding in the region.

Who said that? It was the Brisbane Liberal Lord Mayor, Campbell Newman, on the Ipswich Motorway. There you go! Another quote:

We are firmly saying to the Federal Government it is time to upgrade the entire motorway and provide the financial backing to the people in the fastest growing region in Australia.

Who said that? You have guessed it—the Liberal Lord Mayor of Brisbane. Another quote:

The Government’s failure to prioritise this major road in Australia’s fastest-growing city simply doesn’t make sense.

Who said that? The Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia, Robert Walker. Another quote:

I’m not going to take on projects which are rightly the responsibility of the Commonwealth. They have to carry their share of the load, here they have the responsibility of upgrading the Ipswich Motorway.

Who said that? It was state Liberal leader, Bob Quinn. Another quote:

The people of the western corridor have been betrayed by Mr Howard. This is a Commonwealth responsibility, it always has been.

Who said that? The Premier of Queensland. Another quote:

As well as clogging roads, traffic congestion chokes economic growth, by reducing productivity of the workforce and capital, and by raising costs of transporting people and goods.

Who said that? No less than Ken Willett, the Economics and Public Policy Manager of RACQ. Another quote:

The federal government’s belated announcement of funding for the upgrade of only the central section of the Ipswich Motorway and to undertake still more studies on the worst section—the Dinmore to Goodna link—will inevitability lead to further deaths and serious injuries, worsening congestion, and substantial economic costs.

Who said that? Ken Willett, RACQ. Another quote:

The Federal Government has been pondering over the Ipswich Motorway for eight years, and its latest announcement ensures that procrastination over the severely congested, high-accident-rate western end of the link will continue for a few more years yet.

Who said that? Chief Executive of the RACQ, Alan Terry, on the Prime Minister’s decision to waste a further $10 million. Another quote:

Clearly, the ‘potentially feasible’ Ipswich Motorway Northern Bypass options are not feasible in the widely accepted, conventional, economically appropriate sense because they compare very unfavourably with at least one other alternative, the one proposed by the Queensland Government.

Who said that? Ken Willett, RACQ. Another quote:

That’s always been our intention.

Who said that? Liberal MP Cameron Thompson, the member for Blair, admitting the Howard government wants to walk away from the Ipswich Motorway and dump responsibility for funding a full upgrade onto the state and local governments. Another quote:

The local traffic component is not our responsibility

Who said that? Liberal MP Cameron Thompson again, admitting that he is not interested in helping local people in his own electorate. Unbelievable but true. My question to the member would be: how can you rightfully and justifiably attempt to separate the responsibility for local and other traffic on a road that is a major thoroughfare through a major city? Another quote:

The full responsibility for the existing motorway will pass to the state government.

There is a clear message there. Who said that? Liberal MP Cameron Thompson. He continually admits that he is not interested in federal government responsibility. One of my favourite quotes, from the same person, is:

Only a fool would spend money on the full upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway.

I say to him: it is looking closer every day, because one way or the other we are going to pull those teeth for funding. We are going to get that money. We are halfway there—we have $550 million—and there is $550 million to go. But Cameron Thompson is going to get his wish: only a fool would spend money on the Ipswich Motorway. There are no prizes for guessing who the odd man out is in the little game we have just played. The one-man roadblock to delivering a safe and efficient upgrade to the Ipswich Motorway is the member for Blair. He and the member for Ryan—partners in crime, as it were—are both letting down the people in their electorates in south-east Queensland. Instead of trying to blame everyone else or coming into this place and attacking me, other members and the state government, they should do something constructive.

They can fill their boots for all I care in attacking a whole range of people, but get on with the job—take your responsibilities seriously. Get on with the job of planning. Let us see infrastructure delivered to the local people that they represent, I represent and all members from that region represent. Let us get south-east Queensland buzzing. I know the state government is doing everything it can. It is not perfect, but it is working hard. I apply the same principle to the federal government: you are not perfect either, but work harder and deliver the funding, because right now you have no leadership, no plan and no courage—we have certainly seen none of that from the Liberal representatives in the region.

It is disgraceful. They run misleading and misguided campaigns on these roads, telling furphies about options and plans and continually delaying and obstructing. Eight years is way too long to be waiting on a road that is of national importance. Labor has made a commitment. We are prepared to take up where this government has failed. We will deliver if the government does not deliver. I make this pledge: I will be campaigning for this whether in opposition or in government.

See this speech in context