Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's estimated that over the next 20 years the Sunshine Coast will have to house up to an additional 200,000 residents. Our challenge is to ensure that we do something that the likes of Sydney and Melbourne did not do: as an important part of South-East Queensland, our challenge is to build infrastructure ahead of the population curve.

There is no doubt that it is not easy for us to continue to carve out money. Indeed, the Sunshine Coast today is the recipient of more federal funding for infrastructure than it ever has been in its history. Some could argue, therefore, that that's enough; let it be. But I can assure you, Mr Speaker, that there's a reason the member for Fisher and I continue to prosecute the case for more funding, and that is population growth.

There is no project of greater importance to our future as a region than heavy passenger rail. With the explosion in population, rail will be important not just to ensure connectivity but also to ensure population settlement. Indeed, the trick for us is to avoid urban sprawl and a strip of high-rises along the coast and to allow for density around new railway stations and greater density in old railway towns.

Now, for the first time in history, this government, the coalition government, has put money on the table—$390 million no less—for the north coast rail line between Beerburrum and Nambour. Not so much as one dollar had ever been put to that stretch of rail, but we went into bat for it and we secured that record funding. Unfortunately, the state government, who owns and operates that rail system, still to this day refuses outright to match our funding. It is a free gift. It is a 50 per cent discount on their cost. We ask for no equity play, but still they refuse to match our funding. Nevertheless, our priority remains delivering for the community, and that money shall be used thus, and we want it to be used. But it will only be used on stage 1 of a two-stage project, between Beerburrum and Nambour.

This takes me to our priorities for rail moving forward. There are two. First, we need to ensure that stage 2 of the project, Landsborough to Nambour, is improved. If indeed the state government is wanting to hold back on getting the job done, as they are, let's go for the solution that the community deserves. That solution is full duplication all the way through to the Nambour station, designed in such a way that it can accommodate the possibility of fast rail in the future. That's what stage 2 should look like. Our second priority is to have heavy passenger rail running from Beerwah all the way through to the Maroochydore CBD, passing through Caloundra and Kawana, opening up that coastal strip to heavy passenger rail for the first time. We're serious about this, which is why we have put $5 million on the table for a business case for stage 2 through to Nambour and $3 million on the table for investment planning for the CAMCOS corridor. The state, thankfully, will match us on the CAMCOS investment study, but it still refuses to match us on Nambour.

In closing, I will just say that these two rail projects, which our region needs, will be the most transformative projects. The fact that we will be hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games puts a deadline into the system and builds pressure into the system. We need to ensure these projects are delivered on time.

House adjourned at 20:00

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