Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We have had very interesting contributions from those opposite—including the member for Maranoa—and there seems to be a real difficulty in actually talking about infrastructure. It took the member for Maranoa five minutes before he actually mentioned infrastructure at all, and then his contribution in relation to infrastructure was all negative, talking it down, saying where there had been failures and wistfully talking about what they promised at the last election—of course omitting the fact that they had been in government for 12 years and failed to do any of those sorts of issues. He failed to mention that they voted against the biggest infrastructure program that this country has ever seen. Over 70 per cent of the stimulus package is about infrastructure and there is little wonder that those opposite hang their heads in shame and do not talk about infrastructure at all—they are embarrassed that they voted against Australia’s biggest ever infrastructure spending, the biggest nation-building program that has ever been before this parliament.

I rise to support the Nation Building Program (National Land Transport) Amendment Bill 2009. This bill will increase the flexibility for funding for local roads while ensuring local councils’ existing funding allocations cannot be reduced. The bill is central to the effective delivery of the government’s nation-building program worth more than $26 billion. It will ensure the government is able to effectively fund vital road and rail infrastructure projects. This will increase the government’s flexibility in funding road safety projects at sites which have contributed, or are likely to contribute, to serious motor vehicle crashes regardless of where they are located. One of the funding projects for black spots that the Rudd government announced recently is less than 100 metres from my electoral office. My staff and I have heard on many occasions the sickening crash coming from the busy spot on Wyong Road. In most cases the numerous accidents at this particular spot at Tuggerah on the Central Coast are caused by drivers losing control, partly in the wet. The black spot project will allow the road surface to be upgraded to an antiskid surface at the roundabout which intersects Wyong Road and Reliance Drive.

Another of the black spot projects in my electorate of Dobell involves the installation of traffic lights at the off-ramp of the F3 freeway at Warnervale—a very busy place on weekday afternoons when thousands of drivers are returning from work and heading home. The traffic lights, once installed this intersection, will make that spot safer for drivers, minimising the chance of serious crashes. Over one-third of all workers in the seat of Dobell commute on the F3. The F3 is the main road on which they travel. It is absolutely vital that there is funding to make sure that these safety issues, such as the traffic lights on the off-ramp of the F3, are actually put in place. At Ourimbah, which is also in my electorate, another black spot project on the same freeway will see the installation of wire rope barriers on the south-bound and north-bound on-ramps, making merging safer as traffic enters the freeway in both directions. In the suburb of Long Jetty, near The Entrance, a raised concrete section will be built at the intersection of the Central Coast Highway and Archbold Road as a traffic-calming measure, again with the focus on safety and reducing crashes. The Long Jetty intersection improvement will be welcomed by motorists, who will be able to drive more safely through the suburb, and pedestrians who will be able to negotiate that intersection with more confidence.

The Rudd government is spending more than $1 million on these four projects in Dobell. All have been assessed and recommended by a panel of independent road safety experts. The Black Spot Program has a proven track record of saving lives, with evaluations showing that it prevented at least 32 fatalities and more than 1,500 serious injuries in the last three years.

On many occasions in recent weeks we have seen much hypocrisy from the coalition when it comes to nation building. Faced with the greatest global economic challenge anyone has ever had to face since the Great Depression, the Liberals and the Nationals have a political strategy to hamper the government’s efforts to reduce the impact of the global recession. They come to Canberra to oppose, oppose, oppose. They oppose this in the House, they oppose this in the Senate, they oppose this in the restaurants of Kingston and they oppose this in the cafes of Manuka. However, something strange happens whenever these members leave this place—they take the opposite position. They get home and the lure of a positive media story—made possible by this government, with a positive nation-building story to tell—becomes far too great. For that one moment as the camera clicks, they must have collective amnesia because they suddenly forget all the times they have opposed these nation-building initiatives every step of the way in this place and around Canberra.

If the opposition votes against this bill, they vote against the effective delivery of a nation-building program. They are voting against the effective delivery of the Black Spot Program, the Boom Gates for Rail Crossing Program, the Roads to Recovery Program and the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program as well as off-network road and rail projects.

The Rudd Labor government is committed to regional Australia through the nation-building programs. We have invested $21.2 billion in regional road and rail infrastructure. It is clear that the coalition does not believe in nation building or significant investment to improve road and rail safety. That is why they vote against all the nation-building programs initiatives we have put forward in this parliament. I commend this bill to the House.

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