Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I do no know about 'obsessed', but I am delighted that the member for Grayndler is here, because he walked out on my speech in the House of Representatives yesterday. I am hopeful that he will not walk out on this speech today, although I know that the member for Grayndler gets very upset when I talk about how, when he was the infrastructure and transport minister, he did absolutely nothing for the Sunshine Coast.

Just last year, the federal government announced a $743 million commitment to the Bruce Highway upgrade between Caloundra Road and the Sunshine Motorway. That was under the minister for transport and infrastructure who is here this afternoon, not under the previous Labor infrastructure minister, the member for Grayndler. The project is going to make a significant improvement and will change the lives of many of my constituents on the Sunshine Coast. All up, it is a $929 million project. I notice that the member for Grayndler is trying to ignore what I am saying right now, which is quite sad. This stretch of road will change from four lanes to six lanes. It will include a new diamond interchange at the Caloundra Road Interchange. It will include a new interchange at Sunshine Motorway.

Just a few weeks ago, in the budget, the federal government announced a further $650 million for upgrading the Bruce Highway south of Caloundra Road. I know that many of my constituents are over the moon. We are seeing unprecedented expenditure on our Sunshine Coast section of the Bruce Highway so that people travelling to and from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast will no longer be trapped in gridlocked traffic. It is going to take three or four years to do this work, and, as they say, you cannot make an omelette without cracking an egg. There are going to be some difficult times ahead, but this government is prepared to make the difficult decisions. All up, just in my patch, just on the Bruce Highway, the federal government has committed $1.6 billion to road infrastructure. I want to congratulate both the Minister for Urban Infrastructure and the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport on the work they have done for the Sunshine Coast.

But we are not stopping there. We on this side of House understand that, despite the state Labor government in Queensland, commuting to and from Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast requires a holistic approach. We understand that we need a better rail system. We on the Sunshine Coast have put up with a single-track line north of Beerburrum since the 1890s. That is for the 10th largest city in the country. I am very proud to be part of a government that recently announced, through the National Rail Program, a $10 billion facility for the state Labor government to tap into, to tender and bid for duplication of the North Coast railway line. That rail line duplication will take a lot of pressure off the Bruce Highway, and I commend the two federal ministers sitting here today for that project.

My first questions to the minister are: What is the likely impact of the National Rail Program around Australia? How will the government prioritise projects under the National Rail Program? And, very importantly, has the minister received any contact from the Queensland government with regard to incorporating the duplication of the North Coast rail line between Beerburrum and Nambour into that program?

See this speech in context