Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Nation Building Program (National Land Transport) Amendment Bill 2009. This bill gives effect to the Rudd government’s $26 billion nation-building infrastructure projects—infrastructure projects that will lift Australia’s productivity in the years ahead; infrastructure projects that will create and support jobs for Australians right now; infrastructure projects that will make our transport systems safer; infrastructure projects that will make the lives of Australians travelling around Australia or within their local communities much easier; and infrastructure projects that will be welcomed by transport operators, by industry sectors and by suburban, regional and rural communities around the nation.

I have listened with interest as a number of opposition speakers have wanted to take credit for many of the projects that have been outlined under this proposal. In some cases they even added projects to what should be funded. Yet, while they want to take credit for some of the projects and want to add to the list, I understand that they now want to oppose the funding measures required. You simply cannot have it both ways: either these are good projects, which they would want to take credit for and would vote for, or they state their case clearly and tell the Australian people that they are against all of the projects that this project will be funding.

Coalition members were in government when the country benefited from a resources boom. It was a time when funds were flowing into government revenue, yet the very sources of that government income, particularly the mining sector, were being constrained because of inadequate road, rail and port facilities—projects which the previous coalition government did not fund but which the Rudd government is getting on with the job of doing. A classic example of that are the Hunter Valley rail corridors. The upgrade of those corridors will double the coal exporting capacity of the Hunter Valley. Australia would today be in a much better position to withstand the global economic downturn if these projects had been built by the previous coalition government.

Within the nation-building proposal, $1.7 billion is being invested in projects in South Australia. Those projects include seven major projects, and I would like to list what they are: the Northern Expressway and Port Wakefield Road upgrades; the Dukes Highway upgrade; work on Victor Harbor, Main South Road and Seaford Road junction; work on the Main North Road between Gawler and Tarlee; the Mount Gambier northern bypass; work on Crystal Brook to Redhill roads; and work on Montague Road. All of those seven projects are important to South Australians and important to the people I represent. People from my own electorate, from time to time, use all of those transport modes, whether it is for employment purposes or for personal reasons. Since being elected I have frequently been lobbied by people I represent about the need to upgrade many of the roads that are the subject of this budgetary measure.

With respect to the Montague Road project, I personally welcome the federal government’s $1 million funding towards a $2.5 million project. The balance of the funds will be coming from the Tea Tree Gully council and the state Labor government. The Montague Road project is in fact a difficult project to design an upgrade for because of the complex arrangement of the entrance ways to the adjoining commercial properties, the land ownership of properties affected and the proximity of the works required being close to a substantial roundabout. I know that the state member for Florey, Frances Bedford, has been negotiating a solution for the Montague Road widening for some time and since being elected to this place I have discussed the proposal with Frances Bedford on several occasions. This is a long overdue project that is now being funded under the Rudd government’s nation-building projects.

I want to describe the project for the benefit of the people who will have a very personal interest in it. The project will result in the upgrading of approximately 450 metres of Montague Road near the Clovercrest shopping centre, which will comprise of one 3.5 metre lane in each direction, a centre median for right turn storage, intended bus bays, 1.5 metre bicycle lanes, improved access-egress for the local commercial precinct, improvement to facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, improved traffic control parking for the Clovercrest shopping centre and stormwater disposal. The question of undergrounding the powerlines in the area is also being considered and will be dependent on the Power Line Environment Committee application that has been lodged.

I am very familiar with this road—and have been for most of my life, for that matter—because it is a road that I frequently use. The traffic congestion in and around the intersection of Montague and Kelly roads, particularly at peak times, is horrendous. It impacts not only on people using it but on all of those businesses that are in that locality, and I welcome that an engineering solution appears at last to have been agreed to and that the funding has been put on the table to ensure that this project goes ahead.

In recent weeks in South Australia, we have had, regrettably, a number of fatalities on our roads. You may argue that some of those road fatalities were because of negligent driving, but I have no doubt whatsoever that investing funds in road infrastructure, wherever that might be in Australia, will improve the condition of those roads and, in turn, improve the safety of them. For that reason, if for no other, investment of these kinds of funds into national infrastructure projects that include roads are a welcome measure for all Australians, and I commend the bill to the House.

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