Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the night of the 2019 election I promised my community of Lindsay that I wouldn't let them down. I'm here to tell you today that I am working really hard to deliver on that promise, and I'm very pleased to announce that the $63½ million that I promised during the election campaign and was announced by the Prime Minister has been confirmed in the 2020-21 federal budget. A total of $4.2 million has already gone to Penrith council for planning and investigative work, and this is all because our community got behind this very important upgrade. During the election campaign, I doorknocked homes around Werrington County, Cambridge Park and Cambridge Gardens, and it was the people in these homes who told me their concerns about the safety of Dunheved Road when they turn into the shops and also about the congestion. So, with your support, I took your concerns to the Prime Minister. Hundreds of you signed a petition, and then the Prime Minister announced the $63½ million. Since then, I've been fighting to get that funding commitment secured. I've spoken to the Prime Minister and I've lobbied the urban and infrastructure minister and the Treasurer, and they've also gotten behind this very important project for our community.

I'll give you an insight into some of the concerns that the people of Lindsay have around Dunheved Road. Timmy said: 'The road is worse than a roller-coaster. Potholes everywhere and terrible in peak-hour traffic. The community has waited a long time for this upgrade.' Joanne said: 'We are so overdue for an upgrade. Thank you, Melissa, for all your hard work.' And, yes, I have been working hard, because you have been working hard too.

The $63½ million that has been announced for the 2020-21 budget goes some way to a full upgrade of Dunheved Road. But, to get all the benefits that will ensure the people in our community can get to where they're going—to work and home again—faster and more safely and ensure more people can work closer to where they live, the full price of the upgrade is $127 million, so my work here is by no means finished. I'll continue fighting for our community. I'll be advocating for the full upgrade—the full $127 million. I'll be both taking that fight to the state government and lobbying our federal government so that our community can have that full benefit and so that our community can get to work and home again safely and more quickly and our families can use that road safely.

The safety and health of my community of Lindsay continues to be my top priority. Today I'm very pleased to announce the $63½ million in the federal budget.