Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the House today I raise a matter of great concern in my electorate—that is, the Bonville Deviation, a stretch of the Pacific Highway running through the area of Pine Creek. It has been the scene of no fewer than 13 deaths since 2001. The Pacific Highway, of course, is a New South Wales state government road, designed, built, owned and maintained by the New South Wales government. It does receive substantial funding under AusLink, and I was delighted to be able to announce, with the then Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, that some $960 million is to be spent on the Pacific Highway for the years 2006-09. But we have been waiting many years for work to begin in Pine Creek.

As long ago as 1998, the state government announced that it would fully fund the improvement of the Bonville Deviation through Pine Creek, with a completion date of 2003. We are still waiting for work to commence. The state government also withdrew its commitment to fully fund the scheme. As recently as 13 July 2004, Bob Carr was on the radio decrying the fact that the reason the Bonville Deviation had not commenced was a lack of federal government funding. Later that day, on ABC radio, I pointed out to the listeners that the RTA’s own website noted the fact that the Pine Creek deviation was to be fully funded by the New South Wales state government. What happened? The website, all of a sudden, moments later, disappeared. It disappeared from view and reappeared later in the afternoon with a revised wording that removed the fact that the New South Wales state government was responsible for the Bonville Deviation. The new wording basically indicated that the state government was only responsible for planning.

We have finally advanced beyond that. We have seen tenders called for the project. Tenderers were given 13 weeks to place their tenders. But regrettably the delays still continue. Mr Joe Tripodi, the state Minister for Roads, the minister for excuses, is still allowing his department some six months to assess tenders, when the tenderers were only given 13 weeks to put in their tenders. We have named Mr Tripodi ‘Slow Joe’, and the message coming from my electorate is: ‘Slow Joe must go.’

It is time for Morris Iemma to show some leadership and get rid of Slow Joe, the minister who would rather whinge than work, the minister who carries with him a grab bag of excuses. It is time for Slow Joe to pick up his swag and move on. We want to see a minister committed to the Pacific Highway. We want to see a minister committed to making things happen—not just whingeing. Slow Joe must go. It is time for Iemma to act, not react—he doesn’t act too often; he reacts quite a bit. It is time for Iemma to act. It is time for the Bonville Deviation to start now. (Time expired)