Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

Every government funds black spot work. Every government funds the Roads to Recovery program. Every government funds bridges improvement. In my experience since 2007, that has been the case.

I want to congratulate the Somerset Regional Council in my electorate, who have undertaken the Bridges Renewal Program, particularly after the 2011 and 2013 floods. That's seen tremendous improvement in terms of road safety in the Somerset region, particularly for the bridges and crossings, such as Walshes Crossing up near Kilcoy and towards Mount Kilcoy. The bridge across Cressbrook Creek was washed away, near Toogoolawah. Gregors Creek bridge was washed away in one of those floods I referred to down near Harlin, as did the Redbank Creek bridge near Esk. This has made a huge difference in terms of the work that has been done in the region, in terms of jobs and in terms of road safety.

One of the things that's so clear about this government is that they are great at photo opportunities but not so good at the follow up. The member for Bonner was talking about the $110 billion. The trouble with that is that—the government makes those announcements and says in its budget that's what they are doing—they don't always do it. I can give you three examples locally in South-East Queensland where the government really needs to look at doing much better.

The first example is the final section of the Ipswich Motorway, from the Oxley Road roundabout through to the Centenary Highway interchange. That's what we used to call that particular part of it. Of course, this government, until recently, opposed upgrades to the Ipswich Motorway from Dinmore through to Darra, but, finally, just a few short years ago, they agreed with the Queensland government to do part of the Darra to Rocklea section. I urge the government to stop boasting about what it does and actually spend some money to fix that blunder road from Oxley Road roundabout all the way on the Ipswich Motorway. They should three-lane it and put service roads on it. That will make a big difference to the 100,000 vehicles a day and the people who drive them between Ipswich and Brisbane. It's about time the government got on to that job.

Another example of a road safety issue in my electorate is, of course, the Warrego Highway between Dinmore through to Helidon Spa near Toowoomba. The government has put money aside across the forward estimates, and so has the Queensland government, but there is a shocking crossing there across the Warrego Highway called the Mount Crosby Road interchange. I've talked about it a number of times. During the course of the last year or so, the state government talked about a survey with the Warrego Highway and the Mount Crosby Road interchange upgrade. There was $22 million agreed to by the state and federal government in relation to it. If you can find someone who thinks the current proposal is a good idea, you're looking pretty hard, because I can't find anyone. Even at my mobile office last Saturday, I got a number of people who came and saw me to say that the current proposal is inadequate and that we should spend more money out of the money that has been allocated. They should fix the bridge. It's currently one lane each way. The proposal is not to touch the bridge. The off-ramps are terrible—talk about safety. Traffic banks up on the 100 kay stretches both sides of the Warrego Highway and Mount Crosby Road interchange in the evening and the mornings. It needs to be done for road safety purposes. Stop boasting about what you are doing and actually do that.

The third local issue in South-East Queensland is on Cunningham Highway. It's the 4.75 kilometres between Warwick Road at Yamanto through to Ebenezer Creek. That includes the Willowbank interchange outside the RAAF Base Amberley. Since the Howard government, governments of both political persuasions have spent money on the RAAF Base Amberley, about $1.3 billion, but the road needs to be fixed. The Warrego Highway is on the Infrastructure Priority List by Infrastructure Australia. The Cunningham Highway is also a priority initiative. It's really, really important.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17 : 59 to 18 : 12

As I was saying before the suspension, the Cunningham Highway is a pinch point for interstate freight along the western corridor. We're talking about a cost to the taxpayer of $45 million per year. In terms of congestion, it really is terrible in the mornings and the evenings, and people stage their exits and entry onto the RAAF base at Amberley and the aerospace precinct surrounding it as a result.

I call on both the federal government and the state government to work together in terms of the business case and then the funding that's necessary there. It's really critical for people in Ipswich and also people in Brisbane and the many thousands of people who work on the RAAF base at Amberley. If you want to talk about road safety, Ipswich Motorway, the Warrego Highway, the Mount Crosby Interchange and the Cunningham Highway really need road safety issues addressed.

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