Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Barker for moving this motion. This motion hits home the difference between regional Australia and metro Australia, and that is in road infrastructure.

The fuel excise levy, which raised $13.7 billion between 2022 and 2023, helps to fund the development and maintenance of our roads. Under Labor, the fuel excise levy is set to increase to $15.8 billion by 2025 to 2026. But do you know what's strange? Even though Labor is quite happy to rip more money out of our back pocket through the fuel levy, they're going to be reducing how much of the levy goes to our road transport infrastructure.

In regional Australia, our roads are the arteries to the heart. We don't have 20 buses stopping every minute. We don't have the light rail networks of the big cities. For us, roads aren't a want; they're a necessity. For many in Dawson, to get to work we use the Bruce Highway, which is one lane in and one lane out. For the people living in the regions, road funding isn't some airy-fairy wish; it's the difference between getting to work, receiving food supplies and having access to emergency services and not. I recently asked my electorate what are their top concerns around the cost of living, and 80 per cent of the participants said that the cost of fuel was on the top of their list. The tax on fuel is hurting regional Australia's back pocket—so much so that the previous coalition government provided a six-month 22c -per-litre relief for Australians last year.

Now let's talk about the state of our roads in my neck of the woods. We recently had a rain event, where the Bruce Highway in the north was cut in 12 different spots, and it wasn't cut for an hour or two; it was cut for two whole days. That's two days when, if you hurt yourself, there's no ambulance on the way and when there's no way you'll be able to buy essential supplies or get home to your loved ones. In my home town of Bowen, there are roadworks that have been deserted for 12 months, and the work that was started has just washed away. The Queensland state Minister for Transport and Main Roads then thought it was a good idea to come up to my region and have a spruik about how well our roads have held up. According to Queensland Labor, when the Bruce Highway falls apart, they reckon it's held up well. This is what happens when you're not putting money where money is needed. I've always called for more funding for the Bruce, and after the last rain event, which saw families stuck in the middle of nowhere for days on end, I'm at it again.

Moving forward, we need the Bruce Highway to be more than maintained; it needs to be improved and upgraded. The region should be treated like the south-east corner when it comes to investment in road infrastructure. When I say 'upgraded', I don't mean roadworks that sit stagnant for years; I mean flood mitigation all the way between Mackay and Townsville. We are tired of seeing the Bruce Highway cut in places such as Goorganga Plains, south of Proserpine, or Peters Flats, just north of Bowen. My people work so hard for this country, and they deserve a road that works for them.

In the October 2022 budget, the Labor government cut funding to the Black Spot Program by $69 million and made several decisions to cut funding to the Bruce Highway upgrade projects over the forward estimates. These funds have been reprofiled to years beyond the forward estimates. By investing less funds in our regional roads, the standard only falls further behind those of the city, and that is just unacceptable. One hundred per cent of the income from the fuel excise must go to improving our regional and rural road infrastructure. Let's compensate our fuel users when they call an ambulance so the ambulance will arrive. Let's compensate the mums and dads of the region so they can feel confident, knowing they'll get home safely. Let's build an Australia ready for tomorrow.

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