Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources) Share this | Hansard source

I like to hear a strategic approach from the member for Braddon. But the here and now, Member for Braddon, is that in South-East Queensland we are under enormous pressure for infrastructure to be built. I look forward to a process through Infrastructure Australia where the mayors of the local shires, the transport operators, the commuters, the state governments and all community groups have an opportunity to explain the priorities. And in terms of explaining the priorities, I reject the comments by the member for Longman. I note he is not here now, but if I were him I would not be either. He suggested that there should be retribution against coalition seats because of the coalition’s debating of government legislation in the Senate. He said that, for holding up those new taxes that this government is trying to introduce, there should be retribution taken against coalition seats and that the infrastructure should not flow to those seats.

I hope the member for Longman has reconsidered that statement, because not only is that a damnation of democracy in this parliament; it highlights the fact that the Labor Party is already considering a political fix on infrastructure rather than making Infrastructure Australia a proper, transparent and key process. If it is a proper, transparent and clear process, one of the priorities of Infrastructure Australia should be the Toowoomba bypass, the range crossing north of Toowoomba, to ensure that 5,000 trucks a day do not have to drive through Toowoomba’s main street and mix with school buses and, in particular, mums taking their children to school. The main street of Toowoomba cannot sustain carrying heavy vehicle transport in the longer term, and at the moment it is starting to choke the economic growth of western Queensland.

The Howard government recognised the importance of the Toowoomba bypass. They allocated in the May 2007 budget $700 million to start the construction of this range crossing. That money has been withdrawn by the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. That money is being squirreled away for some other process. The people of Toowoomba are growing impatient. On the basis of necessity, on the basis of the environment, on the basis of safety and on the basis of economic growth—criteria that the Prime Minister outlined in this House about the allocation of these moneys through Infrastructure Australia—the Toowoomba Range crossing should be at the top of the list.

If you have a B-double at Helidon and you want to traverse that crossing and end up who knows where—perhaps in Roma, Darwin, Moree or Goondiwindi—you face the prospect of travelling for nearly an hour up a range crossing that has such a steep gradient that some of these trucks do less than 10 kilometres an hour. The emission from those engines is then carried into the city as the trucks traverse the city, stopping at 16 sets of traffic lights. It is not only the safety issue but also the impact on the environment. All of that can be swept away and these trucks can traverse the range in probably 15 minutes or less, saving three-quarters of an hour of operation. The range crossing is a priority and I support this legislation.

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