John McVeigh (Groom, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week on behalf of the coalition government I attended the commencement of works for the Warrego Highway Toowoomba to Oakey duplication stage 2 project. This is a project that will improve safety and highway capacity by separating opposing traffic, upgrading intersections and adding new turning lanes as part of the $635 million Warrego Highway Toowoomba to Miles upgrade program.

Construction of the stage 2, $160 million Warrego Highway Toowoomba to Oakey project will begin very shortly. It should take about 15 months to complete. I was pleased to see that civil construction company, the Georgiou Group, were well underway with the planning and implementation of the project. It is funded on an 80-20 basis, with the Australian government contributing up to $128 million and the Queensland government contributing $32 million.

I had the opportunity to really focus on the economic benefits of the project: 250 direct jobs will be supported over its life. It will represent a key link in Queensland's regional economy, because the Warrego Highway services the agricultural heartland of the Darling Downs and the resource-rich Surat Basin, as well as being a major tourism route to outback Queensland. This is one of the growth corridors of the region, and all projections point to a massive rise in road usage as new industries and neighbouring developments come online.

I am very pleased, therefore, that the federal government is continuing to invest in enabling infrastructure such as this in the region as we grow. It has significant safety benefits. These works will improve driver safety and highway capacity, particularly providing safer access to the highway from Gowrie Mountain and Kingsthorpe whilst providing more overtaking opportunities. The overpass on the highway at the Kingsthorpe turnoff will improve safety not only for local but also for those travelling west and, of course, for those visiting the annual FarmFest agricultural field day. It is a recognised road accident zone, so it is important to have this in place.

Particularly, though, it will support growth in our region. The Toowoomba Enterprise Zone, just to the east of this site, is growing significantly. That will see hundreds and thousands of jobs over the coming years. It is important, therefore, that Kingsthorpe and nearby Oakey have this safe access so that they can grow. A particular shout out to Oakey: it has a significant future for future residents in our region, to support this work site whilst it deals with its sullied image at the moment in the ongoing challenge of PFAS contamination.