Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Turning a dangerous stretch of the Bruce Highway into a safe four-lane Tiaro bypass is one of the projects where we must put aside political differences, and I call on the state and federal governments to work together as a team. Thanks to the overwhelming community support, the federal government has increased its funding of the Tiaro bypass to $268.8 million, a boost of $183 million, to save lives. It's Queensland budget day today. It's been a week since ministerial offices in Canberra called ministerial offices in Brisbane and informed them that we were injecting four-fifths of the cost of the four lanes of the Tiaro bypass. Sadly, Brisbane's only correspondence back has been a tweet, and it did not indicate they were looking forward to working together to make this road safer. An investment in the Bruce Highway at Tiaro is also an investment in Townsville, Cairns, Mackay and Brisbane, as we all need a safe national highway. I thank the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, and the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who heard our calls and provided further funds. I hope the Queensland government follows their lead today. It's time to end the excuses and fast-track this safety upgrade.