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

Like other speakers, I too want to congratulate the Queensland team for their wonderful performance last night. I want to say in relation to South-East Queensland that it is the centre of the universe. One in seven people in Australia live in South-East Queensland. It is fantastic. But I want to talk in particular about road funding and infrastructure in the Fassifern Valley. I have as part of the electorate of Blair the old Boonah shire, which is about a third of the area of the Scenic Rim Regional Council. The Rudd government has made a strong commitment to the people of the Fassifern Valley in terms of road infrastructure. They will benefit, of course, from the $884 million that we are putting into the Ipswich Motorway upgrade. Many people in the areas of Kalbar and Boonah work in Brisbane and along the route between Ipswich and Brisbane, so they will benefit enormously. Also, the produce from the Fassifern Valley goes on roads, from the Cunningham Highway and the Ipswich-Boonah Road through to the Ipswich Motorway, into Brisbane for sale. So the farmers will benefit enormously.

One issue I want to raise is the state of the Cunningham Highway. I am pleased that the Rudd government has committed $791,000 to the Scenic Rim council in the Roads to Recovery program which will provide the council with funding to assist them to maintain and upgrade local roads. I urge them to upgrade Church Street in Boonah. It is an important road. There are many churches, schools and businesses along that road and I would urge the council to do the right thing by the businesses, community groups, churches and schools along that road, particularly the Baptist church there and All Saints as well. That is a wonderful Catholic school. I have been there and it will benefit enormously from the Rudd government’s commitment and from the Building the Education Revolution funding.

I particularly want to thank the Rudd government for the $3.6 million which has been committed for the resurfacing of the Cunningham Highway at Aratula. I have door-knocked Aratula and spoken to businesses in the area. There is a wonderful little bakery, a hairdresser and a fruit shop. Aratula is a wonderful little community. For many years, the people of Aratula have been neglected by the coalition government. The state of the road between Fassifern and Aratula was a disgrace under the coalition government. They could not get the funding. We now know that the 22 kilometres of the Cunningham Highway between Fassifern and Aratula will be updated. We will see a smoother ride for motorists, the road surface repaired and a new service applied. Preventative maintenance will help the people in the local area and I want to thank the government for the commitment. I also want to thank the Queensland government, the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government and the Queensland Minister for Main Roads. (Time expired)

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