Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

and we welcome them in the local community. It is a significant capital investment in our area, which will have major benefits for the Ipswich and West Moreton area. It will help local business and industry. The military has been an important part of our community since 1860 but, obviously, we did not fly planes in 1860. The Amberley base at Ipswich is one of the premier military bases and it is going to become a superbase in the future. I have got a series of questions in relation to Super Hornets and the RAAF base at Amberley.

We welcome the Super Hornets. We think they are going to be an important part of the local community like the expansion in relation to 9FSB, which came in 2007. My question is: when can we welcome the Super Hornets? When are they going to arrive in Amberley? How many? I understand that in the budget you have allocated $117.1 million to extend and modify the facilities at Amberley to house the FA18 Super Hornets.

My question also relates to No. 82 Wing, which is also based at Amberley. No. 82 Wing is being primarily geared to tending to needs, maintenance and technical support in relation to the F111s. Of course, there are a lot of personnel in No. 82 Wing. What will happen to those personnel? Will they be shunted away or will they transition to the Super Hornets; and what sort of training will there be? I think that is important for the local community. So what is going to happen to No. 82 Wing?

Stage 3 redevelopment of RAAF base at Amberley, as I understand it, is $331.5 million. I have been there to look at the new construction. There is going to be live-in accommodation, a mess and a new physical fitness centre, and we are going to have the newly arrived No. 36 Squadron, who are going to operate the C17s. I would also like to know: how many C17s are we going to get? We welcomed 9FSB, 9 Force Support Battalion, in late 2007. I understand that we have only got 300 troops, and there are going to be another 150. When might they arrive? Are there going to be future Army battalions arriving? This question comes from some of the locals in Ipswich who want an assurance that the RAAF base in Amberley will always be known as RAAF Base Amberley, despite the fact that there are also Army battalions there.

My final question relates to road infrastructure—and I have raised this with you personally—in and around that area. I know that the state government of Queensland is spending $2.55 million on the Haigslea-Amberley Road, which connects to the Warrego Highway. If 9FSB is going to be travelling up that road, the connection between the Haigslea-Amberley Road and the Warrego Highway is going to be a priority, because it is a pretty dangerous intersection at the moment. My question is: are we working with the state government of Queensland in relation to road infrastructure around the RAAF base at Amberley? If so, when might we see some funding? Are we going to get any further funding, and what is going to be the outcome of any of those discussions?

These are very important questions, because we cannot have a superbase there with inadequate road structure in the local area. The state government in Queensland would like to put a western bypass between the Cunningham and the Warrego highways, but they have put that off until about 2020-2026. If we are going to create a superbase, might we think about looking at that western bypass being extended and brought forward in terms of its funding; and, if so, are we going to contribute any money to a proper western bypass, because that would help the base enormously?

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