John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The commitment that the government has made is an amount of $2.3 billion, which I understand is the largest single infrastructure development investment made in this part of Australia by any Commonwealth government—$2.3 billion. The reason why we do not support the upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway is that there is clear advice that, as soon as that upgrade were completed, it would be necessary to reinvest in a further expansion because of the enormous amount of traffic. We are supported in our decision by the recommendations of the feasibility study carried out by Maunsell and Partners.

I might also say to the Leader of the Opposition that the Queensland transport minister indicated to the Deputy Prime Minister as recently as yesterday that, although the Queensland government has a different view in relation to this particular upgrade, it will cooperate to the full because this is a national highway and therefore is being totally funded by the Commonwealth government. In fact, we have chosen a more expensive option because it is a longer term option. The option supported by the Queensland government, by the Queensland Liberal Party and by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane is a short-term option and it will not provide a long-term solution to the traffic problems of that part of south-east Queensland. I might say that in making our decision, which I was happy to announce in Queensland only a couple of weeks ago, the government reflects the strongly held views of the federal members representing this part of Queensland.

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