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

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes the Government's ongoing commitment to improving road safety through the establishment of the Road Safety Program (RSP);

(2) recognises that the RSP supports the fast roll out of lifesaving road safety treatments on rural and regional roads and greater protection for vulnerable road users, like cyclists and pedestrians, in urban areas;

(3) commends the Government for its funding in the recent budget to provide $3 billion over three years from 2020-21; and

(4) acknowledges the 'use it or lose it' provision as part of the funding, requiring states and territories to use their funding within each six month tranche in order to receive their full allocation of funding for the next tranche, unless exceptional circumstances exist.

It's with great pleasure that I rise to speak on this motion that talks about the Road Safety Program that this government that has rolled out. The government recognises the importance of this rollout to improving road safety treatments across rural and regional roads, giving greater protection for vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians in urban areas. When we look at the funding envelope of some $3 billion over three years from 2021, we're not just talking about the importance of road safety; we're actually putting in place the necessary dollars to deliver it. Importantly, we are also putting in place a requirement for the state governments to get on with the job of delivering these safety projects.

This commitment is part of our $110 billion 10-year infrastructure pipeline, and across my electorate of Forde it has been very, very well received. As we look at these infrastructure projects, particularly on roads like Beaudesert-Beenleigh Road and Beenleigh-Redland Bay Road in my electorate of Forde, we see that the importance of road safety can never be understated. With both of those roads, I know that over the years there have been many, many very serious accidents, which have cost lives. But also, importantly, these accidents have permanently damaged people's lives—they might not have died but might have had lifelong injuries and may have needed to recover from these. We saw only recently, not on one of these roads but on one of the smaller side roads, a very sad accident in difficult conditions where a family lost their mother. Julia May was a very well-respected member of the community at one of our local schools, and that has had an impact on the school and on the broader community.

Each and every day we see the importance of road safety. I can say, quite safely, that anyone in this House would agree with the importance of that. Between them, these two particular roads in my electorate of Forde are seeing investments in the order of approximately $30 million. In addition, Tamborine-Oxenford Road is getting an update at Howard Creek that will lift the bridge and change the profile of the corner on what's an increasingly busy road. This will reduce the flooding impact on that road. More importantly, it will increase the safety. Also, through some of the heavy vehicle safety improvements in the Yatala Enterprise Area, we're seeing upgrades to Darlington Road and Computer Road. These are part of a growing industrial area. It is important not only to get freight in and out of the area safely but also that people are able to get to work safely. These projects are happening together with the big infrastructure projects that we're completing at exit 41 and exit 49, the M1 upgrades from the Logan Motorway all the way through to the Gateway Motorway, and the upgrades to the Mount Lindesay Highway, a $75 million investment jointly funded by the commonwealth and state governments.

Across the electorate of Forde, these road safety programs are making a real, tangible difference to people's lives. Equally, across the country we are seeing these upgrades make a difference, whether it's shoulder sealing, audiotactile line marking, improvements to shoulders for cyclists who use those roads, wider centre line treatments that keep cars and trucks physically more separated on the road or improvements to our road barriers—rather than having just the Armco barrier with the railing at the top, having a panel underneath so that, if a motorcyclist has an accident, they're not sliding underneath the Armco railing and getting more severely injured. All of these might appear to be small things, but they make a big, big difference in the event of an accident. Also, we're seeing in many parts the removal of vegetation that is in dangerous places along the sides of roads. In a number of places along these roads, we have seen additional Armco safety barriers put in place. Making our roads safer is a critical component in reducing deaths and serious injuries. I commend the government for the work that it's doing.

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