Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about the importance of investing in infrastructure and how the federal Labor government's historic investment is making a huge difference in communities within the electorate of Petrie. I specifically want to talk about one of my largest growth areas, North Lakes, a community which is only 10 years old. It was established by Stocklands and has grown at such a rate that the region is now the third-largest growth area in Queensland, according to ABS 2010-11 statistics. Much of that growth is happening in North Lakes, Griffin and Mango Hill in my electorate. There are so many families in the area. There is a big Westfield, there are cinemas coming, and there is an IKEA coming. We have amazing schools: Bounty Boulevard, North Lakes State College, The Lakes College, St Benedict's, and Mango Hill State School which just opened this year.

Only a week ago I had the pleasure of having the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government, the Hon. Simon Crean, also visit North Lakes. With the Regional Development Authority, Moreton Bay Mayor Allan Sutherland and local councillor Julie Greer we announced $7.78 million from the Regional Development Authority Fund to build the new Corso Civic Centre. It will have a new library, a learning centre, a new community centre, commercial space, outdoor seating areas, parkways and walkways. There will be art work around those open spaces. Right next door the existing community centre is going to be completely refurbished with another $3 million that the government previously announced. We will see the new North Lakes Youth Space built. We will have these two facilities next door to each other, providing for the whole community—our young and also those wanting to learn, working in with local college, the learning space and library. It is going to be a fantastic community hub for the area.

But this is on top of the NBN. North Lakes, Mango Hill, Griffin and other suburbs in my electorate—Aspley, Bridgeman Downs, Carseldine and Fitzgibbon—are going to be the beneficiaries of the three-year NBN rollout plan that was announced at the end of March,. This is fantastic news to know that we have this amazing new civic centre, we have a new youth space and we have the NBN coming to the area.

I had the great pleasure not too long ago—back in March—to officially open the new Metro North Brisbane Medicare Local, which is also now at North Lakes. I have to congratulate my Metro North Brisbane Medicare Local, which is really taking the initiative in relation to e-health and really understands the benefits of fast broadband coming to the area. They are working really hard with our local GPs and medical centres to get e-health into those centres and people signed up, because we all understand the benefits. When we talk about fast broadband we are not just talking about benefits to households; we are talking about benefits to business, benefits to the health sector and benefits to education.

This is also on top of the announcement that the federal Labor government made back in 2010 to deliver the long-awaited Moreton Bay Rail Link, a 12.6-kilometre rail line with six stations: Kallangur, Murrumba Downs, Mango Hill, Kinsellas Road, Rothwell and Kippa-Ring. It is great to see that in this year's budget there was another $20 million allocated to the rail line to keep the work going. We are now at a very exciting milestone in relation to this project, in that construction should begin on the Kinsellas Road East bridge at midyear. The concept designs for the six new stations are due to come out midyear. Tender processes for the rail design and construction should begin in mid-2012 and construction begins on the Kallangur bridges at Dohles Rocks Road and Goodfellows Road midyear as well. These are key milestones. This is real work, real construction—something that people thought they would never see. For 102 years they have waited for this. This is real work and it is exciting.

With the NBN, the rail line, the youth space and the civic centre, North Lakes is coming of age. This is great community infrastructure which everyone will benefit from. (Time expired)

See this speech in context