Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] As we all know, this Sunday is Halloween. But even scarier for Queenslanders is the anniversary of the re-election of the state Labor government. Just like many Halloween activities, under Labor my community is in the dark—particularly when it comes to local road upgrades.

At the election in 2019 I committed to fixing the Kenmore roundabout, with a federal government contribution of $12.5 million. It took some arm-twisting but, finally, the state Labor government matched that funding at the state election. But what have we had since then? Have we had shovels in the ground or workman on site, or machinery? None of the above. We have seen nothing.

I know what Minister Bailey is going to go as for Halloween; he doesn't even need a costume! He's a ghost—he has completely ghosted the western suburbs of Brisbane. It has been more than 190 days since public consultation was conducted for the Kenmore roundabout upgrade project—190 days since it concluded—and the community has heard absolutely nothing since. It's an unacceptable delay; each and every day locals continue to sit in traffic on this dangerous bottleneck, with near-misses happening on site. And do the state Labor government care? Well, frankly, no, they don't.

Christian Rowan, the local member for Moggill, and myself meet with countless residents who are fed up with waiting for action. That's why the federal government promised the money in the first place. But we're sick of excuses from the state Labor government which simply don't add up. There are excuses about why they can't move faster when the reality is that they can. This project could have been underway right now, because at the same time that the federal government made the commitment to fix the Kenmore roundabout I committed to fix another pinch point along the notorious Moggill Road: the Indooroopilly roundabout. Funding was committed at exactly the same time, made available by the federal government. But with this project—the Indooroopilly one—there was a very big difference. We were partnering with the Brisbane City Council instead of the state Labor government.

When LNP governments work together at different levels we get things done, and we get them done on time and efficiently. Straight after the 2019 election we got together to work on this. Public consultation happened swiftly and the community was able to choose from two options. They chose an overpass as the preferred option, as it dealt better with the traffic on this busy corridor.

In July this year we saw fencing go up and the job was underway. We had machines on site and the existing structures on the Indooroopilly roundabout have now been demolished. The upgrade at one of the busiest intersections in Brisbane has now started because of LNP governments at the council and federal levels working together. Soon we'll not only be able to get residents home safely and sooner but we'll create 584 local jobs in the construction phase, which is going to be brilliant for the Brisbane economy as we come out of the COVID period.

We're not just upgrading the roundabout: where we have seen the option to improve the project and to take on more, we have. We have now expanded the project to include the whole Moggill Road corridor, all the way down from Coonan Street. The expanded project will now include measures like indented bus stops, bus priority measures, road widening, cycling safety improvements and turning restrictions. It's going to be a game changer for local residents. Just today, together with Mayor Schrinner, we announced that the contract has been awarded for the first stage of that project and that construction of a new overpass will begin next month.

I want to congratulate the successful tenderer, the Georgiou Group. They were responsible for the recent Indooroopilly Riverwalk project, another fantastic community-enhancing project. The community has already seen how great their work is, and we're excited to get them started on the Indooroopilly roundabout project. These are transformative projects that we're delivering right here in the western suburbs.

And it's not just in Indooroopilly that we're working with the LNP council but also for residents of The Gap. The Gresham Street Bridge was built in 1931. It has been maintained and worked on over the years but the time has come for a complete replacement. That work is underway, thanks in part to funding from the Schrinner LNP council and also the federal government. The connection is currently used by over 2,850 vehicles a day, so it's important that access was maintained. Residents were enjoying seeing the work go on with the temporary bridge and now the new bridge in place.

The difference could not be more stark when good LNP governments work together as opposed to the delay and mismanagement we've seen from the state Labor government on the Kenmore roundabout project. They need to get on with it for the residents of the western suburbs.

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