Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that the Government is providing record funding for road safety measures around the nation through the:

(a) $2 billion Road Safety Program delivering low cost road safety improvements such as better road markings, shoulder sealing, new barriers, better signage and other technologies building on the $500 million Targeted Road Safety Works Program;

(b) $12 million for the Road Safety Innovation Fund to support road safety research and the development of new technologies;

(c) $4 million Road Safety Awareness and Enablers Fund, with 20 projects already underway to improve education and promotion of road safety matters;

(d) $8 million Driver Reviver Site Upgrades Program;

(e) $5.5 million for a new Road Safety Data Hub, to better collate data on a national level and inform future infrastructure investment decisions; and

(f) broader $110 billion infrastructure pipeline, upgrading roads across Australia; and

(2) recognises there is more to do but congratulates the Government for its commitment to improving road safety around the nation.

Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Do you wish to second the motion?

Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would and reserve my right to speak.

Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to move this motion today to highlight the significance of road safety and road safety improvements but also the work that we have done as a coalition over the past few years. It's very sad that, in 2020, 1,106 people lost their lives on our nation's road, and, in 2019, 1,188 lost their lives. If we look at the very sad figure of 908 deaths due to the pandemic, it's very easy to say that every year we have a pandemic of road safety deaths. With more and more families taking their annual holidays within Australia, this government fully understands the need to create a safer road network so these families can travel to their destinations in the knowledge that not only will they get there safely but they will arrive home safely. This has been a bipartisan approach through the road safety committee, and I'd like to thank the member for Kingsford Smith, the deputy chair of the road safety committee, for what we achieved over the past 12 months.

As a former police officer, I have witnessed the real impacts that these horrendous motor accidents can have on families and friends and first responders. In dollar terms, it costs our economy around $3 billion a year, but, in emotional hurt, it is completely unquantifiable. I would not wish to see another Australian or family or first responder have to continue to suffer these consequences, and that's why I acknowledge and applaud the record funding applied by this government to road safety measures around the nation. It is essential, however, that these programs—and the funding for these programs—are carried out concurrently to achieve the most effective result in reducing the road toll. All of these are relied on upon each other and none are more important than the other.

Firstly, I recognise this government's contribution of $2 billion for the Road Safety Program, which is delivering low-cost road safety improvements such as better road markings and shoulder seals, new barriers, better signage and other technologies to build on the $500 million targeted road safety works. Secondly, I recognise the government's contribution of $12 million for the Road Safety Innovation Fund to support road safety research and development of new technologies. In support of that, there is $4 million for the Road Safety Awareness and Enablers Fund, with 20 projects already underway to improve education. Education is one of the biggest things for our youth—teaching them through school that a vehicle can be a weapon, educating them on the consequences of their driver behaviour. Other programs include the $8 million Driver Reviver site upgrades and $5.5 million for the new safety data hub. That was one of the biggest things that came out of the road safety committee inquiry—that we need to share our data with each other. If we don't share data between hospitals, between doctors, between governments—state, territory, federal—then we won't get the best picture to develop the best program of road safety improvements.

More broadly, the government is providing $110 billion infrastructure pipelines for the general upgrading of roads across Australia. As I speak, works have been carried out already for the $1.8 billion Coffs Harbour bypass, in addition to $191 million for the Fixing Local Roads Program and $140 million for the Safer Roads Program. By any measure, the level of funding for road safety programs and measures by this government is record breaking. There is no doubt about that. But I will go back to the need for a bipartisan approach by both sides, because we cannot afford to lose over a thousand people a year to road safety, year on year.

Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes. I will always take any opportunity to talk about the importance of road safety to my electorate of Gilmore on the New South Wales South Coast. The Princes Highway is our main connection to each other and to the rest of New South Wales. Almost everyone who lives on the South Coast drives on it daily. The Princes Highway is also the corridor that brings us our life blood—the tourists. For many of our communities there is one road in and one road out of our villages, and they are all connected by the highway. We also feel it acutely when something goes wrong, which I'm sad to say happens all too often. We feel acutely the swell that happens during holiday times, when the number of cars on the road triples or more, and we fear the terrible accidents that come with it.

Our roads are tested a lot. It can be a difficult task to maintain these roads. In the Shoalhaven alone, the council has 1,771 kilometres of council-serviced roads to maintain—a huge ask. But road safety is also never too far from the minds of local people. Only this last week I was at one of my regular mobile offices where I met a driving instructor. He was talking to me about how important the state of our roads are, and I couldn't agree more. Our driving instructors do an incredible job, giving local drivers the skills they need to stay safe on our roads. Thank you to each and every one of you for your efforts. They do not go unnoticed. I am always delighted when I hear that more road funding has been allocated to the South Coast to help with the mammoth task of keeping people safe on our roads. I've been proud to help secure funding for critical road safety programs that our community has championed for years, like, for example, the long-awaited Currarong Road upgrade. I was also pleased to hear only this month about some further funding for projects such as moving the Tuross Head bus stop to a safer spot on the highway, which is something the Tuross Head Progress Association and community have fought hard for. Commonwealth funding will also go towards projects like upgrades to the Princes Highway between Stephens Creek and Cockwhy Creek, south of Termeil. These are welcome projects, absolutely, and I'm glad to see them moving forward.

But the reality is that the work to improve our roads is a long way from being finished. I'm regularly contacted by local people who want to see more done to improve local roads. One lady, who was sadly involved in an accident at Bewong, contacted me about the state of the highway where her accident occurred. Heartbreakingly, only the month before, a gentleman had lost his life in almost the same spot. She doesn't want to see more accidents happen here, but the response from the minister simply quoted figures about all that the government is doing to improve road safety—much like this motion. Several members of one Conjola family wrote to me with their concerns around the turn into Murrays Road, Conjola, from the Princes Highway. Again, there have been several terrible accidents at this intersection, and the families who live on a few properties nearby want action taken to address the risks. They were assured by the New South Wales government that road safety is a top priority. The government agreed to install an additional warning sign, but there was no commitment beyond that to improve road safety here. It isn't just our highway either. Grant lives in a remote part of Termeil, accessible mainly by roads maintained by the Forestry Corporation. Old Coach Road was heavily impacted by the Currowan bushfire and has required some significant maintenance works to address safety concerns since then. I wrote to the minister responsible in December but, after many follow-up attempts, I have not had a response. Grant remains seriously concerned about the state of this road. A sign has been put up saying, 'Dry weather road only. Not suitable for two-wheel drive vehicles'—not much comfort for local people who rely on it and have been waiting for action for over a year.

The government likes to pat itself on the back, but figures and assurances don't mean much when people are losing their lives on our roads. We hear it all too often: 'There are simply too many black spots on the Princes Highway and there are far too many accidents.' I ask the government to stop the talk, stop the congratulations, and get on with the job of fixing local records.

Proceedings suspended from 17:25 to 17:30

Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about road safety. Road Safety is something that affects us all. Any death or serious injury from a road crash is one too many, and I know this only too well. My own grandfather died in a motor vehicle accident at a very young age while he was travelling from Newcastle to Sydney. It affects the whole family and cuts the life off of someone way too early. Every Australian plays an important role in keeping our roads safe by not driving under the influence of alcohol or illicit substances or speeding. But we can all do better to improve and keep our roads safe. In 2014 on the Central Coast a young boy named Tom McLaughlin, who was four at the time, died in a pedestrian accident. His parents, David and Michelle, set up Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation, a charity that sets out to improve road safety for children. They do an incredible job of that by conducting campaigns that go across the country via local government areas to educate parents and teachers and the whole community about road safety.

The Australian government is leading the way when it comes to road safety. The federal government has committed $500 million to targeted road safety upgrades to deliver small-scale road safety improvements that have a big effect on road safety right around the nation. Improvements such as new barriers, audio tactile road markings, better signage, better road surfaces and shoulder sealings are relatively low-cost but deliver significant improvements to the safety of the road. This is why the Australian government has built upon the $500 million targeted road safety with our $2 billion Road Safety program.

This new $2 billion Road Safety program is rolling out now. The $2 billion is split into three six-month periods running from 1 January this year until 30 June 2022. The funding is committed on a 'use it or lose it' basis. That means that if a state or territory cannot spend its allocation in each period, it will be reallocated to a jurisdiction that can spend it. The Road Safety program together with the government's very popular Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program is expected to support more than 10,000 jobs at a time when we need them most. The new program is supporting low-cost road improvements and in urban areas supporting the separation of cyclists and other vulnerable road users from the traffic. This shows the benefit of infrastructure delivery—supporting our economy with jobs and investment but leaving a lasting legacy that will serve Australians into the future.

To ensure the Australian government's infrastructure investment in road safety is supported by data, we have also committed $5.5 million over four years to establish a national road safety data hub. The states and territories are required to report key data to the federal government as a key condition of the Road Safety program, which will feed into the hub's design and cooperation.

The federal government also supports using innovative solutions to improve road safety. Innovation will take the form of road safety management initiatives, new technologies and products, delivery techniques and research that better informs policy development. These initiatives will support the safe system approach into making road safety business as usual for all road users. Long-term, the Road Safety Innovation Fund aims to reduce harm and trauma in crashes on Australian roads through supporting a shift in the way we address road safety challenges. The intention of the program is to contribute to a safe and sustainable road transport system towards Vision Zero: zero fatal and serious injuries on our roads by 2050. The Road Safety Awareness and Enablers Fund provides $4 million over four years, from 2019 to 2020, for grants to fund road safety awareness education and collaboration initiatives. Twenty projects have been funded aimed at reducing road trauma in Australia. They include rural and regional road safety; promoting and raising awareness on the impacts of speeding; driveway safety; sharing the road; and combatting fatigue through the expansion of the Driver Reviver program. Although more work needs to be done, between 1980 and 2019 Australia's annual road fatality rate reduced from 22.3 to 4.3 deaths over 100,000 people. We have come a long way in our quest towards zero, but we have much further to go.

Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Cowper for this motion. Road safety was front of my mind in my electorate over the recent Labour Day weekend. Thousands of visitors descended on the north-east to soak up our beautiful autumn weather and attend COVID-safe festivals, events and gourmet experiences, including the Tastes of Rutherglen, the Tallangatta show, the Mighty Mitta Muster, and Upstream: Festival of Art + Culture. One thing that unites these events is that everyone used roads to get there. When our visitors headed home on Monday, traffic was bumper to bumper, from Bright to Myrtleford and from Yea to Mansfield. Frustrations boiled over and some dangerous behaviour occurred. Road safety niggles became problems. The need for upgrades could not be made more clear—improvements like left-turning lanes on the Maroondah Highway in Bonnie Doon to enhance safety and improve traffic flow, or widening the Midland Highway between Benalla and Mansfield so that people can safely overtake. We need to accelerate these upgrades. North-East Victoria is ready to meet the post-COVID domestic tourist boom, but we need safe and reliable roads to do so.

Roads to Recovery, the Black Spot Program and the Bridges Renewal Program are important, but we need more. The government should expand the eligibility criteria and size of these programs to fund more shovel-ready infrastructure projects for safety and to boost our economic growth. As the Hume Region Local Government Network has said, the scale of economic damage wrought by the 2020 bushfires and the pandemic requires substantially augmented funding in these key areas to help regional communities not just to recover but to build back better and position themselves for the long term. Yet, with its much hyped infrastructure and road safety focus, I'm left asking: when is the government's delivery of its flagship election promise to the people of Indi—the McKoy Street intersection upgrade? It's been almost two years and absolutely nothing has changed. It's only a matter of time before an accident happens, and the government really needs to get on with it.

There's no shortage of road safety projects that the government can fund right now in my electorate, which the mayors of our nine local governments put to the Treasurer just last month. For example, the Wangaratta-Whitfield Road is the gateway to the gourmet food and wine district of the King Valley and a vital escape route in emergencies. It needs widening and improvement to meet growing tourism and agricultural traffic. The mayor has warned it will take a major collision or perhaps, tragically, a fatality to prompt the government to spend money to upgrade it. Let's prove him wrong. The Benalla-Whitfield Road upgrade will seal the last six kilometres of this gravel road, where traffic has doubled in two years, and it is also a school bus route. This will secure better accessibility in the King Valley, which is crucial during emergencies. The Alexandra-Thornton-Eildon rail trail link will give road cyclists a dedicated trail so they can get off the busy main roads and access the district's premier tourist attractions of the GRVT and Lake Eildon. The Skyline Road Tourist Precinct would seal 18 kilometres of road between Bonnie Doon and Eildon to provide a new iconic touring experience. This will improve safety and connectivity and the return on investment would be huge.

Safe roads are important for our $49.9 million per annum cycle tourism sector. Over 100,000 people visit the north-east to cycle each year. It's incredible, isn't it? Lycra-clad visitors, local commuters, everyday families and people on e-bikes from Tawonga South to Felltimber Creek are a regular sight on our roads. Bike-crazy Alpine Shire locals have joined the Amy Gillet Foundation on the Live, Drive, Ride Like a Local campaign, which aims to build respect between all road users. I want to acknowledge Mark, Fiona, Doug, Nick, David, Phil, Daniel, Sam, Cooper and Helen who starred in the video and everyone involved with this public safety campaign. Whether it be on two wheels or four, at the end of the day the most important part of using a road is getting home safely to our families. That's something we all share. I commend the member for Cowper for this motion. As a cyclist and as a motorist, I really encourage the government to do more on road safety.

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

I would like to thank the member for Cowper at the outset for this motion, because it's a very good story that we as a government have to tell about the record funding we are providing for road safety right across the country. Road safety affects each and every one of us. For many of us it has affected family and friends at very personal levels. Each and every one of us at each level of government, and every Australian, plays an important role in ensuring the safety of our people on our roads.

I'm pleased to note that the Morrison government has made significant investments in road safety policy and infrastructure upgrades since 2019. But it's also worth reflecting on the value of these investments over a long period of time, under successive governments of all political persuasions. Between 1980 and 2019 Australia's annual road fatality rate reduced from 22.3 deaths per 100,000 people to 4.3 deaths per 100,000 people. A major contributor to this was a halving in the number of fatalities on the Pacific Highway since the commencement of the Pacific Highway upgrades, in particular between Sydney and the Gold Coast. But I'd say the upgrades between Brisbane and the Gold Coast contributed to that as well. Under its upgrade program there have been 49 per cent fewer fatalities on the Bruce Highway and 30 per cent fewer fatal and serious injury crashes at Black Spot Program sites.

One of the important things that I see in representing my electorate of Forde is continuing to work to secure funding for road upgrades across my electorate. I believe that's been one of my most important achievements to date. We know that people want to get home safely to their friends and family. They don't want to have to worry about their children or loved ones driving on dangerous roads.

Just last week, I was very pleased to go and check out some of the new safety works on Beaudesert-Beenleigh Road between Tamborine and Wolffdene. These works are part of a $13.2 million commitment by the Australian government for road safety works between Tamborine and Wolffdene. The works on this part of the road include drainage upgrades, kerb realignment, road and shoulder widening, installation of guard rails and motorcyclist under-run protection, vegetation trimming and tree clearing. In addition to Beaudesert-Beenleigh Road upgrades we are also doing the same road safety upgrades on Beenleigh–Redland Bay Road, which is an increasingly busy subarterial road.

Other federal government road safety contributions in my electorate include $37.5 million, matched by the Queensland government, to upgrade the Mount Lindesay Highway at Munruben. This will make the highway safer by widening it from two to four lanes, the installation of safety barriers, the provision of new northbound and southbound bridges over Norris Creek.

There's $20,000 to the Ormeau driver reviver program, which is run by the Ormeau lions, who do a terrific job. There's $900,000 in road safety upgrades in Bethania. This joint project with Logan City County will see the signalisation and traffic safety improvements at the Albert Street and Station Road Logan River off ramp at Bethania. This is a very dangerous intersection. I visited there a couple of weeks ago. It was quite obvious from the damage on the fences around that intersection how dangerous it is. It is extraordinarily difficult to cross from either side of the road on both car and foot.

There's $96.3 million for the M1 motorway exit upgrades of exists 41 and 49, matched by the Queensland government. These will see duplication of these overpasses. I'm sure the member fro Moreton, who is here in the chamber with me, will be very pleased on the upgrades to the M1 occurring at Eight Mile Plains, Springwood and Underwood—jointly funded I might add by the Commonwealth government and the state government. Those works are progressing at a pace.

Our government is committed to $30 million under the Urban Congestion Fund to upgrade the Beenleigh park and ride commuter car park. This will make it easier for people to use our rail network and will help ease congestion and ensure consumers get home sooner.

Across the country, this government is investing over $2 billion in road safety. Together with our Local Roads and Community Infrastructure plan, it is expected to support some 10,000 jobs. These infrastructure upgrades and the Australian government's commitment to $500 million of targeted road safety upgrades will continue to deliver for our communities right across the country—just another example of the Morrison government delivering for you.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on the motion moved by the member for Cowper acknowledging Commonwealth government funding for road safety measures. But let's be clear: this motion is a list of announcements for road safety measures by the Morrison government, and we know that the spin merchants in this government are all for announcements but not so strong on the follow-up. Leaving aside the fact that delivery of road safety is different from announcements of road safety, this government is shameless when it comes to spending money in LNP seats or in marginal seats they are targeting. They did it before the last election, with their multibillion-dollar program to deal with traffic congestion. Eighty-three per cent of the $3 billion Urban Congestion Fund was announced to be spent in Liberal Party seats and Liberal Party target seats before the last election. The $115 million targeted to fix Brisbane traffic hotspots is earmarked to fix nine elections, all of them in LNP federal seats.

Well hello Deirdre Chambers, what a surprise! The Morrison government has form when it comes to mishandling taxpayer money. There was sports rorts, the $100 million community sports fund, which was allocated by a colour-coded political spreadsheet. There was regional rorts, the $220 million Regional Jobs and Investment Packages, where ministers overturned departmental advice, including giving $5 million to a meat processing business linked to a coalition donor. There was pool rorts—$10 million for the North Sydney Olympic Pool from the Female Facilities and Water Safety Stream Program, which was meant to go to regional projects. I'm not from Sydney, but my understanding is that North Sydney is not part of regional Australia—and the list goes on.

I will just go back to the infrastructure announcements made before the last election. On 1 May 2019 the LNP announced that they would fund 13 new congestion-busting projects across south-east Queensland. Included in the projects was the removal of the level crossing at Boundary Road in Coopers Plains in my electorate of Moreton. Sadly, there was no time frame for the delivery of this project when it was announced. On 24 July 2019, during question time, I asked the infrastructure minister when this crucial project would be commenced. Without answering my question, the Deputy Prime Minister said he would be happy to come to Moreton to have a look at the dangerous crossing. That was 20 months ago and I'm still waiting. I even wrote to the minister for infrastructure on 30 July 2019 formally inviting him to Moreton to inspect the crossing. He is still a no-show. It is coming up to two years since the Morrison government announced they would fix this dangerous crossing in Moreton, and they haven't even bothered to come and look at it. They are all there for the announcement but missing in action when it comes to delivering.

The inland rail is the Deputy Prime Minister's pet project—and I think the member for Bonner is hot and heavy for it as well! The inland rail project is planned to end in Acacia Ridge in my electorate of Moreton, 37 kilometres from the port of Brisbane where most goods that are being transported need to end up. The only way goods can get from Acacia Ridge to the port is by truck. This could mean 3,000 A-double road train trips on suburban roads in my electorate every day. There are currently four million truck movements through Acacia Ridge per year. Under the coalition plan, this could increase to 11 million truck movements per year by 2040.

How will that impact on Acacia Ridge residents and suburbs? The people I have been doorknocking in Acacia Ridge are angry about the coalition's misjudged boondoggle. They're angry that more huge trucks will be using the roads around their homes and businesses. They are angry that there will be more noise and particulate matter in the air. Some of the air pollution will be linked to the 1.8 kilometre-long trains carrying New South Wales coal, electorate. Queensland federal LNP members have proposed that some tunnels be built to the port. It will have above-ground trains in Moreton but tunnels in the coalition seats, according to The Sunday Mail. This thought bubble would cause more problems than it would solve.

Leaving aside the cost of building the tunnels to the port of Brisbane, the tunnels will need to be much bigger than the Cross River rail tunnels. Those double-stacked 1.8 kilometre-long container trains need very, very large tunnels. There will be above-ground train lines connecting the tunnels in my patch, and then ventilation shafts above ground. The tunnels won't stop the noise and air pollution from double-stacked 1.8 kilometre-long container trains that will need to go through suburban areas to get to the tunnels.

The tunnel fantasy is merely a distraction from the government's problem of having an inland rail boondoggle that ends in my electorate of Moreton, 37 kilometres from Moreton Bay. As I've said previously, there's a much simpler solution. The inland rail should bypass Brisbane and go straight to the port of Gladstone, a deepwater harbour. It would save money and keep the suburbs of Moreton family friendly. That's my commitment to the people of Moreton, not this inland rail boondoggle. Let's go with the original plan: Toowoomba to Gladstone. (Time expired)

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

I'm very pleased to speak in parliament to share how the Morrison government's record funding for road safety measures around the nation is improving roads in my electorate of Bonner. Rebuilding our economy as we recover from the global coronavirus pandemic means building more roads, rails and bridges. Now is the time to look at the infrastructure projects to create jobs, manage our growing population and deliver flow-on spending to local communities.

Nationally, the Morrison government is investing $110 billion, over 10 years, on infrastructure, which is already supporting 100,000 jobs on worksites across the country. In Queensland, and, importantly, in my electorate of Bonner, this nation-building infrastructure includes major highway and road upgrades. One of the most well-known congestion-busting upgrades is the M1 Pacific Motorway Gateway merge, which has been a sore point for commuters for years, and I thank the honourable member for Forde for his ongoing support of this project. The southbound upgrade has made a tremendous difference to motorists in Bonner. As the northbound upgrades continue, we know the end result will be a smoother congestion-free commute.

Another exciting infrastructure project underway is the Brisbane Metro public infrastructure, which will help take cars off busy roads in South-East Queensland. The Brisbane Metro is being delivered by the Brisbane City Council and supported by the Morrison government with $300 million in funding. The city-shaping project will transform Brisbane's public transport network to get people home quicker and safer, with easy links to existing bus and train services. The depot and four stops will be located in my electorate of Bonner, and I'm very excited to see work progress this year that is creating 2,600 jobs through its design and construction phase.

In my many years as the member for Bonner I have been proud to deliver funding to fix dangerous intersections and blackspots on local roads. It goes to show, when multiple levels of government are willing to work together, we can get the job done. Thanks to my colleagues at Brisbane City Council, working alongside the federal government, we have some great road projects ready to start construction. In fact, this week, construction will get underway on the Chelsea Road and Rickertt Road intersection at Ransome. I was delighted to deliver $6 million of federal funding towards the safety upgrade, which was jointly funded with and will be delivered by the Brisbane City Council.

This intersection had been a cause for concern for many years, and the petition I ran alongside the community helped fight to deliver funding to get this much needed safety upgrade underway. As part of the works to improve safety and reduce congestion, upgrades will include installing traffic signals at the intersection to improve the overall operation and safety for all road users, constructing right-hand-lane turns on all four approaches to improve traffic flow through the intersection, installing signalised crossing facilities to improve safety and access to pedestrians and cyclists, and providing improved safety and connectivity to the public and active transport options.

Another project due to get underway this year is the Newnham Road and Wecker Road intersection at Mount Gravatt. The Morrison government delivered $12 million towards this project, which will also be delivered by the Brisbane City Council. This project was jointly funded with Brisbane City Council for much needed safety upgrades: between 2014 and 2019 there were 18 crashes reported and countless near misses. Thanks to the petition I ran, we were able to deliver this funding to get the safety upgrades underway. Construction is scheduled to get underway in mid-2021, with work to be completed during mid-2022, weather permitting.

Over the weekend I joined Councillor Steven Huang at Rochedale to chat with residents about the upgrades to the Rochedale roundabout, which is heavily congested and outgrown by the needs of the new housing developments in the area. To be able to share with all corners of my electorate how this government is delivering on our road projects, it makes my job worthwhile. When people tell me there's a problem, I listen. When they demand action, our government delivers. Thanks to my supportive colleagues, every road upgrade I have fought for has seen funding delivered by this Morrison government. With the backing of our local government, we are getting Bonner families home sooner and safer.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every government funds black spot work. Every government funds the Roads to Recovery program. Every government funds bridges improvement. In my experience since 2007, that has been the case.

I want to congratulate the Somerset Regional Council in my electorate, who have undertaken the Bridges Renewal Program, particularly after the 2011 and 2013 floods. That's seen tremendous improvement in terms of road safety in the Somerset region, particularly for the bridges and crossings, such as Walshes Crossing up near Kilcoy and towards Mount Kilcoy. The bridge across Cressbrook Creek was washed away, near Toogoolawah. Gregors Creek bridge was washed away in one of those floods I referred to down near Harlin, as did the Redbank Creek bridge near Esk. This has made a huge difference in terms of the work that has been done in the region, in terms of jobs and in terms of road safety.

One of the things that's so clear about this government is that they are great at photo opportunities but not so good at the follow up. The member for Bonner was talking about the $110 billion. The trouble with that is that—the government makes those announcements and says in its budget that's what they are doing—they don't always do it. I can give you three examples locally in South-East Queensland where the government really needs to look at doing much better.

The first example is the final section of the Ipswich Motorway, from the Oxley Road roundabout through to the Centenary Highway interchange. That's what we used to call that particular part of it. Of course, this government, until recently, opposed upgrades to the Ipswich Motorway from Dinmore through to Darra, but, finally, just a few short years ago, they agreed with the Queensland government to do part of the Darra to Rocklea section. I urge the government to stop boasting about what it does and actually spend some money to fix that blunder road from Oxley Road roundabout all the way on the Ipswich Motorway. They should three-lane it and put service roads on it. That will make a big difference to the 100,000 vehicles a day and the people who drive them between Ipswich and Brisbane. It's about time the government got on to that job.

Another example of a road safety issue in my electorate is, of course, the Warrego Highway between Dinmore through to Helidon Spa near Toowoomba. The government has put money aside across the forward estimates, and so has the Queensland government, but there is a shocking crossing there across the Warrego Highway called the Mount Crosby Road interchange. I've talked about it a number of times. During the course of the last year or so, the state government talked about a survey with the Warrego Highway and the Mount Crosby Road interchange upgrade. There was $22 million agreed to by the state and federal government in relation to it. If you can find someone who thinks the current proposal is a good idea, you're looking pretty hard, because I can't find anyone. Even at my mobile office last Saturday, I got a number of people who came and saw me to say that the current proposal is inadequate and that we should spend more money out of the money that has been allocated. They should fix the bridge. It's currently one lane each way. The proposal is not to touch the bridge. The off-ramps are terrible—talk about safety. Traffic banks up on the 100 kay stretches both sides of the Warrego Highway and Mount Crosby Road interchange in the evening and the mornings. It needs to be done for road safety purposes. Stop boasting about what you are doing and actually do that.

The third local issue in South-East Queensland is on Cunningham Highway. It's the 4.75 kilometres between Warwick Road at Yamanto through to Ebenezer Creek. That includes the Willowbank interchange outside the RAAF Base Amberley. Since the Howard government, governments of both political persuasions have spent money on the RAAF Base Amberley, about $1.3 billion, but the road needs to be fixed. The Warrego Highway is on the Infrastructure Priority List by Infrastructure Australia. The Cunningham Highway is also a priority initiative. It's really, really important.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17 : 59 to 18 : 12

As I was saying before the suspension, the Cunningham Highway is a pinch point for interstate freight along the western corridor. We're talking about a cost to the taxpayer of $45 million per year. In terms of congestion, it really is terrible in the mornings and the evenings, and people stage their exits and entry onto the RAAF base at Amberley and the aerospace precinct surrounding it as a result.

I call on both the federal government and the state government to work together in terms of the business case and then the funding that's necessary there. It's really critical for people in Ipswich and also people in Brisbane and the many thousands of people who work on the RAAF base at Amberley. If you want to talk about road safety, Ipswich Motorway, the Warrego Highway, the Mount Crosby Interchange and the Cunningham Highway really need road safety issues addressed.

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.