Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What a class act the member for Maranoa is. From all of us on the Labor side, we wish him all the very best in his retirement, and we wish his family well too. The member for Maranoa is a terrific bloke, and we farewell him tonight.

Last night's budget was the third budget in a row where the Liberals have abandoned the people of Logan on the M1. In their three years in office, the LNP have completely failed to allocate a single cent to easing congestion on the Ml. For years, the local Liberals have ranted and raved about that freeway. The member for Forde made it one of his key election issues in 2013 and the Prime Minister has heard from locals about the severe problems there. But last night, the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the member for Forde confirmed for people in Logan what many of them already suspected: the LNP do not care about the needs of the people in Logan City.

They do not care about our infrastructure priorities, they do not care about the severe congestion that affects local families and businesses and they do not care that Infrastructure Australia has put fixing the congestion on the M1 on their national priority list. They have done nothing on the M1 in three years.

Government Member:

A government member interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will not interject.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor cares deeply about the people of Logan and surrounds. We understand the way severe traffic build-up on the busiest road in Queensland prevents quality time being spent with family or developing local businesses. I understand this acutely. I have lived on or around this road for my entire life, at Rochedale South, Springwood and Daisy Hill. Unlike those opposite, I understand what is going on there. I have sat in the traffic queues, like a lot of my constituents, for hours, when the road is clogged up for kilometres during the peak hours of weekday afternoons and on weekends.

That is why I am so proud that Labor has announced that it will make such a significant investment in the Ml, filling the void left by those opposite. I was pleased to join the Leader of the Opposition and the future member for Forde, Des Hardman, to announce Labor's $168 million investment in the road. We will upgrade the southbound Gateway-M1 merge by adding additional southbound lanes between Eight Mile Plains and Springwood, with construction to start next year. And unlike that ridiculous interjection, from a person who does not understand, the Queensland Labor government has agreed to kick in $42 million to make this upgrade possible. We are prioritising this project to tackle congestion on the busiest road in South-East Queensland, which carries an average of 145,000 vehicles a day. This builds on the more than $312 million worth of upgrades to the M1 in Logan that was paid for and delivered in the last Labor government.

It is worth noting that the member for Forde has been in office for six years and in government for almost three and has not got a single cent for this road upgrade in Logan. Des Hardman has been the candidate for six months and he has got $168 million for the M1 through Logan. Imagine what Des will accomplish when he takes his seat in this place after the next election. Labor's announcement says a lot about the advocacy of Des Hardman for his local community. He will be a terrific local member in Logan City and the northern Gold Coast.

But it also says a lot about the opposition leader's understanding of the people of Logan. I said at the town hall meeting in Beenleigh that I have not been aware of a political leader of either persuasion who has taken as much time as the Leader of the Opposition has to understand what is going on in Logan City—to understand our infrastructure needs. I thank him and I salute him for the commitment he made in Beenleigh just a few days ago.

The current Prime Minister, on the other hand, who was in Eagleby the day after our announcement and was asked whether he would match it, whether he would finally invest in the M1 southbound, where the Gateway joins the M1, could not commit a single cent—third time in a row, three budgets, and no money for my community to ease that congestion that does so much to damage family life and damage business in the local area. That is something that everybody else knows. The new mayor, Luke Smith, knows it. Everybody in our community knows it. It is only that side of the parliament that does not understand what is going on.

The M1 is a clear example of the difference between us and them when it comes to serving our community. The Liberals have used this budget to deliver tax cuts for big business and multinationals at the expense of local families: 82 per cent of people in Rankin do not get a cent of a tax cut; a millionaire gets $17,000. A Labor government would put people first by investing in local schools and hospitals, supporting better paid and protected local jobs and investing in vital infrastructure, like the Ml.

My message to local people as they go to the ballot boxes is clear: if you want a government that puts big business over battlers and high-income earners before families, if you want someone to dither and delay and deceive on the Ml, vote for the Liberals; if you want something better, vote Labor. (Time expired)