Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am absolutely honoured to have attended the reopening of the Riverwalk replacement project in New Farm in my electorate of Brisbane, just last weekend on 21 September. The Riverwalk was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Graham Quirk; state member for Brisbane Central, Robert Cavallucci; and myself; with more than 2,000 Brisbane residents keen to descend on and explore the new and upgraded Riverwalk. The crowd was entertained by roving performers and face painters, with an all-important sausage sizzle to feed the crowds. It was really clear to me that everyone else was just as excited as I was about the Riverwalk returning to Brisbane. It has been three years since we experienced its devastation. Along with so many other Brisbane residents, I witnessed the devastating damage caused by the 2011 floods, and I watched the original Riverwalk break away and float dangerously down the Brisbane River at 2am, on the morning of the worst heights of the floods. It was absolutely devastating to me. It is an image that I am sure is still in the memories of many of the people of Brisbane, and of many people around Australia—particularly the image of the tugboat, doing its best to stop the broken concrete pieces of the old Riverwalk from doing even more damage down the river.

The popularity and frequent use of the Riverwalk is why the Australian government provided $54 million to replace this popular connection between New Farm and the Brisbane city centre. It was and now again will be a beloved Brisbane icon. Prior to the devastating 2011 Brisbane floods, the Riverwalk was used by more than 3,000 pedestrians and cyclists each day. This funding was provided through the Australian federal government Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, and the Riverwalk was one of 5,000 projects which were undertaken throughout Queensland. I would like to acknowledge the valuable support provided by the Queensland government—they contributed some $18 million towards the project.

I am very pleased to say that the new Riverwalk is even better than the old one. A key component of the Riverwalk's resilience will be the 37 concrete piles which will anchor the walkway into the riverbed. It will not ever wash away. The 870-metre long thoroughfare will be separated for cyclists and pedestrians so there will be an even split between fast and slow traffic, especially during the peak commuting times. It is absolutely essential that all of those who use Riverwalk have room to safely enjoy all of the facilities. The new Riverwalk has also been equipped with new lighting and shaded rest areas, so if you are getting a bit tired you can enjoy a beautiful vista of the river. It will also be a wonderful platform for tourists to observe our wonderful river life from. We have replaced the old floating walkway with modern structures that will have much better resilience. These improvements have been made largely through the work of the planners and designers, and I want to thank the Brisbane City Council.

This has been a challenging project, and I know that the strength of the new Riverwalk is a terrific design feature. Another feature that is very interesting this time is the rotating opening span that will allow for the passage of vessels to and from moorings. This key feature will allow much easier transport to and from those moorings. The implementation of the new alignment will also take cyclists and pedestrians further out into the river for the majority of the walkway. This will greatly improve the river experience, but particularly it is very important that residents who live on the river will enjoy additional privacy by having the walkway further out from the back of their homes.

This is a $72 million project which; as I said, has been delivered under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, and is a true testament to what can be done when the three levels of government work together. I am really pleased to say that it is a wonderful structure that will be there for the benefit of Brisbane residents and visitors. I am delighted that all Brisbane residents and tourists are now able to enjoy the new, restored and even better Riverwalk. I cannot wait to get back to my electorate to walk the whole length, as I was not able to do that the other day. We now have our beloved icon, our connection between New Farm and the Brisbane city CBD, returned to us.