Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I am right behind my local community in their concerns about local crime. I saw something in the media earlier this week which I think my community would think a great idea. They are always writing to me and always talking to me about hooning in Townsville. It is a problem all over the Commonwealth, and certainly in my city it is a problem: what to do about these irresponsible drivers.

The suggestion was that the police be given the power to impound their car, take it to Sims Metal and turn it into a cube. The New South Wales Police Commissioner went one step further and said that the cube should then be taken and put on the front lawn of the house of that particular hoon. I think it is a very popular suggestion. It is a pretty tough penalty, but the community have to make up their minds. Do they want to do something that is effective about hooning, or do they not? I reckon they want it to be addressed. I am certainly going to look at that in the coming weeks, and I am going to ask my community how they feel about that, but I think we are going to get a bit of support for that.

I am also behind my community in relation to their concerns about roads. I want to report to the parliament a number of things that have happened. The Townsville ring road is now well under construction. It will connect the Douglas arterial through to the Bruce Highway and have a motorway standard as a bypass for the city of Townsville. It will take a whole lot of heavy trucks out of the suburbs. That is going to be a great boon when it is open. I am also about to officially attend the start of the Woodlands Shopping Centre to Veales Road four-laning of the Bruce Highway. The people along Mount Low Parkway will be very happy to see that happen.

In the future, I want something done about the non-walkway between Nelly Bay and Geoffrey Bay on Magnetic Island. It is the most dangerous piece of road, with no footpath, no satisfactory way that our pedestrians can get across between the bays, and it is the most popular walk on the bay. We must do something about it, and I am going to do something about it. On the port access road which now needs to be built, I have given a commitment to my community that I will build that road and I will build it sooner rather than later. I am hoping that in the life of the next government we will see a start on the port access road.

I would also like to report to the parliament that I have had meetings with both of Australia’s roads ministers, Jim Lloyd and Mark Vaile, with a North Queensland focus. I thank them for their attention, and I thank them for the support that they are giving me. I hope to make some great announcements in the not too distant future.

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