Maxine McKew (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

My pleasure, and a lovely part of the world it is. The works were finished three months ahead of schedule. Let us go to unemployment again. I have just talked about the fact that we have an unemployment rate of 5.3 per cent. Why do we have that figure? The widening of the Bruce Highway in Gympie generated 164 direct and indirect jobs during the construction phase, and that upgrade is just one of any number of projects funded as part of the Rudd government’s record $2.6 billion investment in the Bruce Highway.

While I was there, I took the opportunity to inspect the progress on the Cooroy to Curra, section B component, of the Bruce Highway upgrade, and the earthworks there are quite something to behold. The builders there, as the Leader of the Nationals would know, are the large construction group the Abigroup. They have made huge progress. This is a $613 million upgrade that is jointly funded with the Queensland government. As you know, that is one of the busiest stretches of highway. It currently carries around 15,000 vehicles a day, and these works will ensure that the highway can meet increasing demand.

In contrast to the opposition, the Rudd government is determined to improve safety on the Bruce Highway. I know the Leader of the Nationals will be interested in this, because we have just heard from him about the importance of safety and he has talked to us about a tally of death and destruction. As the Leader of the Nationals well knows, there is a tally of death and destruction when it comes to—

Consideration interrupted.

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