Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm going to please the previous speaker, the member for Ballarat, by again congratulating us on the terrific job we're doing on infrastructure across my electorate of Forde. The reason for this is that the people of Forde rely on these key pieces of infrastructure across the city for their daily lives. They rely on the M1 and the Mount Lindesay Highway to go to school, to go to work, to see family and friends, and to run and operate their businesses. They also rely on our public transport system, but sometimes are limited by the lack of car parking at train and bus stations across the electorate of Forde.

Importantly, we recognise these challenges, which is why I'm proud to be part of a coalition government that is investing $100 billion towards extensive urban and regional infrastructure projects across Australia, and, importantly, across my electorate of Forde. I continue to remain focused on delivering road upgrades to ensure the commuters across Forde can get home sooner and safer. I'll seek to ensure that residents across Logan and the northern Gold Coast have access to the infrastructure facilities they need. In Logan, we're looking at the upgraded Mount Lindesay Highway, and the residents who rely on the M1 receiving their fair share of M1 funding from the state government.

On the Mount Lindesay Highway, we have already put $16 million towards the North McLean safety improvements, which will be completed later this year. And during the election, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and I announced a further $30 million in funding to upgrade the Mount Lindesay Highway. Prioritising funding for the Mount Lindesay Highway ensures the residents in Logan's west can get home safer and sooner.

We've also committed to improving bottlenecks along the M1 and on top of the current project from the Gateway merge to Springwood, an investment of some $115 million, we're seeing an additional $1 billion in congestion-busting infrastructure committed. We'll deliver another $347.5 million to upgrade the M1 northbound from Springwood to Eight Mile Plains, but also south to Daisy Hill; as well as another $500 million for the section from Daisy Hill to the Logan motorway. This will ensure the M1 is eight lanes from Nerang to the gateway, the way it should have been built in the first place.

This government also invests $50 million towards upgrades to exits 41, at Yatala, and 49, at Pimpama. We do this because we know the small businesses in the Yatala area rely on the M1 to run their businesses and the residents in Pimpama rely on exit 49 for their daily commute. It is for that reason that I'm proud to be delivering on these congestion-busting road upgrades, which will ensure the residents of Forde are home sooner and safer. I note that, in reference to the member for Ballarat's contribution about the Queensland state government, we have put this $50 million on the table for exits 41 and 49, but the state government are yet to match it, and it will not be until 2021-22 at a minimum.

We are also committed to improving the safety of our local roads, which is why the federal government has already delivered $3.4 million to Logan City Council through our Roads to Recovery Program to support the maintenance of local roads. I remain committed to delivering upgrades to local roads, including $1.4 million toward the gel Jellicoe Street-Station Road intersection in Loganlea in conjunction with Logan City Council, $5 million towards up dating Beaudesert Beenleigh Road between Milne Street and Tallagandra Street, $11.5 million for the Chambers Flat Road upgrade between Park Ridge Road and Derby Road and $2.4 million towards upgrading High Road and Easterly Street, a major bottleneck during school pickup times in Waterford.

Our urban infrastructure initiative will deliver $4 billion over 10 years to reduce congestion in urban areas, and this includes the $500 million Commuter Car Park Fund. In my electorate of Forde, $45 million will go towards new commuter car parks at Loganlea, Beenleigh and Coomera train stations. Residents have been telling me how difficult it is to get car parks at those stations and, therefore, to use public transport. This shows that the coalition government is committed to delivering infrastructure right across my electorate and across the country.

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