Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that the Australian Government:

(a) is acting to provide critical upgrades to the M1 Motorway to deliver safer, less congested roads for the people of Queensland, which will mean people spend less time in traffic and more time with their families;

(b) is delivering a $1 billion upgrade including between Varsity Lakes and Tugun on the Gold Coast end of the M1 corridor, and between Eight Mile Plains and Daisy Hill within the Brisbane urban area; and

(c) has previously committed funding to two projects on the M1 which are scheduled to commence construction in coming weeks, being:

  (i) $115 million for the M1 Pacific Motorway-Gateway Merge; and

  (ii) $110 million for the M1 Pacific Motorway-Mudgeeraba to Varsity Lakes project; and

(2) calls on the Queensland Government to match the funding on a 50:50 basis.

It's a pleasure to stand in this House and speak about the funding commitment of the federal coalition government to the M1. Leading up to the 2018 budget, I was very pleased to be joined in my electorate by Prime Minister Turnbull to announce $1 billion to be provided in the budget for critical M1 upgrades. I was also joined by my good friend the member for Fadden, who is here in the chamber today.

This is a tremendous win for commuters and businesses not only in my electorate of Forde but in the surrounding electorates, where many commuters struggle with daily gridlock. However, this result would not have been possible without the thousands of supporters who put their name to my Fix the M1 campaign. I'm proud to say that the petition, the bumper stickers, the speeches and the stories from businesses and people affected by congestion has been heard loud and clear by the Turnbull government. And I'm pleased to say that the good member for Moreton, sitting across the chamber here, is very happy with this announcement, I have no doubt, as it will benefit his electorate as well.

In this year's budget we put fixing the M1 Motorway in Logan at the top of our government's priority list. So, thank you to everyone who supported our Fix the M1 campaign. The billion-dollar coalition government investment will mean people spend less time in traffic and more time with their families, and it will improve the quality of life for residents in South East Queensland. The billion-dollar commitment will fund construction of two high-priority upgrade projects: one, the stretch between Eight Mile Plains and Daisy Hill, within the Logan and Brisbane urban areas, and the other between Varsity Lakes and Tugun on the Gold Coast, at the southern end of the M1 corridor. The Eight Mile Plains to Daisy Hill project is expected to include widening the motorway from six to eight lanes, ramp consolidation, managed motorways technology, extending the busway to Springwood, supporting bus priority south of Springwood, and better active transport connections between centres along the corridor. The Varsity Lakes to Tugun project is expected to include widening of both the northbound and southbound carriageways to six lanes, a direct northbound off-ramp from the M1 to Southport-Burleigh Road, and ramp upgrades, with ramp controls, extra lanes, pavement reconstruction works, and better cycling and walking connections between centres.

The M1 is one of the most important and heavily congested routes in Queensland, with nearly 30 million tonnes of freight moving between New South Wales and Queensland each year and between 50,000 and 155,000 vehicles per day using the M1, from Springwood to Tugun. These upgrades will help people get home safer and sooner.

I'm proud to say the Turnbull government is funding the roads the people of South East Queensland need, and we're doing it because of our careful budget management. During the 2016 election, the Turnbull government also committed $225 million for two projects that mark stage 1 of these significant upgrades to the M1. These include the $115 million for the M1 Pacific Motorway and Gateway Motorway merge and $110 million for the M1 Pacific Motorway Mudgeeraba to Varsity Lakes project.

I'm pleased to say that it appears the Queensland government is set to announce in their budget later this week that they will commit to matching the federal government's funding on the M1, which is tremendous news for the people of South East Queensland. These vital upgrades to the M1 will reduce congestion and improve the quality of life for the people in my electorate of Forde. This congestion-busting solution to the M1 congestion on the Logan Motorway and Gold Coast Highway is extremely important.

When we met with Bill Leavey from True Blue Glass last week, a small business owner whose employees regularly travel the M1, he explained the importance of this project in allowing his employees to be more efficient and more effective and get to their jobs more quickly so they can do more in a day. But it is not only that: they will get to their jobs more safely. I commend this funding of $1 billion on the M1 by a coalition federal government that has set the stage for major upgrades for this stretch of road.

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the member's motion?

Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's nice to see that this month the Queensland Liberal Party and National Party have finally discovered congestion on the M1. The Liberal Party and National Party have been in government since September 2013. Well done, Rip Van Winkle! Well done. I hope you enjoyed your nice five-year nap. I know you needed to have a shave when you did wake up, but I do acknowledge that you are putting some money into this vital piece of infrastructure after years of ignoring the needs of Queenslanders, years of ignoring critical Queensland infrastructure and years of ignoring the desperate need for upgrades to the M1. The member for Forde actually started a petition to petition himself—that's what I loved! I loved that: a petition where he's saying, 'You should talk to the member for Forde.' It was a petition organised by the member for Forde to petition himself. That's great! It's great to see the member for Forde finally pipe up with this motion.

The Liberal Party and National Party have been dragged kicking and screaming into funding the M1 upgrade. It's great to see the member for Grayndler in here for this motion. I look forward to his comments on the member for Forde's motion. It's great to see the Liberal Party and National Party now pipe up after five years and give us a lecture on infrastructure spending. What a joke! There has been an out-of-touch government over the last five years and suddenly, in this budget and in the lead-up to an election, they announce a little bit. This money should have been invested in the M1 upgrade and it should be almost on the way to a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Instead, we've got an out-of-touch government that has disappointed Queenslanders and put a handbrake on productivity.

We have seen their record on full display: announcing and then reannouncing projects in Dickson and Longman on the Bruce Highway. You can keep announcing projects over and over again, but the people of Queensland are wising up. They are onto you. When the Liberal Party and National Party announce infrastructure spending, Queenslanders know now to look for the smoke and to look for the mirrors.

What about the Cross River Rail in that budget? What about the Cross River Rail? The member for Forde, when he talked about congestion in his speech, seemed to forget Cross River Rail, something that Infrastructure Australia said was the No. 1 priority. The Treasurer forgot it and the Prime Minister forgot it in their budget. The Cross River Rail would actually almost be complete by now if the funding wasn't slashed in the 2014 budget. I know the member for Grayndler would remember that the project was signed off by the former Campbell Newman government's transport minister, Scott Emerson. I remember you had the letter from Scott Emerson before the press conference, but then he put the kibosh on it. It's all about priorities.

When it comes to funding critical infrastructure, we have seen Queensland done over. However, the government has still got that commitment to giving $80 billion to big business, multinationals and big banks—but not for Queensland infrastructure. Let me restate our policy from the last election with regards to the M1. Labor will spend $1 billion making sure that we have an eight-lane freeway between my electorate of Moreton and Eight Mile Plains through to Daisy Hill. We'll widen it to a six-lane freeway between Varsity Lakes and Tugun. Labor will do everything we can to take the politics out of infrastructure, and that's why we're still inviting the Turnbull government to match what we're saying on the Cross River Rail.

Unfortunately, there's a slight problem with the federal government's $1 billion commitment—more than 80 per cent of the funding committed by the coalition won't flow until after the 2022-23 budget. The Palaszczuk Labor government is pulling money forward to ensure this vital work starts immediately. Just last weekend, the Queensland Labor government announced an $897 million commitment to the M1—part of a $45 billion statewide infrastructure plan that will create over 38,000 Queensland jobs annually. That's someone that understands Queensland. We have to keep investing to make sure that southsiders can get home faster and spend more time doing the things they enjoy, instead of being stuck in traffic, pumping particulate matter out into the atmosphere.

In supporting the M1 upgrade but ignoring the Cross River Rail project, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer are only doing half the job. Obviously, when completed—as it eventually will be under Labor—the Cross River Rail will remove current bottlenecks by doubling the capacity along the Brisbane River, allowing more trains to run more often along every major train line. It's also why we need to fund the Coopers Plain rail crossing. That's why I'm asking the local government—Lord Mayor Graham Quirk—the state government and the federal government, to fund a third, a third, a third. That's my suggested solution. What could be fairer in terms of getting things sorted? This is not arguing about the politics of it, just being fair. If there are more trains going down to the Gold Coast, the bottleneck at Coopers Plains, which has been inspected by the member for Grayndler, will be a lot worse.

Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I support and fully endorse the motion moved by the member for Forde and congratulate him on the tireless work that he's been doing for his community and for infrastructure funding in Queensland. The member Forde and I, along with the members for McPherson and Moncrieff and many of our Brisbane based members of parliament, have fought particularly hard to deliver better infrastructure services for our communities—especially with the M1 funding. That's why this is an extraordinary budget that's boosting infrastructure with a billion dollars on the table to complete the M1—to complete it.

A bit of history is always instructive. The M1, as we know it, was finalised in the last days of the Borbidge government, who signed off on the contracts to get that road up and running. Premier Borbidge would tell the story that, at the time, the bureaucracy said only three lanes would be needed each way, but it was the Borbidge government that insisted that, for most of it, it would be four lanes. This budget shows that what Premier Borbidge started, this government—the Turnbull government—will finish. There is a billion dollars on the table to finish it—waiting, of course, for the Labor government of Queensland to back up and respond with the same funding. That is a fifty-fifty deal—that's pretty generous—to get the M1 complete.

This is a budget that makes it very clear it's about making life easier and, frankly, more pleasant for Australians and their families, especially in getting to and from work. We have one billion congestion-busting dollars on the table for the M1. It's about getting people home safer. It's about getting them home sooner. And it's actually a good plan. It was the member for Grayndler, when he was minister, who taught me what the N1 was. He dragged me into his office and pointed out the N1, being the Newell Highway, and made it specifically clear to me that the M1 is not the N1, that different funding arrangements are there for the M1. He made it very clear. He had a big map on the wall—of course, the map he inherited from the previous minister. And I make the point everywhere I go that the Newell Highway is an 80-20, federally—no problem at all—but the M1 is not part of the N1, which is why the fifty-fifty deal is the right deal to do.

The situation with the M1 is somewhat reminiscent of the funding and support for the Australian film industry. The Queensland state Labor government was screaming from the rooftops that the Turnbull government had abandoned the film industry. Yet the Labor government in Queensland was putting in a couple of million and we were putting in almost a hundred million. In the end, we delivered what was required—what the local film industry needed—an effective tax offset at 30 per cent. But, again, the Queensland state Labor government, unfortunately, has not put in anything. However, the motion pertains to the M1. There's a billion dollars on the table. Premier Palaszczuk should simply match the billion dollars, and we should all get on with completing a necessary project, the M1, from the Tugun Bypass through to the entrance to Brisbane—get it finished and done once and for all.

I'm also delighted to see within the budget the Roads to Recovery Program providing immediate relief for traffic congestion in my community, some $12 million to solve simple things: roundabouts at roads, intersections at parts of our street network. You can argue it's a state or local responsibility, but sometimes we have to step in to fix some of these things. We have provided funds to ease traffic congestion at Burnside Road, on the Pacific Motorway service road between Ormeau and Yatala. This two-stage project upgrades and reconstructs the existing road to an industrial collector and extends along Burnside Road from the Pacific Motorway service road to Christensen Road. This project, due for completion in September this year, will support growth of the surrounding industrial area. We've also provided funds for Stanmore Road in Yatala between Enkleman Road and Peachy Road, which will see Stanmore Road upgraded to a four-lane dual carriageway. The upgrade is required to cater for the predicted increase in traffic volume caused by the continuing growth of the Yatala Enterprise Area. In Queensland the Turnbull government is investing a record $20.4 billion in infrastructure, an impressive amount. This money will benefit and support my community and so many communities not just on the Gold Coast but in the south-east corner. Once again I call upon the state Labor Palaszczuk government in Queensland to come to the table. We have a billion dollars there. Come and join us, and let's complete the M1.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution to this debate about infrastructure in South East Queensland. I move an amendment:

That all words after 1(b) be deleted and replaced with the following:

"(c) regrets that only 1 per cent of this Federal funding is available in 2018-19;

(d) also regrets that 85 per cent of the Federal funding is outside the four-year forward estimates; and

(e) calls upon the Government to not fund projects into the never never."

I raise this because you hear a lot of rhetoric from those opposite about infrastructure. The fact is, though, that they have been asleep for the last five years. They haven't funded projects. Indeed, they haven't even put back the money they've cut from projects such as Cross River Rail. They had an opportunity in this budget to undo the damage done by that cut in the 2014 budget. When it comes to this project, less than one per cent of the $1 billion is available for these two projects on the M1 in the next financial year, and across the four years of the forward estimates only 15 per cent of the funding is there. It's typical of what this government says: 'If you re-elect us next year and in three years time then something might happen after that.'

It is quite pathetic and stands in stark contrast to what we did when in office. We increased annual spending on infrastructure from $146 for every Queenslander to $270 for every Queenslander. Under our program we committed and invested some $6.3 billion in South East Queensland, more than the Howard government had spent over a similar time across the entire state. That included upgrades: $420 million for the Pacific Motorway on the Gold Coast, $195 million for the Bruce Highway on the Sunshine Coast, and $2½ billion for the Ipswich Motorway. We also invested in rail and light rail. The Redcliffe rail line, first promised in 1895, was delivered by a federal Labor government working with Queensland Labor and the local council. Importantly, the Gold Coast Light Rail, such a success in getting people around during the recent Commonwealth Games, was funded with $365 million from the Commonwealth, an investment that made a real difference in real time.

We also invested in community infrastructure in South East Queensland, including, of course, on the Gold Coast at the stadium where the Commonwealth Games were held. That was some $37 million—the largest grant out of the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program. Not only has funding been cut by this government; they haven't spent the money that has been allocated to them in the budget. Whether it's major road projects, the black spots, the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program, the Northern Australia Roads Program—all of these have seen massive underspends by the coalition government: some $4½ billion of underspends over their first four budgets. The fact is that we have called for this funding to be invested on the M1 because this is a congested corridor. The need to fix the Pacific Motorway to Gateway merge; the need for the Mudgeeraba to Varsity Lakes project; these are important projects, as well as the upgrades between Varsity Lakes and Tugun and between Eight Mile Plains and Daisy Hill. These are all critical projects. It is only Labor, though, that invests in nation-building infrastructure, whether it be roads, rail or light rail. That's why Queenslanders are increasingly sceptical about the gap between this government's rhetoric and its actual investment.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Grayndler is seeking to move an amendment to the member for Forde's motion. Is the motion seconded?

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is now that the amendment be agreed to.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is fantastic news for locals in my electorate. My Queensland LNP colleagues and I have been fighting hard for this funding. People have been telling us just how bad congestion is on the M1 and how dangerous it can be on their daily commute. I've been hearing the same story across Bonner. It is people power that has secured this funding for the M1 as well as for the Brisbane Metro. It's people power that I'm sure will lock in funding for two other critical projects that I'm fighting for in Bonner. One billion dollars in funding—what an outcome! I must thank the member for Forde for leading this fight, and my constituents who get at stuck at the M1-Gateway merge every afternoon certainly will.

Many people have told me how thrilled they are with this outcome. It means they'll be able to get home to their families sooner and safer. I know the coalition's campaign and the community's angst about these commitments is what finally drove the Queensland government to commit to match our federal commitment and deliver for the people of South East Queensland. And now $300 million for Brisbane Metro—another awesome outcome that will reduce congestion for Bonner constituents. I have tirelessly campaigned for this funding with Trevor Evans, the member for Brisbane. It's another funding commitment that shows the coalition government is listening to locals. Then there is the $10 million I helped secure with the member for Bowman. This funding will help upgrade the Green Camp Road corridor, including the notorious Green Camp Road-Rickett Road intersection. More congestion busted; more people who enjoy a much safer drive, whether it's to school pick-up or work.

That's why I'm now fighting hard for two other critical road projects in Bonner. I know the government is listening. Locals are asking us to invest in critical infrastructure to reduce congestion and improve safety, and that's exactly what we're doing. It's what we'll continue to do for dangerous black spots like the Lindum station crossing. Recently over 4,000 locals signed my petition to fix this dangerous intersection. Last week the Minister for Infrastructure came to inspect the Lindum crossing in person and to discuss the new Urban Congestion Fund announced in the budget this month. We are investing $1 billion in congestion-busting projects like the Lindum station crossing. I also took the minister to the Newnham Road and Wecker Road intersection at Mount Gravatt East. This is another notorious intersection in my electorate. The RACQ recently named this intersection as one of the worst in Brisbane for serious crashes and casualties. The minister agrees it's an absolute hazard. I've started a community petition calling for funding to fix the Newnham Road-Wecker Road intersection. It has already gathered almost 1,000 signatures. It's people power in action again.

Works have now started on the M1 Gateway merge upgrade and the Green Camp Road corridor upgrade. Brisbane City Council expects tenders for the Brisbane Metro will go out as early as the second half of this year. I'm proud to have secured funding for these vital projects to get my constituents home sooner and safer. I'm fighting just as hard for the funding to fix the Lindum crossing and Newnham Road intersection.

Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We just heard sad stories from the member for Bonner and the member for Forde. They demonstrate how completely out of touch they are when it comes to Queensland federal infrastructure funding. I stand here to proudly and strongly support the member for Grayndler's amendment. In this debate today we know that the government would like to have a pat on the back for their record so-called delivery of infrastructure. But we know, despite comments from the Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities that it would make sense to be ready to roll on the next two key M1 projects after completion of the two that are now underway—expected to be around 2020—they've back ended their funding out beyond the forward estimates. That means that, out of the $1 billion in funding—and we've just heard lecture after lecture from government members—$845 million isn't even in this budget. It is not the case that this government is spending $1 billion. The fact is that in this budget only $155 million of federal funding has been provided for the M1 Pacific Motorway.

The member for Rankin has led the debate on this and has stood up to this government time and time again to make sure that residents of the southern suburbs of Brisbane get a fair go. We know that, when it comes to the delivery of infrastructure, this government is not fair dinkum. Queenslanders deserve better. It's time that those opposite who pretend to represent Queensland started to fight for Queensland.

We need look no further than the actions of Labor leader Bill Shorten and what he has committed to. Only a few weeks ago the opposition leader was in Queensland. He stood proudly to announce that only a Shorten Labor government would match the government spending of $1 billion to make sure that we do have congestion fixed along the Eight Mile Plains to Daisy Hill area and we have widened to six lanes the freeway between Varsity Lakes and Tugun. More importantly, he stood in Brisbane, alongside the member for Griffith and the member for Moreton, and announced that we would go one step further and fund Cross River Rail.

We know talk is cheap when it comes to the government. The No. 1 infrastructure project in Australia is demanding action that only Labor will deliver. Time and time again we've seen residents call for action. We've seen the state government, under Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, put the shoulder to the wheel to make sure that Cross River Rail becomes a reality.

We know the importance of critical infrastructure funding. For 13 long years under the Howard government, not one cent was spent in my own community on upgrades to the Ipswich Motorway, which runs through the electorate of Oxley. It took the election of the Labor government in 2007 to make sure that $3 billion was invested in that project. Year after year we saw neglect from the coalition government. It took a Labor government to deliver that critical project. When Labor funded that project we knew that capacity along the Ipswich Motorway would go up to 180,000 vehicles.

Labor plans for the future. Cross River Rail not only will ease congestion for motorists but is expected to create around 7,700 jobs during construction and 550 jobs afterwards. I congratulate the state Labor government and I thank the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, for making that commitment to make sure that residents who live in the south-west of Brisbane and right across Brisbane will benefit from that congestion-busting project. The residents that I represent, and all throughout Brisbane, know that only Labor can be trusted to deliver that critical infrastructure.

In particular, I want to acknowledge the Queensland Premier and her team on providing the leadership that is needed for infrastructure in our state. This is a particularly strong partnership that will require a strong state Labor government and, indeed, a federal Labor government.

Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Preventing Family Violence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise, of course, to support the motion moved by the shadow minister for infrastructure.

As the amendment says, 85 per cent of the funding that's supposedly being committed for the M1 falls outside the forward estimates period. Queenslanders cannot believe that this government will actually deliver on the money that is supposedly being committed by this federal government. When you hear the member for Bonner stand up and talk about busting congestion on the south side, you might be excused for being a bit sceptical about that, because the No. 1 project that would bust congestion on the south side is Cross River Rail. This government took the federal funding off the table for Cross River Rail when it was first elected. We haven't seen federal funding for it in any meaningful amount—enough to actually fund some of this infrastructure—ever since. The Queensland government is pushing ahead with Cross River Rail, and I congratulate them, but the fact is that what it would really take to deliver it as soon as possible is for the Turnbull government to stump up some cash.

As this chamber has already heard, and in very stark contrast, the opposition has pledged serious money for Cross River Rail. Cross River Rail is a project that would actually bust congestion. If you got people off the roads and onto public transport by giving them an opportunity to be able to get public transport that would deliver them to the CBD and to work as soon as possible, then that would, quite obviously, reduce the congestion on the roads and would, also quite obviously, assist people with getting from the suburbs into the CBD, to where their jobs are, as soon as possible.

So I'm very pleased that Labor has announced that if we're elected at the next federal election we'll commit $2.42 billion over the life of the project to make sure that it can happen. I was very pleased to be at the announcement, along with the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow minister for infrastructure, and also with my very good friend the member for Moreton. Of course, although most of the project will fall within my electorate, it will also affect his electorate. It will also affect the member for Bonner's electorate, because if you lived on the Cleveland line or along the rail line, you would know that it is absolutely ridiculous trying to get into the CBD at peak hour in Brisbane. If you live in Wynnum, if you live in Manly or if you live in Tingalpa and you try to drive along Wynnum Road, or Lytton Road even, to try to get into the CBD at peak hour, you'll know what I'm talking about. If we can actually provide people with a public transport alternative, that will help people to use more public transport and it will also help to clear up congestion on Brisbane's roads.

It is absolutely appropriate to say that the Commonwealth should be pulling its weight when it comes to funding public transport projects like Cross River Rail. Cross River Rail has been around for a very long time. It's been assessed and assessed and assessed. It's a key project that will affect the commuters who live in my electorate and also those who live in Moreton and in Bonner. If Cross River Rail is built, there will be 9,000 extra passenger journeys per day. What it will mean in real terms is that if you live on the Gold Coast or in Beenleigh, this will cut 15 minutes off your commute.

Congestion is a massive problem in my city and it's a massive problem in my electorate. I know that people who live in Bulimba, particularly, or East Brisbane, Woolloongabba, Hawthorne, Balmoral or Morningside—any of those eastern suburbs—are deeply frustrated by the road congestion along Wynnum Road. So am I, I have to say, as someone who does live in those eastern suburbs. I do have to face that congestion, like all the other commuters when heading into the city around peak hour. And if you live towards the south and you try to get in via Ipswich Road it's the same situation.

The member for Forde has moved this self-congratulatory motion about the M1 funding, when he is well aware that only one per cent of that funding is actually in the next year of the budget and that 85 per cent of it is outside the forward estimates, where it's all on the never-never. They're patting themselves on the back for making these announcements, yet, at the same time, there is no commitment on Cross River Rail—a project for which there is a clear case. It's needed, and it's needed urgently. The fact that this government is continuing to drag its heels on this important public transport project while at the same time shouting from the rooftops about the M1 is very disappointing.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Special Minister of State (House)) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I make this contribution tonight as a member for one of the electorates along the M1 between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. I speak as someone who represents Daisy Hill, one of the suburbs being mentioned frequently in these announcements. But I also speak as someone who has grown up almost literally next to that freeway. I have spent almost all of my life living next to that freeway between the Gold Coast and Brisbane—near the Sports Drive on ramp, near the Rochedale Road off ramp, Rochedale South, Springwood and now at Daisy Hill—so I'd like to think that I know a bit about that freeway. I'd like to think I've probably spent more time on that freeway than any of the other members in this place.

I raise that because it really is quite surprising to hear, whether it be the member for Forde or the member for Bonner—neither of them are horrible people, but it really does surprise me, and it irks me, when I hear the surprise in their voice that there's congestion on this freeway. Anyone who is in any way in touch with our community would know that this is a big, substantial problem, and has been for some time. It really stands out for me when I hear the members opposite talk about this freeway as if it's some problem that's just reared its head. It's been there for so long.

Only Labor has made real investments in that freeway. Something like $312 million was invested last time Labor was in government federally. But even more substantially, our colleagues in the state Labor government made a big commitment on the weekend, which is a tribute to Mick de Brenni, Shannon Fentiman, Cameron Dick and all the members up and down that freeway who fought for that really terrific outcome—near-term funding for the M1. That's not what the government is proposing here, which is money far down the track, as mentioned in the member for Grayndler's amendment. The state government gets it, and that's why it's investing now.

This is a government that's been around for five years now. The member for Forde has been around for something like eight years. In all of that time up to now, not a cent has been spent investing in the M1. This has a lot of history. I think a lot of people in my community will be scratching their heads wondering how it could possibly be true that the member for Forde now expects a round of applause for finally discovering, after five years of government, that there's congestion on the M1. It just beggars belief that he wants a round of applause for that. This isn't about congestion on that side of the parliament; this is about an election. This is about the fact that we've a good campaign in Forde; we've got a terrific candidate again in Des Hardman, who has fought every step of the way for proper funding for the M1. That's why, all of a sudden, we get this conversion. All of a sudden the M1's a big problem, after they've neglected it for so long.

We were the only party that went to the last election with a viable commitment for the M1. We committed $168 million, alongside state money, to upgrade the southbound M1 gateway merge. Most people know that's the main problem—though not, admittedly, the only problem—on that freeway. It's a car park at school time and it's a car park at knock-off time. We made that investment; Des Hardman and Bill Shorten and I made that investment. The government came to the party late with a sort of half-hearted commitment, which they knew wouldn't get past the state government, and so we've had people stuck in traffic for longer than was necessary because the government wanted to play political games with it. And if the member for Forde was any good, if the government was any good, if the LNP had any commitment whatsoever to the people of Logan City, this would have been fixed or started to be fixed some time ago. Instead, we have these politics being played.

Now the M1, as other speakers have said, is the busiest stretch of road in Queensland. It's one of the busiest in the country. We've known that for a long time, even if those opposite are only just waking up to it. So the member for Forde can give himself a pat on the back if he likes, but he should have been working on this for years, not just on the eve of an election. If he cared about our community, if the LNP cared about our community, if they had any sway in this federal government, they wouldn't have left the M1 and our community neglected for so long.

To the people of Logan City but also of the Gold Coast and the southern suburbs of Brisbane—the areas represented by my colleagues who have spoken so far in this debate—our message to you is simple: there is a choice at the next election between a Labor party who has always cared about that part of the world and always wanted to invest in your opportunities, or you can go those with these characters opposite, who want to pull a swiftie on you and say to you, at five minutes to midnight in an election year, that they've known all along that there was a problem. I think I know what our community will choose.

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.