Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to see the minister in the chamber. He was absent yesterday from the MPI. It is an utter disgrace that the coalition government has failed to invest in vital infrastructure in the Hunter and Central Coast communities. These regions in New South Wales have major significance to Australia's economy. In fact, their combined population is a million people and yet this government neglects them. My first question to the two ministers—the senior minister and the junior minister who gets him his sandwiches—is: why won't they fund the Glendale transport interchange? The Glendale transport interchange was identified by all 11 Hunter councils as the single most important project for the region. Every dollar of Commonwealth investment in that project will leverage $94 of private sector investment—94 to one. Private sector analysis has said that it will drive the creation of 10,000 jobs in the surrounding area and drive the construction of 6,000 sorely needed homes, yet this government refuses is to fund it. In fact, this government has taken one funding decision on this project in its four years in office: to cut funding to it by $1 million. So my first question to the two ministers is: when will they reverse their disastrous decisions and finally fund the Glendale transport interchange?

Secondly, the intersection of the Golden Highway and the New England Highway in in the electorate of Hunter is incredibly important. It is one of the most dangerous traffic blackspots in the Hunter region. So I ask again of the ministers for infrastructure: when will the government fund this important project to eradicate a very dangerous blackspot.

Thirdly, is the Singleton bypass. Singleton sees over 25,000 vehicles pass through the town every day, and around 3,750 of these are heavy vehicles. With traffic volumes predicted to grow over the next 25 years, the Singleton bypass would reduce traffic volume by an estimated 30 per cent, easing congestion in the town. Ministers, when will you fund this vital bypass that will reduce traffic in Singleton by 30 per cent? Another bypass that will reduce heavy-vehicle traffic through a town is the Muswellbrook bypass. This would improve traffic times around the New England Highway, and in 2013 the Gillard government allocated $10 million to make the project shovel-ready. The New South Wales government already allocated $3.1 million in 2016-17 to continue planning, so when will the ministers fund this important bypass?

The next project of vital importance to the million people that live in the Hunter and Central Coast regions is a link between the M1 Pacific Motorway and the Pacific Highway, which would improve connectivity, improve traffic flow and provide more reliable traffic times for motorists and freight operators. The New South Wales government has already provided $7 million to continue planning for the extension, but where is the federal money? These bypasses are incredibly important. We have a great piece of infrastructure—the Albanese-Fitzgibbon expressway. That was a signature piece of infrastructure of the last Labor government, but we need to build on it. The member for Dobell has written to the Minister for Urban Infrastructure about the urgent need for a footbridge over Sparks Road, which is an incredibly busy road with a GP superclinic and MacKillop Catholic College nearby, and there have been too many near misses. Why isn't the government funding a piece of infrastructure that will make the community safer?

Finally, there are a group of projects in Robertson that have been announced, and I ask the minister for information about funding time lines and funding sources. The member for Robertson has announced $7.2 million for a number of road projects around Ryans Road in Umina Beach, Oceano Street in Copacabana, Murray Street in Booker Bay, Davis Street in Booker Bay and the intersection of Langford Drive and Woy Woy Road in Kariong. In fact, that was a 2013 promise that has not been delivered. My questions are: where has the funding come from for these projects, and what is the time line for the delivery of those projects?

These are really important questions. Mr Deputy Speaker, do you know the one project in the Hunter and the Central Coast that this mob have actually funded, the one project they have supported in a region that has over a million people living in it? It is $1 million of funding for a billycart race road in Gresford. They have put aside a million dollars to fund—

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