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

Today I rise to congratulate Lord Mayor Graham Quirk and the Brisbane City Council on their latest announcement on the Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade. Last week, the council announced Lend Lease would be the preferred contractor for the $650 million infrastructure upgrade. This infrastructure will deliver the best outcomes both for motorists in my electorate of Brisbane and the wider community. Kingsford Smith Drive is one of the most significant routes in the city for Brisbane's economic prosperity and has been operating at capacity for several years, being used by up to 70,000 vehicles a day. With the upgrade not only tackling congestion and delivering travel time savings of up to 30 per cent as well as delivering 3,000 jobs for our local economy, the Kingsford Smith upgrade may be Brisbane's very own road to Damascus.

There is no denying that federally funded projects such as Legacy Way are delivering time savings for motorists right across our suburbs. With the help of the federal government this vital piece of road will also future-proof Brisbane for decades to come. Upgrading Kingsford Smith Drive will have the added benefit of serving as a gateway for the millions of tourists, visitors and residents who enter the city along this route every year. Brisbane is one of Australia's fastest growing cities and the Australian government is committed to investing in key infrastructure to keep the south-east corner going.