Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to set out a five-point plan to achieve improvements in the towns of Koo Wee Rup and Lang Lang. These two magnificent towns are within my electorate of Flinders. They are at the top of and to the north-east of Western Port. The local residents are tremendous people. I am fortunate to have worked with many of them on projects such as the new community centre in Koo Wee Rup, the new memorial in Koo Wee Rup, the rural transaction centre, the medical centre and doctors for Lang Lang. These are all important things.

There are five points to the plan I want to set out. The first is in relation to gas for Lang Lang. That has been achieved. I am happy to say we have ticked that off. That was something we worked towards and achieved. It is a positive outcome for local residents.

The second relates to a truck bypass for Koo Wee Rup. Anybody who knows the town of Koo Wee Rup knows that the heart of the town needs a bypass. It is clogged with up to 1,500 trucks a day. I have stood in the centre of town and seen the trucks not just block traffic but also create risks to motorists and pedestrians. The town will benefit—there is no question about that. The town’s ambience, quality of life and economic health will benefit from not having its centre clogged by trucks. We have at the moment a draft plan with a draft preferred route, but we have not got agreement on that from the state. They have now deferred for three or four years funding for that bypass. That is something which, along with my state counterpart Ken Smith, we will fight to have brought forward by the state.

The third element is reticulated natural gas for Koo Wee Rup. This has been successful in Lang Lang. This is another clear goal, objective and outcome we want to achieve. In a town as big as Koo Wee Rup it has been an extraordinary oversight in history that there has been no reticulated natural gas.

The fourth element of the plan relates to Kooweerup Secondary College. The school council president, Graeme Broderick, told a local newspaper last week that the school has been neglected by the state government and needs considerable support to bring it up to scratch.

The fifth point I want to raise is again in relation to the town of Lang Lang. It is very clear that Lang Lang itself, with up to 600 sand trucks and other trucks a day, also needs a bypass. We will work towards this project. (Time expired)