Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to rise to speak about the bipartisan Roads to Recovery Program. It works on three levels: economic, social and safety. The economic benefits—as we know, it's administered by local government. It provides employment opportunities through local government. For example, in one small town in my electorate, Kempsey, the program—and I congratulate the mayor, Liz Campbell—has provided employment opportunities not only through council but also through local contractors to carry out those works. It therefore produces local results with employment opportunities for local tradies, and creates more opportunities for them throughout Cowper.

In Cowper alone, through the Roads to Recovery, over five years, Bellingen will see almost $3 million; Coffs Harbour will see almost $7 million; Kempsey, almost $6 million; Nambucca Valley Council, $4 million; and Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, just over $9 million. Add that to the half-a-billion-dollar infrastructure bring forward recently announced by the coalition—$191 million for New South Wales alone and $23 million going towards roads and infrastructure in Cowper. From employment opportunities with the infrastructure build come the social outcomes. You have people in work, people with money being able to go out for dinner at night time, the tradies supporting the local hotel like the Settler's Inn in Port Macquarie. The Settler's Inn in turn sponsors almost half of the footy teams and netball teams throughout the community in Port Macquarie. The social outcomes are visible for everyone to see, and it's this bipartisan investment by government that assists our smaller communities.

The most important outcome, and something that is very close to me, is the safety outcome. Last year, 1,188 people died on our nation's roads, over two-thirds in rural and regional Australia. The star rating for some of those roads is one or two stars, so this investment by the government towards the Roads to Recovery can increase the star rating and, accordingly, increase safety, because we have our vulnerable road users—the kids in the car, the cyclists, the pedestrians—and they all need protecting. By increasing the safety of the roadways, we can work towards achieving Vision Zero.

An example of one very successful company in Port Macquarie is Stabilcorp, which has developed the ShoulderMaster, which adds 1.5 metres to the side of a rural roadway or a regional road that allows better access for road users and reduces the potential for head-on accidents or sideway run-offs. This recently made machine in this family-owned company can seal three kilometres of roadway in 60 per cent less time, with 40 per cent lower costs, which, in turn, means less of an environmental impact. They are now exporting to America and to the United Kingdom. Inventions and innovations such as these in concert with the Roads to Recovery Program and funding will not only increase the amount of work that can be done and increase safety, but will look after all our road users across the nation.

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