Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I support and fully endorse the motion moved by the member for Forde and congratulate him on the tireless work that he's been doing for his community and for infrastructure funding in Queensland. The member Forde and I, along with the members for McPherson and Moncrieff and many of our Brisbane based members of parliament, have fought particularly hard to deliver better infrastructure services for our communities—especially with the M1 funding. That's why this is an extraordinary budget that's boosting infrastructure with a billion dollars on the table to complete the M1—to complete it.

A bit of history is always instructive. The M1, as we know it, was finalised in the last days of the Borbidge government, who signed off on the contracts to get that road up and running. Premier Borbidge would tell the story that, at the time, the bureaucracy said only three lanes would be needed each way, but it was the Borbidge government that insisted that, for most of it, it would be four lanes. This budget shows that what Premier Borbidge started, this government—the Turnbull government—will finish. There is a billion dollars on the table to finish it—waiting, of course, for the Labor government of Queensland to back up and respond with the same funding. That is a fifty-fifty deal—that's pretty generous—to get the M1 complete.

This is a budget that makes it very clear it's about making life easier and, frankly, more pleasant for Australians and their families, especially in getting to and from work. We have one billion congestion-busting dollars on the table for the M1. It's about getting people home safer. It's about getting them home sooner. And it's actually a good plan. It was the member for Grayndler, when he was minister, who taught me what the N1 was. He dragged me into his office and pointed out the N1, being the Newell Highway, and made it specifically clear to me that the M1 is not the N1, that different funding arrangements are there for the M1. He made it very clear. He had a big map on the wall—of course, the map he inherited from the previous minister. And I make the point everywhere I go that the Newell Highway is an 80-20, federally—no problem at all—but the M1 is not part of the N1, which is why the fifty-fifty deal is the right deal to do.

The situation with the M1 is somewhat reminiscent of the funding and support for the Australian film industry. The Queensland state Labor government was screaming from the rooftops that the Turnbull government had abandoned the film industry. Yet the Labor government in Queensland was putting in a couple of million and we were putting in almost a hundred million. In the end, we delivered what was required—what the local film industry needed—an effective tax offset at 30 per cent. But, again, the Queensland state Labor government, unfortunately, has not put in anything. However, the motion pertains to the M1. There's a billion dollars on the table. Premier Palaszczuk should simply match the billion dollars, and we should all get on with completing a necessary project, the M1, from the Tugun Bypass through to the entrance to Brisbane—get it finished and done once and for all.

I'm also delighted to see within the budget the Roads to Recovery Program providing immediate relief for traffic congestion in my community, some $12 million to solve simple things: roundabouts at roads, intersections at parts of our street network. You can argue it's a state or local responsibility, but sometimes we have to step in to fix some of these things. We have provided funds to ease traffic congestion at Burnside Road, on the Pacific Motorway service road between Ormeau and Yatala. This two-stage project upgrades and reconstructs the existing road to an industrial collector and extends along Burnside Road from the Pacific Motorway service road to Christensen Road. This project, due for completion in September this year, will support growth of the surrounding industrial area. We've also provided funds for Stanmore Road in Yatala between Enkleman Road and Peachy Road, which will see Stanmore Road upgraded to a four-lane dual carriageway. The upgrade is required to cater for the predicted increase in traffic volume caused by the continuing growth of the Yatala Enterprise Area. In Queensland the Turnbull government is investing a record $20.4 billion in infrastructure, an impressive amount. This money will benefit and support my community and so many communities not just on the Gold Coast but in the south-east corner. Once again I call upon the state Labor Palaszczuk government in Queensland to come to the table. We have a billion dollars there. Come and join us, and let's complete the M1.

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