Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on the motion moved by the member for Cowper acknowledging Commonwealth government funding for road safety measures. But let's be clear: this motion is a list of announcements for road safety measures by the Morrison government, and we know that the spin merchants in this government are all for announcements but not so strong on the follow-up. Leaving aside the fact that delivery of road safety is different from announcements of road safety, this government is shameless when it comes to spending money in LNP seats or in marginal seats they are targeting. They did it before the last election, with their multibillion-dollar program to deal with traffic congestion. Eighty-three per cent of the $3 billion Urban Congestion Fund was announced to be spent in Liberal Party seats and Liberal Party target seats before the last election. The $115 million targeted to fix Brisbane traffic hotspots is earmarked to fix nine elections, all of them in LNP federal seats.

Well hello Deirdre Chambers, what a surprise! The Morrison government has form when it comes to mishandling taxpayer money. There was sports rorts, the $100 million community sports fund, which was allocated by a colour-coded political spreadsheet. There was regional rorts, the $220 million Regional Jobs and Investment Packages, where ministers overturned departmental advice, including giving $5 million to a meat processing business linked to a coalition donor. There was pool rorts—$10 million for the North Sydney Olympic Pool from the Female Facilities and Water Safety Stream Program, which was meant to go to regional projects. I'm not from Sydney, but my understanding is that North Sydney is not part of regional Australia—and the list goes on.

I will just go back to the infrastructure announcements made before the last election. On 1 May 2019 the LNP announced that they would fund 13 new congestion-busting projects across south-east Queensland. Included in the projects was the removal of the level crossing at Boundary Road in Coopers Plains in my electorate of Moreton. Sadly, there was no time frame for the delivery of this project when it was announced. On 24 July 2019, during question time, I asked the infrastructure minister when this crucial project would be commenced. Without answering my question, the Deputy Prime Minister said he would be happy to come to Moreton to have a look at the dangerous crossing. That was 20 months ago and I'm still waiting. I even wrote to the minister for infrastructure on 30 July 2019 formally inviting him to Moreton to inspect the crossing. He is still a no-show. It is coming up to two years since the Morrison government announced they would fix this dangerous crossing in Moreton, and they haven't even bothered to come and look at it. They are all there for the announcement but missing in action when it comes to delivering.

The inland rail is the Deputy Prime Minister's pet project—and I think the member for Bonner is hot and heavy for it as well! The inland rail project is planned to end in Acacia Ridge in my electorate of Moreton, 37 kilometres from the port of Brisbane where most goods that are being transported need to end up. The only way goods can get from Acacia Ridge to the port is by truck. This could mean 3,000 A-double road train trips on suburban roads in my electorate every day. There are currently four million truck movements through Acacia Ridge per year. Under the coalition plan, this could increase to 11 million truck movements per year by 2040.

How will that impact on Acacia Ridge residents and suburbs? The people I have been doorknocking in Acacia Ridge are angry about the coalition's misjudged boondoggle. They're angry that more huge trucks will be using the roads around their homes and businesses. They are angry that there will be more noise and particulate matter in the air. Some of the air pollution will be linked to the 1.8 kilometre-long trains carrying New South Wales coal, electorate. Queensland federal LNP members have proposed that some tunnels be built to the port. It will have above-ground trains in Moreton but tunnels in the coalition seats, according to The Sunday Mail. This thought bubble would cause more problems than it would solve.

Leaving aside the cost of building the tunnels to the port of Brisbane, the tunnels will need to be much bigger than the Cross River rail tunnels. Those double-stacked 1.8 kilometre-long container trains need very, very large tunnels. There will be above-ground train lines connecting the tunnels in my patch, and then ventilation shafts above ground. The tunnels won't stop the noise and air pollution from double-stacked 1.8 kilometre-long container trains that will need to go through suburban areas to get to the tunnels.

The tunnel fantasy is merely a distraction from the government's problem of having an inland rail boondoggle that ends in my electorate of Moreton, 37 kilometres from Moreton Bay. As I've said previously, there's a much simpler solution. The inland rail should bypass Brisbane and go straight to the port of Gladstone, a deepwater harbour. It would save money and keep the suburbs of Moreton family friendly. That's my commitment to the people of Moreton, not this inland rail boondoggle. Let's go with the original plan: Toowoomba to Gladstone. (Time expired)

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