Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to announce this morning another step forward in achieving the most important infrastructure project in my electorate of Hume, the staged duplication of the Barton Highway. Many visitors to the Parliament and Canberra come in along the Barton, which runs between Canberra and Yass. It is a well-known stretch of highway in southern New South Wales, often for the wrong reasons. This morning in a joint statement with my state colleague the member for Burrinjuck, Katrina Hodgkinson, I have announced the appointment of a consultant to carry out the important work of the Barton Highway corridor improvement strategy. The Brisbane based firm Cardno has won the contract after a competitive tender process. Cardno is an ASX 200 listed company which carries out the design and development of major infrastructure projects globally. The appointment of Cardno to undertake the Barton Highway strategy is a crucial next step in achieving the staged duplication of the road. The federal government has committed $8.6 million dollars in this budget to further safety works along the Barton, including the all important McIntosh Circuit improvements, which will be underway later in the year. Included in the budget is funding that is matched by the NSW government to undertake this improvement strategy.

When we came into government I realised that no work had been done for 10 years on a staged and fully costed plan to duplicate the Barton. That is what we are working towards here: a master plan allowing us to complete a duplicated highway piece by piece, each stage fully costed. In December last year we announced the joint commitment by the Commonwealth and NSW to fund the master plan. A steering committee comprising the New South Wales, ACT and federal governments and the local council will oversee this strategy. In the short term, the steering committee is considering the potential for more safety works including intersection upgrades, road shoulder widening and opportunities for overtaking lanes, and there is money allocated in this year's budget for those very proposals.

Over the five years to 2012 there were 127 crashes on the Barton Highway. Ninety-nine people were injured and five people lost their lives on a stretch of road which is only 45 kilometres long. More people have lost their lives in accidents on the highway since then. I recognised from before my preselection that the Barton Highway duplication is the most important issue for the south-western part of my electorate. I am doing everything in my capacity to make this happen.

An important contribution to the master plan will come from the local community. I expect to be able to announce details soon of a public consultation process to inform the corridor improvement strategy. Community input in this process is integral to getting it right.

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