Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

All residents in Bonner have a right to drive on safer roads, and businesses need better roads to transport their goods. Improved roads not only help reduce the number of traffic accidents and congestion but also provide a major boost to our economy, and that means more jobs. The port of Brisbane is the third busiest and fastest growing port in Australia. It continues to play an extremely important role in helping local businesses in Bonner export and therefore create jobs. Unfortunately, while we have a first-class port, we have a second-class road network, and the Port of Brisbane Motorway needs not only extending but also immediate improvement. That is why I am fighting to secure funding from this government for the upgrade of the motorway. We have already delivered $1.2 million in Commonwealth funding for a planning study to examine the future extension of the motorway, and I am pleased to report that this study is now well underway.

I also take this opportunity to thank my senior colleague the Hon. Mark Vaile MP, the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, for the interest he has shown in the port of Brisbane, and I commend him for having committed $1.2 million in funding for this extremely important planning study. Of course, there is more to be done and further substantial funds are needed to carry through with the extension and upgrade of the motorway as soon as possible. I will continue to make serious representations to my federal and state colleagues on this matter to secure the needed investment in the Port of Brisbane Motorway. The project has my full support and that of the local community. I am determined to deliver an improved road network that will ensure not only the safety of drivers but also the continued expansion of our booming port.

In recent weeks I have been pleased to announce to the Bonner community the Prime Minister’s $2.3 billion funding commitment to improve the Ipswich Motorway. This motorway is a major arterial road servicing the Brisbane area. I know that a large majority of the Bonner constituency have, at some point, suffered seemingly endless waits in traffic or experienced a near miss while travelling on the motorway. This is unacceptable, and I commend the Prime Minister for committing such a significant sum of funding to improve the motorway and relieve this road of up to 80,000 cars. Most importantly, I believe that this project will ultimately prove beneficial to Bonner’s southside community who, for too long, have had to battle the constant stream of trucks and heavy vehicles on their suburban roads during both night and day. In the meantime, the government’s extension of the toll-free trial on the Logan Motorway is continuing to provide an incentive for these heavy vehicles to move away from our local suburban streets and onto the motorway.